Breckenridge welcomes tens of thousands of guests every week from all over the world, so chances are some of those visitors are, dare I say it, racists. Since I've always lived in metropolitican areas where diversity is not a four-letter word, I've never really experienced racism on a personal level. Of course racism is prevalent in all societies, but maybe I've always been blissfully ignorant of such an ugly thing in my life. Although it is apparent that the Breckenridge population is very white with some Hispanics and only a sprinkling of blacks and Asians, everyone is generally cordial with one another in this idyllic little ski town.
Last week during one of our regular cross-country ski trips, I had a subtle but nonetheless real encounter with racism. As we were skiing down a narrow trail with Justin ten feet ahead of me, a snow-shoeing couple stepped out of the trail to make way for me to ski past them. I thanked the man first but he looked at me and didn't say anything. Then I thanked his companion but this time I said it even louder. She didn't respond either and instead stared at me blankly. I thought it was a bit rude of that snow-shoeing couple to not acknowledge my gratitude with a simple "You're welcome" or even a nodd but didn't think much of it until I caught up to Justin. He said, "Those damn Texans are ruining our ski trail with their chunky snow shoes." To which I replied, "I know...but wait, how did you know they were Texans?" "Because they said 'Howdy' when I skiied past them." Hmm. The very same couple who completely ignored me when I thanked them were greeting Justin with a friendly "Howdy." I knew right away what had happened and said "What? They completely ignored me when I thanked them." "Well, of course. They are racist Texans and hate Asians!" So I did what any self-respecting minority would do and screamed at the top of my lungs in the middle of the woods hoping they are not far behind, "YOU RACIST TEXANS!"
You may think I was being paranoid or jumping to conclusions, but I highly doubt it. Despite his half-brown heritage, Justin looks like a regular white guy while I am visibly Asian. Those two Southerners greeted whom they thought was a fellow member of their superior white race and snubbed someone of an inferior breed. I was perturbed but knew there was nothing I could do. Racism exists all over the world and deep down we are all a little racist and operate by our own prejudices we've developed over the years. So I guess the only thing I can do is the next time I see a Southerner, I should automatically assume they are racists and flick them off before they have a chance to snub me!
Note: For those readers who don't know me personally, the last sentence was meant to be sarcastic, poking fun that I would be just as much of a racist as my trail-ruining snow-shoeing cowboy-hat-wearing passive aggressive Asian-hating Texans.
Another note: We recently watched Romper Stomper on DVD, a disturbing Australian movie starring a very young and lean Russell Crowe about a gang of white neo-Nazis terrorizing gooks in Melbourne. I can't WAIT til we go there next month!
Pictures: Yukiko, originally from Tokyo, visited us from San Diego for the weekend and left us with a tiny snowman outside our house.
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