Chicago Experience Raises Questions About Stereotypes

July 29, 2008

Chicago is changing and no doubt the Asian American population is growing. A couple of mini-vignettes from my time in Chicago made me wonder if I would have experienced the same thing had I been in San Francisco.

Panhandlers are common in San Francisco, so I'm used to people coming up and asking for money. My first night in Chicago, walking on a downtown street to a restaurant, a young black man in his 20s comes up from behind me and hands me a copy of The Onion newspaper and starts telling me about a charity that helps the poor he's collecting donations for and then he gives me two postcards with featuring Chicago tourist sites. I'm sort of half listening to his pitch and half wondering why I'm holding The Onion and two postcards and quickly realizing this is a clever panhandling ploy.

Eventually, I politely decline his offer and for a half a city block, I'm berated for wasting his time and not only that, I'm a "racist" for not giving him any money.

Where does that come from? How has his view of Asian Americans been formed? I've experienced my fair share of aggressive and even rude panhandlers but I've never been called a racist. 

When we finally get to the restaurant, my friend and I, both Chinese American men in their 30s (though my time as a 30-something runs out soon) sit down at a table. The waitress, who is white, comes by and asks us what we'd like to drink. We ask, "what's on draft" and she runs through the options. We both make our choices (I had a hefeweizen), and she asks us for our IDs.

Even at my advanced age, I still get carded occasionally, and for me it can be a compliment. But it just seemed that, in the waitress's eyes, being the only two Asian Americans in the room, we didn't look "man" enough to order a beer. The stereotype about Asians looking younger than they are is out there. I'm sure there was no malicious intent on her part, but again, perhaps her views of Asian Americans are shaped by her environment.

My Onion-wielding friend accused me of being racist, but I would by no means characterize Chicago that way. Like the places you'll read about in "Across Asian Middle America," Chicago and the rest of the country is changing. Attitudes about Asian Americans and race in general are changing. It's not an easy road, but we're getting there.

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Harry Mok

Editor in chief

Editor in Chief Harry Mok wrote about growing up on a Chinese vegetable farm for the second issue of Hyphen and has been a volunteer editor since 2004. As a board member of the San Francisco and New York chapters of the Asian American Journalists Association, Harry has recruited and organized events for student members. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also a graduate student instructor in the Asian American Studies Department.

Comments

Comments

when i was in nyc, one evening i was running around trying to find a subway and i came across this one bouncer at a lounge. as i was asking him questions, a group of men walked up in suits and ties, and out of everyone (a group of around 8), he carded the only two asian guys (who were already slightly red from drinking, i'm assuming). everyone started laughing and one of the non-asian dudes said, "oh com'on. you serious? we're here to celebrate this guy's 40th birthday." that scene just stuck with me. obviously, the men looked legal of age, at least to me. my feeling is that if you're going to card one, card all! what is this cherry picking business?!
I've lived in Chicago and I've lived in SF (and some other places as well). Chicago seems more segregated to me. However, where have I had to deal with more racist comments directed at me when I'm just minding my own business? In supposedly progressive and diverse San Francisco.I think the things that happened to you in Chicago could have happened to you in SF for sure.
Certainly didn't mean to say these sorts of things only happen in Chicago. I've certainly had some bad things said to me in San Francisco as well, though it has been a while.My overall point is a lot has changed but there's a long way to go.
Hey, we got ching-chonged there -- hadn't had that happen to me in a while.
Hey Harry,I can't speak for the panhandler, but strictly carding anyone who looks under 40 is pretty common here in Chicago. Sure, it's still a somewhat segregated city in areas, and certainly the small demographic of Asian Americans contributes to a higher tendency of stereotyping and generalizing, but compared to the rest of the Midwest, we're pretty liberal.Hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Chicago (and the UNITY conference) though! Had I known you were in town, I would've suggested coffee.
man, i really don't remember when was the last time i got ching-chonged...
LOL - I'll take a ching-chong over riots any day of the week.
The midwest is worthless flyover country for a reason. HTH