Race is Not a Factor

I was talking to a friend generally about this and that and an interesting subtopic came up while we during our little debate. He claimed race is not a real factor. Being a successful guy and a Chinese-American, one could say that he has a point, but it was fairly easy to prove that it was bullshit.

Bullshit: Race is never really a factor.
The Truth: It is.

Working for the US government as a minority in a white collar job, he is probably the most protected human being ON THE PLANET. Just because race no longer affects him doesn't mean that it is the reality that the rest of the world lives with.

Case 1:
You are an average Indonesian in Indonesia. You try hard and you find work. About 90% of the time, if it is a business that has any real power and wealth (that is, it is not some corner music store that sells hand made guitars) your boss is Chinese-Indonesian. Chinese-Indonesians basically never promote regular Indonesians to upper management. So you work your ass off for years and years at the company only for the upper management to hardly realize that you have been there for almost twenty years. For twenty years you have basically been doing the same damned thing and in terms of the rank structure, you are the same as some punk ass kid who just walked in last week.
Try telling this guy that race is not a factor in life.


Candidate for Promotion? Sorry, wrong color.

Case 2:
You are an African American male who wants to see the world but don't have the money. Being a strict pacifist, you decide that you do not want to join the military. You hear about English teaching opportunities in East Asia and get excited. You have a bachelor's degree in English and you immediately contact head hunters and Hagwons about openings. They want your resume and a photo attached. They see you are black and they reject you. This goes on for a whole year or so. Meanwhile some other guys you met with the same goals are getting hired, even without a bachelor's degree. They're getting hired because they're White.
You feel so disgusted that you just decide that the rest of the world can go fuck itself.
Tell this guy that race is not a real factor in life.


A guy like him would have trouble landing a job in Korea because of his race. It is WRONG and it is REALITY.

Just because it is not your problem does not mean it is not a real problem.