— Domani Spero
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]
Last year, we posted a video asking “What kind of Asian are you?” (see Video of the Week: Where are you from? Where are you really from? No, where are your people really from?). This week, the creators of that video are back with a new one called “But we’re speaking Japanese”which takes place in Japan and highlights perceptions in race and culture. Stella Choe a non-Japanese speaking Asian American sitting at a table full of multi-cultural Japanese speakers….which confuses the waitress and…well…you just have to watch to see what happens. The video also stars David Takeo Neptune , a caucasian who was born and raised in Japan.
This reminds us of a similar story overseas when a U.S. citizen came up to an embassy interview window demanding to see the consul. Did not want to speak to an African American officer. Did not want to see an Asian American officer. Demanded to see the “real” American in charge of the office. So the staff got their section chief to speak to the U.S. citizen at the window. The way we heard it told, the section chief, a Mexican American ambled over to the interview window and said, “I’m the American Consul and I’m in charge, how may I help you, sir?” Boom!
* * *
