When I first came to NY from very multi-cultural aware SF, on the east coast everyone was all “this ethnicity this” and “that ethnicity that” and not in the proud, identifying way, more just categorizing and defining people, and it really threw me. Why do I need to know the race of the taxi driver? I think actually that every place else but San Francisco does that. (And it’s not like it’s so rare in San Francisco, it’s just socially frowned upon).

I’m quite appalled (and embarrassed on behalf of white girls) that Girls on HBO was written whitewashing nyc. And then, it’s remedied with a black republican……. wtf?

So: black people & non-white people totally rare in hipsterdom NY, but oh: black republicans not so much? Like, totally absent and then, bam, this super rare bird shows up to represent? Idk….

Have I ever met a black hipster republican young dude? I don’t get out that much but…. I can’t think of a one. Fuck me but that really is a rare sight.

So, if you left them out, I wouldn’t be like… this isn’t a true picture of NY, where are all the black hipster republicans!?! In L. Dunham’s fantasy world, I suppose. No offense to any actual black hipster nyers out there. No, that’s not contrived at all. (sheesh!)

Wow, I really hear you! There’s so much bs around race. Truly sucks majorly.

That said, I am not sure in this instance that we can assume what Paul’s race is, or Stephanies race.

Sure they might be white, but they just as easily could be black, spanish, latin, chinese, arabic, indian or some mixture/combination. I don’t just assume that they are white.

I didn’t really make any assumptions about it reading it, I more had a generic “feel” for these people: they seemed like nice people, because the author seemed like a friendly, likable guy. But I didn’t picture blond hair, or brown hair or anything that distinct. I sort of pictured a generic group of hipster friends which (in nyc) includes many races.

Chicago cop is “chicago cop”, because his region is relevant to the story and provides some color/context. Like tough-guy serbian landlord. If descriptors add to the story, they’re included. If they don’t, they aren’t. Girl might be “french girl” unless that’s not really a very significant factor to the story/her identity-role in the story (like, maybe she is french, but that part is left out because it doesn’t add to the story and it’s a distraction).

I can imagine “white girl” being used in the story if it were relevant info, but mostly not, really. White remains “default”/generic.

But Friend Alex is not “black friend alex” or “white friend alex” and I wouldn’t assume that he’s white off the bat.

We definitely don’t live in a post-racial society (as you are very first-hand aware), but maybe we get there by realizing that we are getting somewhat there?

Racism: lame as fuck.

First, I don’t think the author is a big racist. Lots of people do this… But honestly I noticed the Serbian thing too. Angry Serbian landlord. And stinky Korean roommates. But nice landlord gets to be Paul, not Caucasian Paul. Not Caucasian Alex or White Stephanie.

And yeah, I am sensitive. Because I hear it all the time and it gets in my way. I admire people who have learned not to let it bother them. But it gets tiring to be defined by race/ethnicity and when origin questions come before asking my name.

Were these North Koreans or South?

Because if they were South Koreans, fine, but North Koreans…? (side eye).

Sorry, I don’t mean to make light of a serious concern, but like this lady says about being disabled, sometimes people’s oversensitivity and efforts to be “respectful” can make us more uncomfortable about a subject rather than make us more respectful.

Like, one way of reading this is: the author is stating that the roommates were Korean, and they weren’t close possibly because of the language barrier, or because of the fact that the author was used to living alone, or a combination of the two factors. There’s no inherent judgement there. Not speaking the same language as someone does present some obstacles to getting to know a person.

If you never had a context of xenophobia, then you wouldn’t presume any racism. Since we hella do, you perceive that it might have that tinge. But if your assumption is that the author is not bringing that to the table, and that only racists would bring that to the table, then highlighting it creates the presumption of racism, rather than just, y’know, calling out anyone who actually is racist. I’m not wording it very clearly, but just there’s a tipping point where “sensitivity” tips over into an overmuch sense of delicacy. Not saying that’s what’s happening here, tho. Any Koreans care to weigh in on how that paragraph hit them? Did you find it alienating?

I lived with two Californians over the course of these years and it lead me to a staunch dislike of the omnipresent smell of patchouli.

I lived with two Southerners over the course of these years and it lead me to a staunch dislike of the omnipresent smell of okra.

I lived with two Californians over the course of these years and it lead me to a staunch dislike of the omnipresent smell of patchouli.

I lived with two Humbolt country natives over the course of these years and it lead me to a staunch dislike of the omnipresent smell of pot.

Checked it for you… looks okay to me?

http://dogshaming.tumblr.com/image/29908675125
https://twitter.com/AdamSimonSays/status/284768256290611202/photo/1

It does seem impossible, and I will need to see a picture of this dog for proof.