How Foreign Governments Impact Domestic Race Relations
Today, I had the pleasure of having lunch with a high-ranking diplomat from an Asian country who spent several years in the states and he had quite an opinion about domestic politics and race relations. His main message to me was how he despised the neighboring Asian countries and how disappointed he is at the immigrants in the states (particularly NYC) for not having pride and moving towards excessive collaboration with other Asian races. In other words, his countrymen and countrywomen are at an identity crisis and according to him, we are losing our sense of identify and should have more pride.
This diplomat went even further deriding a local Asian politician because that politician did not belong to the same Asian background. I wonder if he would carry the same level of disrespect and distrust for a non-Asian politician …
Now, because I come from a very diverse background and education, and excelled in heterogeneous environments all my life, this kind of bigotry has little effect in my outlook in life. However, these diplomats with high-ranking status have significant impact and influence over the first and older generations, and consequently have an impact on how the first generations raise the next cohort of generations. Instead of appreciating and learning from diversity, foreign government officials come here to divide us and fuel a certain level of animosity and even hatred.
Taking this to another level (perhaps to the point of conspiracy theory), what if foreign government officials are asked to come here to perpetuate and instigate divisive race relations? After all, the creative spirit that is the backbone of this country’s preeminent status comes from individuals’ ability to collaborate and learn from different cultures. Two heads are always better than one.