I have a huge favor to ask the moderators and other membersof this forum. I acknowledge that the original thread topic has beensidetracked, and it isn’t my intention to “highjack” this thread – my apologiesto the original poster and other members who have to endure this, but Ihonestly think this issue is important enough to warrant just one more post toclear the air. A member misinterpreted a recent post by me as being racist, andwas understandably upset by that. I feel horrible for being accused of beingracist and all can be cleared up with one post’s worth of communication, Ithink. So as an investment in the social cohesion of this online community, Iask that one last post be allowed to prevent any residual stigma that could endup following me unnecessarily here. Members are already posting about (perceived)racism, which never existed on this thread. One moderator has already addressed“personal or racial insults”, when no racism took place. Even another poster ofAsian heritage acknowledged that there was no racism.
The poster that was upset really seems to me like a veryfriendly and informative person. I have to assume that he may have had a badday, or didn’t read my full post before reacting emotionally. We’re all human.I just want to smooth things out by telling you a little about me (as itpertains to any perceived racism).
I’m 41 years old, just so that you know that I’m not a 13year old internet troll trying to stir things up. I’m half Japanese and halfCaucasian. I can fully relate to both cultures. I work full time and attendclasses part time… my major is Sociology and ethnic studies, which means I’mtaught to compare and contrast cultures without being judgmental. I’m thepresident of one cultural non-profit in the county and on the board ofdirectors for another cultural non-profit. This is all volunteer hours topromote cultural diversity in our area. I was trained at work to facilitate “Diversityand Inclusion” workshops for coworkers.
I share this verypersonal information to you all to demonstrate that I am not a racist person. Ionly made reference to a very real social norm in Asia that encourages the useof the entire fish, while in other counties (Europe and United States) this isconsidered unusual. There were no racial slurs or hate involved. This is morethan a racist stereotype; it’s a legitimate cultural practice. It was importantto me to explain myself because I’ve been reading this forum for years, butonly recently decided to start my account and share my experiences withcommunity because I thought it’d be a great group to belong to. You see in thenews all the time how a person can be accused and tried for a crime. Eventhough they are proven 100% innocent, a stigma can continue to follow them andaffect their social lives and reputation. Please don’t allow this to happen tome.
I promise this is the last post I’ll make on this. And now…back to fish J
