A Skeptical Note
We liberal Americans of Kunming are getting mighty excited about the election, given that everyone and his mother expects Barack Obama to win. A good friend of mine, John, wasn't so sure. He's in his 60s and has lived abroad much of the last 40 years after growing up in Georgia and North Carolina. To talk to John is a pleasure; he's had such an interesting life, and always has a thoughtful perspective on just about any subject under the sun. He alone was skeptical about Obama, and made a apocraphyl comment about the election.
"Man, I just don't know. I bet there are going to be a lot of people who intend to vote for Barack Obama that will change their mind the second they walk into that booth. They'll see his weird name next to McCain's, and while they're not gonna know why, they'll just be unable to pull the trigger."
He went on: "I used to know a lot of black guys who went up North after growing up in the South. They'd all say that the racism was worse in the North, which surprised me. The reason why, they said, was that in the South you knew people were racist. It was plain and open and you could incorporate it into your life. In the North, people swore they weren't racists, but deep down, they were- and that was more difficult to deal with."
October 30th, 2008 - 19:09
i have a friend who’s black and was living in korea. she’s been to china a number of times and upon her last visit a few months ago she made a similar comment. in korea, she said, they pretend they like you when really they don’t. in china, you know they hate you. personally, i’d prefer the former.
October 31st, 2008 - 07:54
Kellen
Majority of the Chinese are not sophisticated enough(you could say due to the lack of a democratic system). As a Chinese studying in the States, while I’m learning the good parts of American culture and appreciate the way people get things done, I occasionally still have problems making myself comfortable in a conversation full of obligated compliments most of which are not coming out of their hearts. I guess people just like to be surrounded by beautiful things and environments regardless of its truthfulness. When this becomes the shared behavior at a societal level, people who complains(including me) are all hypocritical. (no offense here)