I'm not talking about the kind of racism where you want the cook in the Chinese restaurant to be Chinese because if he's/she's not then you don't think the food's going to be as good as if he/she is Chinese.
I'm not talking about the kind of racism where the old Korean couple in their 70s sees four Mexican dudes dressed in gang-banger attire walking in their direction on the sidewalk late at night, so the couple crosses the street because they feel uncomfortable.
I'm not talking about the kind of racism where I'm asked to audition for Donny Osmond's Broadway show where he sings covers of show tunes, then I'm called a few hours later and told, "Umm...listen, they've decided they wanted to audition a...umm..they want to band to really groove and sound a lot more funky, so they're looking for a black keyboardist. <-- true story. Take notice: Donny Osmond covering Broadway show tunes - There is no way to increase the "funk factor" no matter what color you are.)
I'm not talking about the kind of racism where after auditioning and putting together a kick-ass new band of phenomenal musicians for Christina Aguilera's tour for 2003, the music director who assembled the band (who is also black and I will remain unnamed here) is called up on the telephone and told, "[We need a 'less color' on stage.]" <--another true story. I'm also not talking about the kind of racism where my brother, a student with an A- average from USC is rejected by every American medical school that he applies to because it's the first year of affirmative action, and he's passed over for C average student of different ethnicities. Only Armenians from Armenia are considered minorities, so Dad takes a loan out on the house and bro ends up studying medicine in Mexico (in Spanish!) for a couple of years, transfers to USC Medical school, has to take a year all over again, and ends up being a kick-ass doctor because he's such a mo-fo.
I AM TALKING ABOUT THE KIND OF RACISM where day before Thanksgiving, my wife and I are walking into Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries, and I hear yelling in the very-crowded parking lot. An Asian woman in her late 50s/early 60s is sitting alone in her car waiting for a parking spot near the front door. There's a white lady standing at her driver's-side window, baby boomer (late 40s/early 50s), middle-class...screaming at her about stopping the traffic in the parking lot (baby boomer's car is stopped behind the Asian woman). Now I don't know if the Asian lady needed to park near the front because she's handicapped, or has a hard time walking or what. But the baby boom lady is livid and acting like a jerk. The exchange ended with the baby boomer screaming, "You know what your problem is??!! Your problem is that you're Asian!! That's what you're problem is!!"
It was one of the ugliest exchanges I've ever witnessed in my entire life. It felt horrible to even be standing 50 ft away from her. Next time you look up "bug up your ass" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of her.
Ironically enough, we were all there because we were shopping for our Thanksgiving Dinner. Good think baby-boomer lady wasn't a pilgrim way back when. She would've mouthed off to some Native American because he was taking his time riding his horse, and then they would've BBQ'd her at the stake and said, "Screw all of you pale-face bastards! You people can starve and learn to grow your own frigin' corn!"
Side note: Glendale, California has the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia. It's estimated that by 2009, the populations of Asians (specifically Koreans) is going to surpass the Armenian population in Glendale. So if this lady keeps this up, she will surely get her ass beaten very soon.
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