Damsel wrote:

>
> I think Jill's biggest crime is including too much information when
> she posts. I told her so in e-mail, and I think she's taking it to
> heart. I know her pretty well. I think she's more detail-oriented
> than prejudiced. She shops at that store several times a week. I
> don't think she'd do that if she had a problem with the people who
> work there.
>
> Just my 50 cents.
> Carol

That ranks right up there with "I'm not prejudiced...some of my best friends
are (fill in the ethnicity here)." Which, by the way, is quite similar to
an argument she has made before.

It isn't that she mentioned the people were "foreign born" (which in itself
is a contentious phrase) that shows her prejudices, it's the implication
that because he was foreign born, he couldn't read or understand that the
pasta should have been refrigerated or frozen (and was therefore
stupid--implied, not stated by the tone of the post--she's so lucky to get
free pasta because some dumbass foreigner couldn't read). That and the
implication that the foreign-born boss is literate *because* he was educated
in England (why mention the latter were it not important?). I know many
North American born people of European descent who are illiterate or not
very competent readers. Should the pasta have been shelved by one of them,
would Jill have mentioned the staff member was "American-born" or even
Caucasian? Or that the person might not have been literate?

There are some stories where ethnicity *is* important. For example, when
the Filipino salesman tried to sell some kind of furniture cleaner to a
business. He kept asking them to "look at my penis." Since certain groups
of Filipinos pronounce "f" as "p" and the "sh" sound as "s", and short "i"
as long "i", by knowing that he was Filipino, you can understand what he
was really saying. In that case, that he was not a native speaker of
English is essential to the story. In Jill's case, this is not so.

FWIW, I think everyone has prejudices--*everyone* (and if I say someone has
prejudices, it does not mean I think they're racist). It's what you do with
those prejudices that matters. Do you pretend they don't exist and continue
making statements that offend people (because you're too
obtuse/insensitive/self-centered to notice your remarks are offensive)? Or
do you recognize them, accept them and do your best to conquer or control
them? Most people seem to fall into the first category (or the third
category, where you openly recognize your prejudices and thrive on them) and
IMO, Jill is most definitely in that first category. Note that this is not
the first time Jill has made an offensive ethnically-biased statement on
this ng. It's not that she's detail-oriented, it's that she's ignorant of
her own prejudices.

If anyone is interested, Milton Bennett's works on intercultural competence
are excellent reads--particularly his model of intercultural senstivity (he
has six stages, as opposed to my simplistic three categories--I'm much more
judgmental than he).

rona
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