Recently I have seen some heated discussions about managers of different races. Some of the comments favor stereotypical views. I’d like to start a healthy discussion around this topic, which I believe can be interesting. So, 1. Identify yourself (if you feel like it) 2. Don’t be racist! So I am Chinese with above-average English fluency and cultural blend-in. I honestly don’t want to work under Chinese managers with too much Chinese background rather than US background. Mostly, the language poses a barrier: they’ll have me talk in Chinese when we are “alone”, which I really don’t want to do, because this will leave other colleagues who overhear us out of context. They might also think I am banding up with the manager, while i really dont have any intention to do so. it’s also weird that they no longer retain some of the basic decencies when speaking in English as soon as they switch to Chinese: they become more bold to demand you of things and less repectful, because they feel like they are “back in their zone”. Also because of their lack of responsiveness when Im speaking English, I cannot get as much feedback (such as nodding) as from people with better english. But again, I DONT WANT TO GENERALIZE TOO MUCH. There ARE ones that are not like what I portrayed above. The american born ones, though, are the best (for my background and taste specifcially) They both have very good cultural balance between Chinese and US and are more chill/understanding than some of the whites. As to Indians managers, I do like them better (again, personally). In my experience, at least none of them have “bad english”. That is, even though their accent can be bad depending on their background, their communicatiom skills are way better. (I mean, one way to tell is Chinese folks perhaps talk less words per minute on average than Indians) The downside is that some of them may have been Indian culture affected: I can sensibly feel some of them being not very polite and caring ( as compared to the liberal whites, which also have their downsides such as hypocracy, which Ill talk about later). Some of them have a big ego and a profound sense of hierachy, which may make them harder to work with. Good thing is that they are pretty clear about criticism. Better to get scolded beforehand rather than paralysed before shown the door, right? (Yes, talking about some of the liberal whites, who always show you a smile and may stab you in the back) For whites (Americans), they are the most friendly ones! They really do offer that kind of warmth and enthusiasm not seen on the previous groups. Language apparently is not a problem. But as I mentioned, the extreme-left culture can go wrong at times, rendering them to be hypocritic. AGAIN, NONE OF THESE GENERALIZATIONS IS WORTH ANYTHING IN THE FACE OF A REAL PERSON. APPLY YOUR JUDGEMENT CASE BY CASE AND DONT BE RACIST. tagging FB because the two posts with these discussions were all under FB
“Don’t be racist” *proceeds to generalise races* “again, don’t be racist!!!” Honestly don’t see how any respectful conversation can come out of this.
Reminds me of Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Agreed with your observations. Also, some people here are unrealistically intolerant even to normal discussions. This hypersensitivity is found nowhere else in the world.
Anytime anyone starts a sentence with “I’m not racist but...” you know what’s about to come next is going to be racist.
Way to go on understanding the English language! It’s great that you understand the word “but” is a conjunction to begin contrasting what was previously said.
I’m genuinely confused with y’all here. Do you mean that none of the observations I made are correct or do you just not want to talk about it? I know we want to protect feelings, which I already tried my best to do, and I talk about both the good and bad about each group. But then you still have problems? Do you all want to live in your ideology echoing chambers even on Blind? I say come on. Also, don’t tag me racist yet. That’s very irresponsible.
Recognizing and embracing differences is the right way to promote diversity. It’s coward of those who never dare to touch on these topics and actively blame people who do and tag them with racist tags. They are the ones that covertly wish to maintain status quo and retain their privileged status.
I don't know what you're trying to say here.
I am none of these ethnicities and meh. If I find myself stereotyping, I immediately remember how different all my managers have been very different; and those stereotypes are almost shattered. Indian people's English is on average stronger because of British colonization in the past.
How are any of your observations not racist?
Savage
Denying any differences between different groups of people is naive and ignorant.