"We're a culture, not a costume."

It's that time of the year where cute little girls are dressed as their favorite princess and little munchkin boys are dressed as their favorite Power Ranger because of one reason: free candy.

Halloween has been a tradition that has been going on for many years. It’s a day where kids dress up in costumes and go from house to house saying “Trick-Or-Treat” and get a piece of candy in return. Nowadays, teenagers either stay home to hand out candy to the little ones or hang out with their friends on All Hallows Eve. However, there are still some that go all out in costumes and still go trick-or-treating. You're never too old; dress up all you want! 

But the question is: is your costume culturally appropriate?

Earlier this Saturday morning I was out costume shopping with my former boyfriend's younger sister Cassie. A while ago I had promised her that I'd help her find, and I quote, "the perfect costume" and I intended to keep that promise. 

As soon as we walked into the Spirit Halloween store, she let go of my hand that she was holding and started running all over the place. It made me smile and appreciate the innocent youth. But my smile quickly vanished when I saw a costume that made me cringe.

It was a geisha costume.

Now, if you are not familiar with the word "geisha", geishas are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses and whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music, dance, games and conversation (this is according to Wikipedia). 

Geishas are very significant in Japanese culture and seeing their kimono be sort of costume to wear on Halloween had the blood in my body heat up. 

"Korean Pop Star Child" costume sold by
Spirit Halloween for $29.99 :-)

As I stared at the geisha outfit with hatred for who knows how long, I felt a sharp tug on my arm. I turned and saw Cassie with a somewhat disappointed look on her face. I asked her what was wrong but she said nothing and continued to pull on my limb. I reluctantly let her pull me into an aisle and my eyes widened as she pointed to a costume that was labeled "Korean Pop Star Child". It had a sky blue a jacket, a bow tie, and sunglasses. I realized this outfit was probably a mock of the famous Korean pop star PSY (*cough* "Gangnam Style"). 

"Is this supposed to be funny? Because it is not," she had said angrily. "Please take me home."

These words being spoken by a nine-year-old child. 

"What about 'the perfect costume'?" I asked.

"I'll just wear a dress and find a tiara somewhere and be a princess instead," she responded, already walking out the door. I followed suit.

While I was driving her home, I constantly kept looking at the rearview mirror. She had a very upset facial expression and did not say anything during the car ride. Her being upset had made me upset as well. 

When I walked her to her doorstep, I rang the doorbell and stood on the porch patiently waiting for someone to let her in before I left. Within seconds, her older brother opened the front door and he and I were both surprised when she shouted "Oppa!" and embraced him.

If you haven't put the pieces together yet, Cassie is Korean and her negative reaction to the "Korean pop star" costume was understandable. Even though it wasn't as bad as the geisha costume, still .. the fact that it was so specific by saying "Korean" .. it was basically mocking a famous celebrity in her culture. 

"What happened?" her brother asked me with a raised eyebrow, little Cassie still clinging onto him. 

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by her saying, "I'll tell you later, oppa." 

We said our goodbyes and as I drove back home I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Poor Cassie just wanted to buy a costume to go trick-or-treating in... 

I didn't know what made me more upset: the racist outfits or the fact that a little girl noticed the racism .. 

You might be thinking, "Linh, those costumes are just jokes. Why are you so heat up?" 

I will ask you a question: "Do you belong to that group of people?"

If your response is no, you can't just borrow someone's race or culture as a Halloween costume. Those people have to live every single day facing racial stereotypes. You on the other hand are just wearing a costume and can take it off by the end of the day and never worry about it again.  

So when you're out buying a"Shanghai Hottie", "Sexy Tribe Girl", or "Mexican Poncho" costume, think twice and ask yourself: is your costume racist? 

Ebola vs Twitter

Americans and ebola recently on Twitter.

(Note: these posts contain a lot of swear words and racial slurs)

It amazes me how one ebola outbreak in Texas is creating all this havoc. Not to mention how horrible and racist these Tweets are... When I was scrolling through the "ebola" tag on Twitter, these posts definitely caught my attention and had me stop and think for a bit. I'm just speechless right now. 

Society hasn't changed. Racism is and forever will be a problem here in America. 

Think twice before you speak

*Note: I will be using fake names to conceal identity 

Tuesday morning while I was on the way to school, I received a phone call from my friend Bella who was in my math class. She had told me because of a power outage, there was a possibility that class would be canceled if the power didn't turn back on. I was extremely annoyed when she told me this because 1) I was already driving late to school and 2) I only had one class that day and would've woke up and got dressed for nothing. 

While on the phone I heard a voice in the background and cringed as I recognized it to be Ramona. Ramona is Bella's close friend and is known for saying things that should not be said out loud. When I met her in high school I didn't necessarily hate her, but some of the things she said bothered me a lot. Basically, she doesn't have a filter. I was so glad to graduate and never see her again but later found out she was attending PCC as well. Not only that but she ended up being in the same math class as me. 

When I arrived at the school, Bella called me again and said class was canceled. I groaned in frustration and asked if she could take me home because my aunt had dropped me off. She said yes and to meet her by the library. Unfortunately when I met up with her Ramona was there, too. 

As we were walking to Bella's car, I told her how my calculator had broke and that I needed to purchase a new one. Ramona laughed and said, "Why would you need one anyway? You're Asian." 

If you are not familiar with my personality, I am a blunt person and would've totally called her out on that comment. However, it was early in the morning and I didn't have enough energy to do so. So instead, I rolled my eyes and said "ha-ha" with no enthusiasm. Now I was tired and irritated. 

While on the car ride home, I decided to call my dad and let him know I was on the way back to the house. My parents do not know much English so I always speak Vietnamese around them and around our family members. But because there are some words that I can't exactly translate to Viet, I just say it in English. 

When I finished my phone call, Ramona asked me why I said a word in English. I asked her what she meant and she replied back saying, "Oh, well why couldn't you just say it in Vietnamese?" I began to get even more irritated now because not only was she eavesdropping during my conversation, but she also had the audacity to question my native tongue. I didn't know what to say because her question was simply too stupid to respond back. She then continued, "Vietnamese is such an ugly language. No one speaks it anyway. Like who wants to learn it? No one."

By now, I was furious. How dare she make a joke about my race, question my language, and now insult it? Not only was she Caucasian, but she only knew one language. She had no right to do such a thing. Had she not heard of the country Vietnam? Seattle? San Jose? Westminster? Southeast Portland? Those are just some populated places with many Vietnamese speakers. Her comments were so ignorant and I just wanted to yell at her right there inside the car. But instead, I said nothing and used my phone as a distraction. The car ride was silent and when Bella dropped me off I didn't say goodbye and went straight inside my house.

The reason why I didn't yell at Ramona was because of Bella. I thought it would be extremely awkward of me to just yell at her friend in the car. There was already tension and I didn't want things to heat up even more. Another reason is because I knew Ramona wasn't trying to be offensive. I know for a fact she thinks we're friends so she says those things thinking I'm okay with it. Ironically, I do not see her as a friend and I am not okay with her comments. She doesn't take other people's feelings with considerate and just blurts out things.

Moral of the story: think twice before you speak. Your words could hurt someone else. 

*Note: Bella later texted me that day apologizing for Ramona's words and said how her actions were un-excusable. I am thankful for her words. 

What is this blog about?

According to the dictionary, the word "prejudice" means a "preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience".  On this blog, I will be writing about religious and racial prejudice because I am a victim of both. 

I recently graduated high school back in June and during my four years there, people have called me their "favorite Asian". Senior year, my friends started calling me "Ling Ling" as an inside joke and somehow everyone started calling me that. At first I brushed it off because I knew it was just a joke but after a while I began to get very annoyed. It annoyed me so much that I even addressed it via my personal Twitter account where everyone could see. 

I have heard many racist 'jokes' and such to fuel a strong dislike to people who say such thing (i.e. 'you only eat dogs and cats and rice, 'can you even see? your eyes are small', 'asians can't drive', 'What Asian are you?', etc. Someone even had the audacity to ask me where I came from .. I WAS BORN IN AMERICA. I WAS BORN IN HOUSTON, TEXAS. 

As for religion, I've had people look at me with a repulsive face when they find out I'm Catholic. Most of the people that have looked at me with disgust are Christians which is ironic since Catholicism is a type of Christianity. I'm not a hardcore believer like my mom and her side of the family yet it baffles and angers me how easily someone can judge another person based on their religious views and/or racial preference. 

I'm not saying I haven't said something offensive to those of other ethnicities and religious beliefs because I have sometime in my life (I guess I'm somewhat a hypocrite but then again everyone is). I just hope I can spread awareness to everyone and help others who feel the same way I do.