Dat Phan
Do you find yourself laughing at the comedic performances given by Dave Chappelle and Dat Phan? Or even the common wisecracks about Mexicans and gardening? I don’t deny it, I find their acts hysterical. It is just so close to the truth that I can’t help but laugh. Comedy like this connects with the audience on a specific level due to the nature of their jokes: stereotypical situations and racism. The two things often go hand in hand, and surround each and every one of us every day. Whether we choose to recognize it or not, it is there and we know it. I know you know it, otherwise you wouldn’t be laughing. Now I don’t waste my days away watching stand up comedies and contemplating how come people find certain jokes funny, I was made aware of this fact because of a book. I say because, not from, for a reason. The book Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, alerted me to how the real life situations of what these jokes are based on are not humorous at all. Racism and stereotypes are not a laughing matter.
In Brave New World social status is defined by colored clothing and what conditions were set to determine a persons’ station in life. All in all babies were manufactured in the novel and were assigned, created, and conditioned to fit a certain station and level in society. In reality we too are conditioned, assigned, and therefore created to act, think, and believe we are deserving of a certain place in society determined at birth. How is that possible, you might ask? Our environment, that’s how. Certain factors that surround a person from birth till that stage of adulthood shape their very being and how they perceive the world. Perception is shaped by how we are “programmed” or conditioned to see the world. We create these stereotypes, such as the ones used as the basis of the jokes above, and judge others by them. Some stereotypes turn into more serious matters, such as racism. My biggest concern with all these preconception of people due to these stereotypes is respect. Respect for being driven, for being strong, for being ambitious, for being proud, for simply trying your best. Where before stereotypes were conceived in our minds respect could be dealt based on a persons actions and demeanor, now it is based on race, color, socioeconomic status, and even what you eat.
Yes, I said it EAT, as in FOOD. I am referring to Chappelle’s joke featured in the above clip. Don’t lie we all know it is true, no one knows what white people eat. Honestly it’s really easy to generalize what the typical college student eats: top ramen, pizza, if you’re lucky a friend can cook something-but chances are you’re too broke anyways, and (of course) cases of energy drinks. And Hispanic families we can easily come up with a list as well, but white people? It boggles the mind. Like Chappelle said though, just because we “know” what others’ eat it is not a reason to hate them. Likewise, just because we can generalize a group of people to an occupation why should we treat them different just because of this little piece of knowledge?
I meant to call attention to jobs like gardening, pedicurist/manicurist, and seamstress/sweatshop workers. The usual people who hold these positions are Mexicans and Vietnamese. I say usual because it is the generalization and stereotype I have come to live and know so very well. I am Vietnamese and well I can see how these stereotypes are created. Honestly it is a tad ridiculous the number of nail salons that are run by Vietnamese people. However having four aunts in that business, each owning their individual shops, solidifies the mold society has placed on us. But what is so bad about working in a nail salon? Some see it as degrading work, touching others feet and hands, hunched over most of the time attending to a client. Take a second look at who these people are. That person painting a French tip on those perfectly manicured hand has a reason to be working in that profession. That human being has artistic ability and skill necessary for that line of work, they had to get a license in order to take that position, and they found that this was one of the highest paying jobs at the time. Nail salons are steady businesses, and provide profit very quickly. To support one’s own family that one fact is probably one of the most important. Also, many of these people gave up dreams of what they wanted to be, doctors, engineers, teachers, who they were before coming to the US. That is sacrifice. Although hilarious the way Phan paints the picture on how and why Vietnamese people seem to “take over the US with nail salons”, the truth behind it is no laughing matter. Who are we to snub a group of people for hard work, testing talents, and making sacrifices? Do they not deserve the same respect that people who work in offices and sit in a cubical and seemingly do paperwork all day? We make fun of those we see to be lower, but what about those “office type jobs” what skills are necessary there? These preconceptions, that our environment creates due to position in society is what takes away "earning respect".
On a more personal note, I have learned from experience how easily people judge and categorize others. My mom was a seamstress, and while she worked day in and day out that’s what I thought her job title was. As I got older I learned that seamstress was often a fancy word for people who worked in sweatshops. Back then, childhood, I had the experience of seeing all the moms I knew of sewing day and night to make a couple hundred bucks a week, sometimes taking as long as a month. Deadlines were insane and the pressure made these beautifully dedicated mothers age rather quickly. I watched and learned agonizingly that every seam they sewed earned them 10 to 25 cents. And they would sometimes be sewing for high end labels such as XOXO or Lucky (high end brands). A completed item would earn at most a dollar or two. A completed load would be about 200-500 dollars. I’d like you to take the time to examen a pair of your jeans. Notice all the lines, pockets, colored thread, workmanship that goes into just sewing it. Well here is a newsflash: all that work amounted to the equivalent of two dollars. Not only are these workers being ripped off so are you, the consumer. Growing up in this environment I learned some skills that have been lost among my generation: how to sew with an industrial sewing machine. Not only do I know how to use this machine, but am very capable in creating clothing and accessories (costume props, purses, bags). How many of you can do that? The work my mother did may sound so insignificant, but her skills are the very same ones people in the drapery business have. Those people get paid exponentially more but use the same talents that my mother possesses. How come society can look down on a job such as working in a sweatshop but hold up drapery on a pedestal. I say this with the thought in mind, that jobs that earn more money are more respected. That prerequisite completely created by society as well. My mother deserves the same respect as those high end and high paid drapery companies. As bitter as I sound, this experience has taught me to respect people from all walks of life and their chosen career/position/job. This is because we can’t go around judging people on the outside with all these preconceptions of the world through stereotypes and such.
We, all kinds of people, often say every single person is unique. So why then do we work so hard to categorize people? I know I mentioned something earlier about Mexicans and gardeners- some food for thought: What kind of man is that person you see working in the sun, what do you know about him, have you talked to him before you decided he is just like every other border hopper, are these people deserving of such disrespect that we laugh at their current place in life? (sorry I just don’t see to many female gardeners, I don’t mean to be one-sided)
