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In reply to the discussion: White DUers: Tell Your Stories [View all]NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)I heard some Polish jokes when I was growing up because my last name is Polish, but that's about all I can recall. (And, then, I would change "Polish" to "Italian" and retell the same joke to my mom, who is of Italian descent, but that was when I was a teen or younger)
Of course, I grew up in a small town that was probably 96-97% white. I think when I graduated, there were all of 2 Asian American students and 2 Hispanic Americans in the entire school, and maybe 10-12 African American kids out of a little over 400 kids in the entire high school (graduating class around 100 kids)
I would say that now that I've been married to a woman from China for almost 17 years now, I have seen some discrimination, but nothing too serious. We used to go out to dinner on occasion with an older Chinese couple. I noticed that if it was just me (white guy) and three Asians, we would often get poorer service in restaurants than if my wife and I went out with an older couple like my (white) parents. Even if it was the same restaurant a few weeks apart. I am guessing it's partly because Asians often have a reputation as being stingy with tips. (not saying it's true, but the reputation is out there)
But, to be honest, between marriages, I dated women of just about every race/ethnicity out there and never really experienced any sort of discrimination that I can recall. I guess that can be white privilege as well - I'm a clean cut white guy with a pretty good job who is generally respectful and a nice guy, so non-white relatives/friends didn't get too upset about me. At least not to my face. (And, yes, I would ask about that afterwards)