That one is so old.
However, calling it racist bein unable to differentiate between Asian languages is a bit farfetched. I mean I am a European and I can’t distinguish most European languages, simply because I don’t know them.
I don’t think he is saying that an inability to differentiate between foreign languages is racist, but rather that given a random shithead who holds truly racist beliefs, it is unlikely they will be able to recognize differences between Asian languages.
To put it more generically, most people in Set A exhibit Trait B, but having Trait B alone does not mean you are a member of Set A.
I mean I can’t and I’m not racist.
Til Thai is also a tonal language. It has 5 tones.
Most Sino-Tibetan languages (including most modern Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese varieties), all Kra-Dai languages (including Thai and Lao), all Hmong-Mien languages, and a few other languages near the region (specifically, Vietnamese and Tsat) have tones. Japonic and Koreanic languages both have tones, but historically they’ve been very simplistic with only 2 tones (pitch accent) although Middle Korean developed 3 tones which then went back to 2. Pitch accent is entirely eliminated in Seoul Korean though. Hmong-Mien languages are the most tonal languages in the world, with up to 12 tones in some languages.
Tones generally seem to be a highly contagious areal feature, interestingly enough. At least in southeast Asian languages, an important shared feature between them was the reduction or loss of final consonants which usually ended up in a tonal system.
Having watched that one clip of amphibia where Polly claims to have learned fluent Thai by watching rom coms, Thai sounds VERY different from Mandarin.
That being said, I think even this guy is being a bit naïve, the racists aren’t mad you’re speaking an Asian language, they aren’t busting out a phrase book to check and make sure those tones are Punjabi and not Tibetan or whatever. They’re mad you’re speaking any language they can’t understand at all. Why?
Because every last one of these redcaps has an incurable complex surrounding being incensed by the idea of having a fast one pulled on them or their property or their beliefs. They’re dead against emergency exemptions for abortion bans and even treating women who miscarry more sympathetically than “with complete and absolute contempt” because they’re living in a nightmarish hellscape where literally every woman is already plotting to use those claims to sneak an “unneeded” abortion past them.
They don’t see speaking a different language as you just talking, they see it as you talking shit about them because the world revolves around them and why else would you “go out of your way” to avoid them being able to eeves drop overhear if you’re saying something untoward? I could be speaking french with my teacher over a culture lesson and these people would only skip the racism to instead accuse me of spying on them and talking shit in front of their faces to rub in that they can’t understand what I’m saying.
I have gotten dirty looks for talking to my dog in gaelic(she understood commands in both english and gaelic). The US really isn’t friendly to any other languages at all. I’m also in a blue state.
It’s gotta be WAY worse for POC. Like… scary worse…especially for folks stuck in red states. There are some cultural aspects of the US that really need updating. Like the rampant xenophobia.
My dad actually got greenbook tips because he was traveling in the 80s through rural texas and his supervisors realized he “looked visibly Irish”
That’s crazy! You mean like the greenbook that was written for traveling Black Americans during the Jim Crow era so they could avoid places like sundown towns and businesses that refused services to POC? Sorry if that’s not what you meant, it’s the only greenbook I’m familiar with… unless greenbook is a general term for avoiding places filled with racism?
Either way I had no idea that prejudice towards the Irish was still prevalent up into the 80’s. Thats…really something else.
Even if they can tell the difference why would they care? Let’s say I hate white people…do I care about where they are from?? Canada? Australia? I would hate you just the same. 🥰
Just in case, make sure to bring a Canadian flag pin if you go backpacking.
I’ll be honest, I doubt racists can differentiate between Spanish and any Asian Language
Your comment reminded me of this gem of a candidate. Some of y’all gotta remember–the 2010 candidate for Nevada’s Senate seat who thought a reasonable alternative to Obamacare was bartering chickens and the like.
Oh god I remember this…
Did he just not know that healthcare bills cost in the thousands and the only thing people have that would equal that in value would be their house or car? Or was he being facetious and just coming up with excuses? I can’t tell the difference between “stupid” and “evil” anymore.
She (the candidate was a woman) was noted for being pretty batshit, kinda in the Sarah Palin camp. So she could say stupid with a straight face. There was no real plan to replace Obamacare, and everyone mocked her for the bartering thing.
Just like everyone mocked her when she told a bunch of Latino kids (confronting her for being racist) that they ‘looked kinda Asian.’
