I think that there are a few key differences between “racism” and simple “xenophobia”
Most non-Taiwanese have made a choice to be in Taiwan (for whatever reason) while African Americans, Mexican Americans and some of the Asian Americans did not have a choice to be in the US
It’s possible that some non-Taiwanese have been killed simply for being non-Taiwanese while doing random daily things, but I haven’t heard of any
There are plenty of non-Taiwanese getting really high salaries (I did before I left) that most Taiwanese could not really dream of. The average white English teacher in Taiwan makes more than the average Taiwanese English teacher right? No idea really, just a guess from reading this forum
Had a friend who always introduced himself in Mandarin as “___ from New York”, which I thought was a little strange- I didn’t introduce myself as “Mike from Vancouver”. Then I realised that, as he was of mixed South Asian and Latin American descent, he said it so people would know he was American, and not treat him as an inferior Third-Worlder.
So what? The “average white teacher” has no support network. 90% of Taiwanese live with their parents. Free rent, free utilities, free food, free laundry, free scooter, etc. Or they live in a place that daddy bought them. So chop off that 30 or so k from the salary, and speak about pay inequality.
I don’t have any of that and I still make the same shit wage as the average Taiwanese.
Not all of them have that support network, or the support network comes at a great cost (you have to be robots for them). Or parents refuse to provide the support. Some Taiwanese live quite hard lives, as in they have to pay their parents AND make the same shit wage.
Well, that’s you. You’re not representative of the average person.
And you chose your profession, dude. You could easily have been a plumber or electrician and be raking in the big bucks. No “foreigners” working in those fields.
You could also (god forbid) be a teacher, making an above average salary, but you don’t want to.
This is not 100% true, many working adults pay their parents out of duty or tradition even if their poor (or parents rich and not need the cash) they just do not share personal money matters (but on other hand ask personal questions to me and others, so now I ask how much they pay for many things and make to Taiwanese and often they tell me).
Correction: Independent contractor plumbers/electricians make good money. If you go apply for a job as plumber or electrician then you will get less than 2000nt a day for 12 hours of backbreaking work in the typical hot and humid Taiwan weather. Of course independent contractors must have seed capital, find a source of customers, etc. just like me.
I could be a teacher, but since I’m not a people person, and I can’t use being white as a shield against social awkwardness, I am not hired as a teacher.
Very few Taiwanese lives in a house their dad bought them.
I’m not paying my dad. I have no plan to. He makes far more than I can ever imagine and his state benefit far exceeds what I can make working my butt off. He is already taken care of.
