Friday 26 November 2010

TOO ASIAN? HOW ABOUT TOO RACIST?

I realize I'm a bit late, but I was very disappointed with Macleans after having read an article about Canadian universities being too Asian. In my mind, the reporting done was absolutely terrible as I found that the writer made race an issue, which is funny, coming out of a Canadian magazine.

 Click here for the article.

 As an Asian-Canadian, I was incredibly offended.

 From what I got from this article, I got a sense that the writer felt that Asians were being forced into school. Perhaps, even into certain programs.

First of all, I'm Asian. Second, I was never forced into a program that I had no interest in.
In fact, I'm studying Journalism, a fairly small program with not many Asians at all.

The article starts off with a girl named Alexandra, who chose to go to Western because schools such as UofT were "Too Asian."

 "“Too Asian” is not about racism, say students like Alexandra: many white students simply believe that competing with Asians—both Asian Canadians and international students—requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they’re not willing to make. They complain that they can’t compete for spots in the best schools and can’t party as much as they’d like (too bad for them, most will say)."

 Well if I ever meet this Alexandra girl, I would like to say my fair share of equally offensive things towards her. But of course, I won't.  Causing more racism would not solve anything!!

I find it ironic how she says the issue isn't about race, because the whole article being spoken about deals with race!

Living in a country as diverse as Canada, students of all races should not feel resentment from choosing the university of their choice. And also, why is it a bad thing that Asians choose to work hard and get to go to a good school/program?  Perhaps, students who weren't accepted aren't trying hard enough and want blame other people for their problems.

That's like saying:  "I'M JUST GOING TO BLAME THAT ASIAN OVER THERE FOR TAKING MY SPOT BECAUSE I DECIDED TO SLACK OFF."

And the answer to why all Asians choose to stick together in groups? One will never know....


That’s not to say Asian students form any sort of monolithic presence on Canadian campuses. “The mainland China group tends to stick together,” says Anthony Wong, 19, a Waterloo software engineering student. “We can talk to them,” says Jonathan Ing, also 19 and in Waterloo’s software engineering program, “but we don’t mingle.” Complains Waterloo student Simon Wang, a Chinese national who is frustrated by the segregation at Waterloo: “Why bother to come to Canada and pay five times as much to speak Chinese?”

Although, I can take a crack at that answer: 
Seeing the way people think of them, I'd stick to my people too!

You see, if there weren't more ethnic people going to school in Canada, people would not be complaining about universities being "too white."

And besides, race shouldn't be an issue, as it doesn't completely make a person who he/she is. 

It is also terrible to say that Asians are taking away spots from people in university. I think that people have to take into consideration the work-ethic of people in general, and not people of a certain race. Of course, many Asians are hard-working, but just like every other human being, there are slackers as well. (YES, THERE ARE ASIANS WHO DON'T GO TO SCHOOL AND HAVE A CRAP JOB TOO! JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!)

And from what I know from my other Asian friends, they tried REALLY hard to get into competitive programs.

So what's the big deal? It's a problem for them to work hard so they can set out a good future for themselves and their families?

OH YES. WHAT A TERRIBLE THING FOR SOCIETY. *GASP*  

It is clear that racism exists in Canada with the many stereotypes made of people of colour such as African-Americans, Latinos, Indians, etc. (forgive me if this sounds offensive).

However, Canadians also need to realize that East Asians are also victims of racism.
As Canadians, we need to fully reevaluate the way we see people in our society. People are going to keep coming into the country for a better future. Hardly anything can change that. So please, just accept it. 

Now having said that, I have decided that I need to refrain from being such an "overachieving Asian" and stop writing this blog post.

I think maybe I'll just go play some hockey and eat some poutine. I hope that's Canadian enough for you.

 People also get  the notion that Asians like to pose like this. I like to keep that stereotype alive.

P.S. I'd also like to think that Miley secretly want to be as awesome as us ASIANS. SORRY, NO CAN DO!!!

1 comment:

  1. LOL Sam... I knew about this a long time ago :P its a sad truth though. Everyone plays the racism card and asians aren't really considered when it comes to racial content.

    Also the girl alexandra said white students requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they’re not willing to make. They complain that they can’t compete for spots in the best schools and can’t party as much as they’d like. I wouldn't say too bad I would say WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO JOIN A COMPETITIVE PROGRAM IF YOU WANTED TO PARTY SO BAD? granted you can still party but if you want to get into a tough program that's obvious whether there are asians in that program or not. Also not all asians are smart please if that were true you'd see more in politics and practically taking over the world. The fact is that most immigrants that come to Canada don't take it for granted and work there asses off. Also asians are not just oriental people =.= like c'mon asia is huge..

    LOL sry for the rant :P but yea my 2 cents.

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