My grandma the old skool racist
My grandma isn't a hateful person by nature, unless you managed to piss her off in some shape or form. However I don't really blame her for the comments she made to my brother while in Edmonton. Basically she asked him to hurry the hell up and get a girlfriend so he could marry her. And to never be like our dad where he waited until the ripe age of 40 to marry. My brother asked my grandma if she knew how old he was, and she guessed wrong. Basically he said he was old enough to make his own decision on who and when to date.
I can't quite remember how it was brought up, but either my brother or my grandmother mentioned something about dating black people. Regardless, it eventually ended up with my grandmother saying "Ching kay mo toong huq qwai paq taw" which meant "Don't every date black people". When we asked why, she said that it was "weird" how black they are. The actual phonetic spelling of the term she used was "Huq mung mung" meaning very very black.
Me and my brother smiled at this wonderfully refreshing side of grandma. I've always known about this side regarding her grandson's choices in dating women but I don't think my brother knew the depths of her convictions. We then embarked on a glorious journey of mentioning the other browns of the ethnic rainbow, getting much protest against trying to date an East Indian person who was as equally "Huq Mung Mung" in my grandmother's eyes. We asked if a half-black half-asian would suffice and for some reason she casually agreed that it acceptable as if were were negotiation terms of a contract.
Apparently the same slight racism that Michelle mentioned in Mexico regarding light skinned Mexicans compared to darker skin Mexicans are also somewhat prevalent in Asia from my understanding. At least to the degree that clear bright skin is a symbol of health and beauty in asian culture I would imagine, if not at least Chinese culture.
We ended the night with a phone call home, where my dad (who has lung problems) answered. I wanted to discuss the results of my grandmother's check-up by my mother was late coming home. At that time when I had dad on the phone, my brother told me to tell dad that he was going to marry a black girl. I laughed and hung up, when at the exact same time my grandma told me in chinese to tell dad that my brother was dating a black girl. My brother laughed at the coincidence of their thinking, and jokingly protested "No grandma, I'm afraid if I do tell him that, he'd have a breathing fit!" which would probably happen.
I can't quite remember how it was brought up, but either my brother or my grandmother mentioned something about dating black people. Regardless, it eventually ended up with my grandmother saying "Ching kay mo toong huq qwai paq taw" which meant "Don't every date black people". When we asked why, she said that it was "weird" how black they are. The actual phonetic spelling of the term she used was "Huq mung mung" meaning very very black.
Me and my brother smiled at this wonderfully refreshing side of grandma. I've always known about this side regarding her grandson's choices in dating women but I don't think my brother knew the depths of her convictions. We then embarked on a glorious journey of mentioning the other browns of the ethnic rainbow, getting much protest against trying to date an East Indian person who was as equally "Huq Mung Mung" in my grandmother's eyes. We asked if a half-black half-asian would suffice and for some reason she casually agreed that it acceptable as if were were negotiation terms of a contract.
Apparently the same slight racism that Michelle mentioned in Mexico regarding light skinned Mexicans compared to darker skin Mexicans are also somewhat prevalent in Asia from my understanding. At least to the degree that clear bright skin is a symbol of health and beauty in asian culture I would imagine, if not at least Chinese culture.
We ended the night with a phone call home, where my dad (who has lung problems) answered. I wanted to discuss the results of my grandmother's check-up by my mother was late coming home. At that time when I had dad on the phone, my brother told me to tell dad that he was going to marry a black girl. I laughed and hung up, when at the exact same time my grandma told me in chinese to tell dad that my brother was dating a black girl. My brother laughed at the coincidence of their thinking, and jokingly protested "No grandma, I'm afraid if I do tell him that, he'd have a breathing fit!" which would probably happen.
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