Racism from gf's grandpa

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sooo I've been dating my girlfriend Rachel since we met in college 8 months ago--- and I finally got to meet her family last week....boy was it something.

Thing is we are from very different areas of the United States n come from very different backgrounds - shes from Alabama and her family is super conservative, super Christian and super white....I'm from Hawaii, super Liberal, an agnostic/athiest (cant decide but point is im not Christian) and super NOT white. Essentially shes from a little redneck town where everyones white and black ppl are rare, so put an Asian guy there and hes totallly alien.

When I arrived at their home everyone was very nice in greeting me.....but I could sense that some people were just like ".......huh?" like I was a foreigner or something. They even catered Japanese food for dinner that night probably because they thought it would make me feel more at home (im japanese-american) LOL....i hardly eat Japanese food in my regular life let alone in Alabama with conservative, religious Southern folk., it was just funny to look around and see everybody awkwardly trying to use chopsticks to eat sushi while i Secretly wished they had ordered pizza instead. We had a fun time discussing sterotypes about Hawaii, Asians and Southern Folk.....they didnt approve of my religious blasphemy but I make their daughter happy so they forgive it (This is a family that probably would send their son to Gay Camp to pray the gay away if he were gay)

It was pretty much something like in reverse of THIS. LMAO....except with racists.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvE4xfm0UGk[/youtube]


Rachels younger brother and dad started talking to me about how they're Bruce Lee fans....it was really boring as I dont give a sh*t about Bruce Lee but I knew they were just trying to be nice in their own way....the convo steered towards football and sports eventually where we all found common ground and that went well (except they were Falcons fans! unacceptable!). everyone was comfortable and having a good time......all except grandpa. apparently he was a WWII veteran and still carried prejudice against Japanese people...he refused to shake my hand, im pretty sure he called me a Jap, gave me dirty looks and he just stayed away from me most of the time. two uncles were also not friendly and I heard someone call me a Chinese too....and one lady just kept staring

I mean I can understand that he lost friends fighting the Japanese 70 years ago, but Jesus it was 70 years ago! Not only that my family are patriots, we've been in the USA since the 1880s and serve in the Armed Forces every generation (im the only one not to) In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Japanese -Americans were taken away and put into internment camps without trial, and had all their financial and property assets taken away (and not returned after)....despite being stolen from and treated as an enemy in our own country my grandpa joined the US Army ina a famous unit called the 442nd Regiment. It was made up of all Japanese-Americans who had their families sent to camps and businesses taken away....they wanted to prove their loyalty to our country and did so by becoming the most highly decorated unit in American history. They liberated Dachau and other Extermination camps in Germany as well as led a heroic assault to free a Texas regiment who had been surrounded by Germans...earning 25 Medals of Honors in the process. my old man earned himself a bronze star for leading his unit in an assault on a heavily fortified German hill. ... that and 4 Purple hearts during the war...probably more than Rachels racist ass grandpa can say. Thats no way to treat a real Japanese person .....let alone another American,....especially considering my families contribution to this country

just needed to get that off my chest. To Rach im her 'samurai knight in armor' but to her grandpops and a few relatives im just a Jap or Chinese to them. how should I handle this? I'm pissed of that this kind of sh*t still exists in our great nation....one that supposedly embraces diversity and tolerance.

Sorry to hear about the negativity you received. Was it mostly the older relatives that were being a**holes?

This is one of the many reasons why the concept of race needs to be forever thrown in the trash where it belongs. There are no different races. Only individuals.

Good thing I've got nothing to do with my stepdad's family. Those people are white-trash hicks who'd call me an N-word lover if I ever brought a black girlfriend to meet them. People like those and your girlfriend's grandpa need to be re-educated so they'll no longer accept the outdated idea of race.

I'm sorry, but I have to mention that I got a good laugh from the chopsticks part. How stupid are these people? Japanese food? Bruce Lee? BRUCE LEE WAS CHINESE!! Some people can try as hard as they might, but they will still be idiots. That's what's great about situations like these. People show their true colors, so your work is cut out for you. These people are stupid. Maybe for their birthday you should get them an anime comic book and tell them you think they would like it. (Obviously don't do that. but still, I tend to laugh at situations like these, because I find such stupidity to be hilarious...does that make me a bad person?)

Oh, and considering her family, should they be surprised that their daughter is not with a super conservative, super Christian, super white guy? If I was her, that would be blasphemy against myself. I'm guessing there is a reason she went to college in...um...where are you again? Crap. Hawaii? Oregon? Did you go to the national title game last year?

I'm not surprised in the least. My great grandfather used the word Jap till he died.

I found your story both hillarious and pretty typical of some of the American culture especially in the midwest. My family isn't racist but my mother's parents are...though my grandmother was never really overt about it. I remember dreading to bring one guy over who was of African heritage. We were best friends and ironically he was the smart guy who helped me with my homework as I was the dumb blonde. Anyway my grandfather and grandmother were living with us at the time. My grandfather has always gotten himself in trouble due to his racist and inappropriate jokes. I dreaded him being up so I snuck in the back door. Unfortunately he was up and about. He asked me in a suspicious voice who this was. I told him he was a friend who was helping me with my homework. Anyway to make a long story short. He asked my friend if he'd like some KFC which btw my grandfather actually loves. So we got some KFC and my grandfather eventually started liking this guy too much and you'll see why in a minute. They were talking about the economy and suddenly as I dreaded this would happen, he started on about how these "porch monkeys" were sucking our economy dry by living off our taxes and selling crack and guns to minors. Oh boy....and my friend had to ask what porch monkeys were....


Anyway you're a good looking guy and you're girl is obviously lucky. I had to laugh at some of the stuff you mentioned because there are some really dumb Americans when it comes to the topic of Asians. We even have dumb Americans like my brother in law who confuse Eastern Hindu Indians that wear turbans(Mostly Sihks and Hindus) with Middle Eastern Muslims.