SNAILS: It's Not a Race

12/10/2015

JJ KIM
Volume 8, Issue 9
“I’m just saying! You’re alright man, you’re not a part of them, you’re like a white Asian… but some of these Asians you see around the building, I can’t bloody stand them!”

Spring Social was an incredible night. Granted, the poor bar was completely underprepared for the horde of thirsty law students seeking a drunken escape from reality. But by the end of it, Biggie was pumping, people were dancing, and smiles could be found all around Second Story Studios.

It was great, with the exception of that single statement I heard outside.

“Hey dude, are you alright? That guy was saying some pretty rude things.”
“Yeah… I just didn’t really know what to do or say. I was kind of shocked.”

It’s a little odd being an Asian in Australia, let alone Melbourne Law School. Over the four years that I’ve had the pleasure of being here, I’ve been called many things: ‘gook’, ‘chink’, ‘dog-eater’… and I’m not surprised by it. In fact, I’m relatively less offended by it - anyone dumb or old enough to say those things out loud can’t be of much harm. But like in most cases, it’s the little things that hurt the most: enter ‘casual racism’.

“You’re a curry person right? You know what I’m talking about.”

Casual racism manifests itself in a variety of ways, from the odd joke veiled in subtlety, to the praise of an individual for differentiating themselves from the ethnic group to which they belong (much like the ‘Spring Social statement’ aforementioned). It’s not as explicit as the outspoken insult, but it inflates the undercurrent of racism that sits comfortably at the back of our tongues: the sensation of fear or disgust on sight of someone who doesn’t look like you, the discomfort you feel when someone speaks a different language to you. It’s the little things… and when the little things start to show in Melbourne Law School, a place where significant power is figuratively fed to its students on a warm plate of knowledge, it starts to get a little worrying.

“You’re Japanese right? I can tell! No? You’re Korean! Oh, you’re Chinese? I’m really good at telling Asians apart because I spent six months in Japan!”

It also doesn’t help when it’s exacerbated by the somewhat militant hatred towards the unofficially-dubbed SNAILS (Students Not Actually In Law School). SNAILS, I’m happy to admit, are predominantly Asian - check out Levels G-5 in the building, anyone can see that. But one can’t help but make the connection between this fact and the Spring Social statement. Why would anyone be talking about the reasons why they hate Asians if they weren’t being bothered by SNAILS? SNAILS take up the seats, space, and smell in your own building, how dare they! This is exactly the problem: when disparaging comments are made about SNAILS, the monster that is casual racism grows even more, because those comments - though not directly about race - are connected to the abhorrence towards us. The negative feelings towards SNAILS subconsciously translates into negative feelings towards Asians.

Of course, I’m not defending the act of illegitimately infiltrating the Level 3 ‘Law Students Only’ Area. That’s something they’re not allowed to do, I can’t condone that. This behaviour is wrong and should be stopped. But the inevitability of the connection between SNAILS and Asians is problematic. There is hardly a material solution we can commit ourselves to because of structural issues, but what we can do is control our reaction, attitude and behaviour - it all comes down to us as individuals. The blanket statements we make on any group of people strips them of their individuality, their stories, their experiences, reducing them into some homogenising, reductive and cruel acronym. Before you make that judgment that stereotypes and excludes, think: Is this really what I think? Do I dislike the person or their actions? And if I make this call, will it hurt?

“I hope my kids will never have to go through what I’ve been through.”

It’s 2015 now. Let’s pick it up.

JJ Kim is a first year JD student and one of the incoming Equality Officers in the LSS

Melbourne Law School, Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Leda

14/10/2015 07:49:32 pm

Great article Jay, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences! Such a shame that comment was made- that would have been truly unpleasant. And the attitude you describe of conflating ‘SNAILS’ with a dislike for Asians is an interesting issue, though perhaps prescribing it as ‘inevitable’ is part of the issue! But as you say, we need to be aware of the impact of our words, and understand individuality, stories, and experiences. So I thought I’d share some of mine, and a different perspective. (very long train of thought, sorry! get comfy :D)

I’ve been thinking about similar issues for a very long time, and some things came to mind as I was reading. While I agree broadly with your call to action, there is something quite specific that concerns me. I worry about what exactly our understanding of “casual racism” captures, and which of these “little things” we should be worried about. I am also not sure that what could be seen as "casual racism" is something that normalises racism proper.... if those distinctions are even real.

So a Greek friend of mine loves to tease me. “It’s ok, you’re Greek! There is no such thing as a Turkish Cypriot!” For some people, there could be undertones of cultural violence in such statements. For me, it is a fascinating expression of a specific time, place, relationship.

You mentioned in your article the “odd joke”….. Maybe a bit of background; I was born in the Turkish North of Cyprus; the island was split between the Greek and Turkish populations following a war in 1974. We moved to Melbourne when I was 6. My closest friend is Chinese-Malaysian- she and I occasionally share jokes and insights about each other’s cultural stereotypes. One time she had shown me part of a series on YouTube. An Asian guy, and his interpretation of Asian stereotypes.

When I told a friend of mine about that last thing he felt uncomfortable. At that point I was accused of casual racism.

It was quite hurtful to me - he did not even try to understand the context in which I felt comfortable sharing in humour about stereotypes with my bestie. I got the sense perhaps that he thought I should know better? I am educated, I was born here…… "wait- you didn’t know I wasn’t born here?" So does that make it ok? Is it only us ethnics who can make jokes about each other because we don’t understand why it is wrong, or we lack certain fundamental values?

I wonder how many people have watched and had a chuckle at ‘Superwog’? Are we “dumb” for doing so? Are those chuckles - which may potentially hurt someone - the cries of the casual racism monster? When it comes to the crunch, no one will come forth and staunchly defend their right to make jokes about ethnicity or race. But it is hardly deniable that they have a place in our humour culture, and I’ve heard them everywhere, also in MLS. (Same goes for humour about class, gender, age, any identity category!)

So what are our limits? I am not suggesting that your article has tried to prescribe anything in particular, as I think you made a broad statement about being more mindful. But I have seen so many instances of people policing each other and policing those limits in ways that seem to show a lack of understanding about context, individuality, stories and experiences.

It’s also interesting that the first time I had heard about a “white Asian” was from an Asian. I see myself as having a hybrid identity; Cypriot and Australian. I have spoken to people who identify as “white Asians” who have described a similar thing- similar challenges, confusions, sometimes even clashes of different values. But also a richness and diversity. Difference is not something that I am scared of seeing. What does worry me is when difference is qualified with “strange” or “dangerous” or “bad”.

I have never been offended by the question “where are you from?”. In my experience, most of the time people are simply curious, and maybe they can’t find their wording…. and it gives me the opportunity to explain the lesser-known history of Cyprus. It is also a fun opportunity to do a bit of data collection. “Have a guess?” Greek, Italian or Spanish are the top contenders. But lately, maybe as we have more South Americans coming to Melbourne, I am also getting “South American”…. very broad! This does not worry me, but I know some people who absolutely hate the question. How do we know who to ask? Is it better that we just don’t ask at all? What happens then to the difference, how do we learn about each other? About stories and experiences? Maybe if we don’t engage with difference, that’s when everything will slowly become the same. Sometimes it is qualified, or engaged in

leda

14/10/2015 07:54:02 pm

......with a joke. I don’t necessarily think all instances will be captured by a blanket “casual racism”. These are fascinating challenges, and I am not entirely sure the answer is simply that it’s 2015

(ha! seems my response was definitely too long :P )

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