This is whataboutism. It’s not a very impressive way to move a discussion forward, especially as the thread is about “racism in Taiwan.”
Honestly, I don’t blame you for knowing little about Taiwan. Entire generations went through the school system here with almost no knowledge of this place. Perhaps you are among those generations. But since you like posting on forumosa, you could take this as a chance to learn about this place, including its deeply structural forms of racism. It’s never to late to learn.
I am sure the Vikings were very “Woke” and aware they should not sail and drink that would be a very irresponsible thing to do before raping and pillaging
the statement that i called bollocks on is patently rubbish. re-read it, try to take your personal subjective experience out, consider things like differences in population or how other asians are treated here, and then ponder the irony inherent in the statement. after that, you don’t need to get back to me.
Thank you for your concern, but I think I know Taiwan well. I am more than half a century old. My wife is Taiwanese. I know her family and friends, who are a lot. and I have lived in different cultures and countries in the world, I think I know little of what I am talking about.
I imagine in the grand tradition of the Taiwan police of achieving the maximum results in terms of quantifiable arrests etc. with the least possible action or thought, they are out trolling for illegal workers. It has never seemed that high-minded considerations such as civil rights, racism, etc. factor heavily into this equation.
Yes: I crashed into the side of a Taiwanese scooter rider on my bicycle, he pulled straight out on a back street crossroads
11.50am we was both breathalysed.
Oh and scooter rider payed for me to see a doctor and have my knee x-rayed
I guess there are scale levels to it too. Not every event that qualifies as racism is comparable. I wouldn’t consider Taiwan racist in the sense of places that unfortunately have ghettoized communities. I heard the word ‘structure’ mentioned earlier. It’s not like there is a wrong side if the tracks, but I’m lead to believe that blue collar foreign workers are often not treated very well. But is that racism, I don’t know. Im guessing it is a substantial fairness issue in any case. Overall though I definitely would not consider Taiwan to be a ‘racist’ society in my experience.
I have princess and the pea stories about being wound up based on assumptions about my appearance. Applying the description of racism to that would be kinda petty. Not to mention a projection of my values and assumptions about society.
Thank you. I did not know that. I wouldn’t want her to get in more trouble. I did a quick search and google turned up this: Ministry clarifies rules on videotaping police on duty - Taipei Times So like you said, I’ve warned her not to take any close-ups of the officer(s) involved.
Apparently the reasons they gave were that she looked suspicious because she was wearing a hoodie and that she looked like she needed help (help to continue walking home?) I can’t recall any reasons being given the two times when I’ve been with her.
Do you subscribe to critical race theory? Seems your views align. I don’t view the treatment of aboriginal communities or migrant workers as racism. I see it as forced assimilation and simple exploitation.
Well I’m sorry for starting so many arguments by relating part of my girlfriend’s experience.
I edited that sentence for a different reason and didn’t consider how it might look.
I was trying to convey what I can now see was a flippant and disrespectful joke made during the heat of the moment and I wanted to pack into one sentence:
The theory that negritos travelled to Southern China but were pushed south into Taiwan, then pushed out again or exterminated by the ancestors of Austronesians from Southern China. The stories referring to them amongst some groups of the Taiwanese indigenous population. I have heard Amis say “Watch out for the little black people” as a goodnight farewell. The famous Pas-ta’ai ritual of the Saisiyat. The similar legends of little folk from my native British Isles, with similar legends of successive waves of invaders, and the theories that fairy folk may be memories of Neanderthals. The fact that my girlfriend has had other locals talking to her refer to “pure black” people that were not present as “black ghosts”. That Taiwan is referred to (for unrelated reasons) as Ghost Island. The estimate that 80% of the population has indigenous ancestry. The supernatural theory that the land carries memory imprints or ghosts of important or traumatic events. Therefore the island itself may be to blame for her being checked three times in a row in the same small area.
I can see now that it was a disrespectful joke that I regret making, and in making it I was probably guilty of the same “single story” fallacy of association that other wiser people here have said is a more likely reason for her being repeatedly asked to prove she is allowed to live in her own country.
Thanks for the clarification. Sorry to hear your GF gets harassed. I can think of a couple of reasons a gal who’s, perhaps, taller and exotic looking might get stopped by the police. I hate to say it but, I’m guessing a new crew of working gals was recently shipped over and they were told to be on the look out? For the most part, I see the boys and gals in blue Sargent Schultzing their way through the day.
