The eye-opening, spot-on video above features Asian actors hurling subversive stereotypes toward white actors. No casualties reported.
The good-humored BuzzFeed clip, "If Asians Said The Stuff White People Say," flips the script on stereotypes against Asian people, breaking it down with examples that take a dig at topics such as Asian religions and inter-racial dating. The statements, which are probably familiar in some fashion to most ethnic minorities in the U.S., include:
"You know I've been really into Western religions lately. Like, I love how they're so angry and uptight, you know. I decorated my whole house in crosses."
"I just love dating white guys because they're so large and overbearing."
"Hey, you watch 'How I Met Your Mother?' I'm so into white culture."
If the lighthearted video comes off as somewhat offensive, it's supposed to be -- consider it a simulation experience.
The video holds up one of its most important, reflective mirrors when the Asian actor asks the white actor one of the most seemingly innocuous questions that conceivably every Asian person and many other minorities in America has been asked upon first meeting someone -- some variation of:
"Where are you from? No, where are you really from?"
And we all know that person is never talking about your upbringing in Irvine.
Though it's not the most egregious query, the pervasiveness of this type of question is enough to make a person on the receiving end feel like somewhat of perpetual foreigner or create a divide of "otherness." It's simply not something that happens to most people of, say, European decent when they have lived in the U.S. their entire lives.
Jezebel addresses this topic in the article "How to Ask Someone About Their Ethnicity Without Being an Asshole." The piece, a Miss Manners for cultural sensitivity, recommends letting it naturally come up in conversation. The writer, Meher Ahmad, advises people to ask like so:
"Seriously, the best way to find out is to let someone volunteer the information. 'What's your ethnicity?' (At the appropriate time and place). See! It's not so hard! Ask when it's appropriate, like when you're about to make a racist joke about an entire people and you want to cover your bases. JK don't do that. Being curious about someone's ethnicity is perfectly fine, but just be aware that how and when you ask it has an impact on people, and if you're an asshole about it, the impact is othering."
There, now after that, we can all get along and watch "How I Met Your Mother" together.
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