Bullying against Asian students in Phili

An alleged racially motivated attack on Asian students, that left 11 students in the hospital, is evolving into a national/international story. Recently the Vietnamese consulate has filed a complaint to the US State Department in response to the incident. Details below

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-01-22-asian-bullying-philadelphia_N.htm
and
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/01/24/racial_bullying_roils_south_philadelphia_school/

As an Asian who went through inner city public education system, I saw hints of this, but it was never ever near this level. Warning: people posting need to be careful with this one.

zel, what do you exactly mean by the last line? Are you currently in a state of rage?

Anyway, Ive always wondered why these people wont jsut expel these violent kids. I mean, I dont see a reason why the entire school has to suffer coz of their presence there and they HAVE brought it upon themselves if ever. They persist because they are unchallenged.

You cant stand your ground against these types of people, what are you gonna do? Fight them? If you do and miraculously succeed the first time, theyd just get more people and beat you up harder.

This may be unfair to say but I will say it anyway, I feel these animals shouldnt be allowed in school, they should be sent to juvi and the funds wasted on them should be used to improve the education of those who do want to be educated and deserve to be.

Oh my, it HAD to be blacks, uh? The irony...

What?

You thought racism was over?
Everybody experiences it, it's a fact of life. So long as we keep up the imaginary lines, we will continue to look at people from different lands (be it Vietnam, Prague, or across the aptly named "Division" st.) differently.

It's horrible that this has been going on for so long, but Philadelphia is no different from Israel, Dubai, or Dublin.

I remember one nutcase who bad-mouthed me when I was in the US... I'm, starting to think it's because I was asian... But I felt good when I flipped him off :) I felt unsatisfied though...

People are stupid. Seriously, i'm betting if someone yelled "nigger" those bullys would scream racism.

Before moving on, I want to make it a point that just because we're dealing with racism here, our posts shouldn't. Those who can't will find an admin/mod on the other end of line, e.g. the crap in "Are Men Superior than Women" thread.

Like others stated, racism will probably always exist simply because diversity always brings differences, which leads to conflicts because of the inability to reconcile with one another. Certainly some sort of punitive measure must be dealt here, since indifference or feigned ignorance of a problem like racism is tantamount to a crime.

@ashcrimson: to me, passive resistance would seem to be the best answer, even if you'll get hurt in the process. Point is, bullying can only be stopped by individual mental strength and the action by the appropriate people, in which case the "authorities" and did not intervene or not respond correctly and the full fault lies on them.

This. It's sad to see that those who are supposed to protect aren't doing shit and merely wait for their pay to roll in without doing squat.

I don't really mind the racism... but it's the fact that those who are supposed to DO something merely watch and "enjoy the show".

money, but I guess thats the thing here too, since these are also 'kids' they cant be disciplined, they like untouchables I guess in school, even if you do report it what can be done. Well its seriously interesting that another country had to somewhat interfere here hahahahahah but I approve of it really coz no one does shit about it. And yeah, its either you just deal with it that way and report it and pray something happens, join their gang or a bigger tougher group and fight fire with fire I guess.

This kind of thing will always happen if there is a minority, be it racial or social. If a large group of people are uninformed about a minority (or just want power over them), they can quickly make up their mind about them based on fear of the unknown and the "us agains them" mentality, which is really good at segregating people.

When i was is high school, I used to just beat the sorry s*** out of them.... and I'm Asian... Big surprise. I learned that if they show aggression, then you need to show them aggression. It's all politics. You need to survive.

It depends how you want to react. Historically, reacting violently only perpetuates the violence and hate between the two parties. Eventually you just get into a cycle of attack and counterattack until one side dies or gives up; the latter being highly unlikely in the case of discrimination.

The only way for people to solve these problems is through enlightenment and education, both of which are extremely long and excruciating processes. You can't expect society to make leaps in progress instantaneously, or even over decades for that matter.

Why do you think non-violent anti-oppression movements such as with Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi succeeded in making social advancement that continues to last?

Besides the fact that Asian people have a general size disadvantage compared to black people, then your solution, even though it worked for you, is extremely poor and ill conceived

hmm... i suppose that's right. Maybe i was lucky. But then half of those people that I fought with became my "Homies". They kinda accepted me for being asian. Asian on the outside, but G on the inside they say. I also agree that solutions to these problems is education or "putting sense into their heads". But sometimes, (and this is purely my opinion, I'm not saying it's right) force is necessary.

Gives the meaning to "pounding some sense into you" all over, doesn't it?

Easy. The reason why the school permits them is because of their wallets.
I remembered a school policy that if a student does not get a minimal amount of distinctions in a examination, they will be kicked. Turns out that the students that failed to meet those requirements went to the international syllabus.... in the same school..... ( national is easier )
Seems that international was twice as expensive as the national in my old school. It's sad.

Philly residents are not racist. Ask any out of towner that has worn their team colors at sporting events in Philadelphia. Even this year Washington fans were belted continously with snowballs. Several times, opposing fans at Philadelphia games have been beaten, runned down at intersections, pushed off the balconies. What is the complaints that Veitnamese have for racism? Google viscious attacks at sporting events in Philadelphia. REMEMBER, PHILLY IS THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. Yep, that is their motto.

As an Asian American who went to a school where the population of Blacks were 70%, Whites 30%, and other races 10% I can relate to what is happening in Philadelphia. It usually starts out with someone trying to get a laugh out of an another student by taunting them with words, in this case a Vietnamese student. Since the black student didn't know the Vietnamese student he taunted him with Asian jokes. Of course after awhile you get fed up with the bullying and retaliate. When one person fights others join in, and other people try to stop the fighting but end up being hurt in the process. Then it becomes a utter disgust with anyone associated with that person who was the reason their friends were expelled.

During lunch I sat at the table with the other Asians at my old high school, which is in Virginia. One day someone threw an apple at my friends head and called him "Ping Pong", my Chinese friend being a hot head came running up to him and punched him in the jaw. Before the guy could do anything I pushed my friend and tackled the guy. Then the rest was a blur. Finally the lazy security guards finally came to break up the crowd. After that something similar happened like what happened in Philly but not as extravagant, Asian taunts were thrown at people that were not even in involved in that fight. The apple thrower, my friend, and I were suspended for a week. Luckily everything calmed down during that period of time and everything went back to normal...slightly.