"Your People" vs "My People": the Asian mentality on ethnocentric group unity
Sometimes even I myself wonders exactly why some many thoughts about racial divisions race through my mind when I live and work in a country known the lack of it (almost everyone walking down the street dress the same way, talks the same language, sports the same behavior, and racist enough, really does look very similar to each other underneath the same makeups...) And I, with my salary-man outlook and behavior, does not exactly stick out like a sore thumb as most other foreigners seem to experience.
So I thought, until someone at work opens his/her mouth and start going off on their knowledge or willingness to learn more about...those foreign people. Oh, do they just love saying that word, especially in these days of globalization. "We the Japanese need to learn English (or any other non-Japanese language, for that matter) so we can better communicate with those foreign people." Indeed, they certainly do need to speak better English, but that kind of attitude really makes me think that they are thinking as if they forced to communicate with the enemy.
And here is the gem I got last week during work. Talking about a Chinese employee at another department, my superior simply advised, "you should hang out with this guy more, then you can become really friendly with him, because he is part of your people." Oh, thank you, boss! Finally, the friendliness of "my people" will make me not feel lonely being surrounded by "your people" all the time! Oh, should I just jump in joy or what?
OK, lets be fair here. The problem here is not just a Japanese one, it is pan-Asian (and to a lesser extent, existing for anyone in any country has not really been outside the home country for extended period of time). The Chinese (and Koreans, Taiwanese, etc) are just as likely to tripartite their world view from Tokyo in a classic Sino-centric fashion: the lonely misunderstood "real Chinese," the deliberately misunderstanding "Japanese," and the culturally barbaric "foreigners" (included corrupted degenerates like myself) needing a thorough upholding education.
And conveniently enough, "language barrier" became a nice excuse to diverge into groups by nationality (or ethnicity...well, the every Japanese do not know the difference between the two anyways, as is the case for other Asians) when they have the misfortune of being shoved into a small crowded space together for more than ten hours a day. Right, I was informed the other day that the unwritten rule of "foreigners' tables" do seem to exist in the company canteen.
But when that language barrier do not really exist, people still try their best to erect other barriers and rationalize them as much as possible. The "your people" comment from the superior is a clear symbolic manifestation of that effort. His underlying message can be interpreted as saying "since I KNOW you do not understand us the Japanese, therefore you should try to be friendly with people of your ethnicity so that you can make your work go smoother and do not feel lonely in this company."
Please do note that "my people" and "his people" cannot really understand each other is not only an automatic assumption but the necessary premise to make his whole statement logical. The fact that his statement came out so naturally at the time just goes to show how matter-of-fact he thinks the lack of understanding is and should be. To him, that "understanding barrier" is not something to be overcome or reduced but it simply exists like the wall between my one-room apartment and my neighbor's.
And this is just said plainly...now imagine the parts that not said...thankfully, English (even half-assed imitations of it) is still considered "cool" here (and in other parts of Asia as well), and perhaps because of that, I have been able to get together with some Japanese colleagues in a regular basis and do some stupid things together, but imagine a Swahili-speaking African walking down the street in Tokyo...hmmmm....
So I thought, until someone at work opens his/her mouth and start going off on their knowledge or willingness to learn more about...those foreign people. Oh, do they just love saying that word, especially in these days of globalization. "We the Japanese need to learn English (or any other non-Japanese language, for that matter) so we can better communicate with those foreign people." Indeed, they certainly do need to speak better English, but that kind of attitude really makes me think that they are thinking as if they forced to communicate with the enemy.
And here is the gem I got last week during work. Talking about a Chinese employee at another department, my superior simply advised, "you should hang out with this guy more, then you can become really friendly with him, because he is part of your people." Oh, thank you, boss! Finally, the friendliness of "my people" will make me not feel lonely being surrounded by "your people" all the time! Oh, should I just jump in joy or what?
OK, lets be fair here. The problem here is not just a Japanese one, it is pan-Asian (and to a lesser extent, existing for anyone in any country has not really been outside the home country for extended period of time). The Chinese (and Koreans, Taiwanese, etc) are just as likely to tripartite their world view from Tokyo in a classic Sino-centric fashion: the lonely misunderstood "real Chinese," the deliberately misunderstanding "Japanese," and the culturally barbaric "foreigners" (included corrupted degenerates like myself) needing a thorough upholding education.
And conveniently enough, "language barrier" became a nice excuse to diverge into groups by nationality (or ethnicity...well, the every Japanese do not know the difference between the two anyways, as is the case for other Asians) when they have the misfortune of being shoved into a small crowded space together for more than ten hours a day. Right, I was informed the other day that the unwritten rule of "foreigners' tables" do seem to exist in the company canteen.
But when that language barrier do not really exist, people still try their best to erect other barriers and rationalize them as much as possible. The "your people" comment from the superior is a clear symbolic manifestation of that effort. His underlying message can be interpreted as saying "since I KNOW you do not understand us the Japanese, therefore you should try to be friendly with people of your ethnicity so that you can make your work go smoother and do not feel lonely in this company."
Please do note that "my people" and "his people" cannot really understand each other is not only an automatic assumption but the necessary premise to make his whole statement logical. The fact that his statement came out so naturally at the time just goes to show how matter-of-fact he thinks the lack of understanding is and should be. To him, that "understanding barrier" is not something to be overcome or reduced but it simply exists like the wall between my one-room apartment and my neighbor's.
And this is just said plainly...now imagine the parts that not said...thankfully, English (even half-assed imitations of it) is still considered "cool" here (and in other parts of Asia as well), and perhaps because of that, I have been able to get together with some Japanese colleagues in a regular basis and do some stupid things together, but imagine a Swahili-speaking African walking down the street in Tokyo...hmmmm....
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