What an amazing country!

12:31 pm EST October 23rd, 2008 | News | 12 Comments

Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times

The other day I had a conversation with a Beijing friend and I mentioned that Barack Obama was leading in the presidential race:

She: Obama? But he’s the black man, isn’t he?

Me: Yes, exactly.

She: But surely a black man couldn’t become president of the United States?

Me: It looks as if he’ll be elected.

She: But president? That’s such an important job! In America, I thought blacks were janitors and laborers.

Me: No, blacks have all kinds of jobs.

She: What do white people think about that, about getting a black president? Are they upset? Are they angry?

Me: No, of course not! If Obama is elected, it’ll be because white people voted for him.

[Long pause.]

She: Really? Unbelievable! What an amazing country!

In Jamaica, they’ve been showing the debates on broadcast TV. The whole world is watching. (via)

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12 Responses to “What an amazing country!”

  1. Bijan C. Bayne says:
    October 23, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Misconceptions abound. On C-SPAN’s “Q & A”, Lynnette Clemetson of TheRoot.com recounted a train ride in Hong Kong w/ a Chinese woman who asked her how many guns she owned. The passenger thought and had heard all Black Americans have guns.

    Maybe a little diversity in leadership will do us a World of good.

  2. Duros Hussein 62 says:
    October 23, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    Those folks need to get out more.

  3. SFAW says:
    October 23, 2008 at 1:03 pm

    It’s more than just misconceptions. It has been my experience that there’s a fair amount of racism in too many Asian countries – the Japanese think the Koreans (among others) are inferior (as in “an inferior race”), the Chinese harbor similar feelings about non-Chinese, and so forth. Comparisons are iffy, at best, but my sense is that the US is now less racist than much of Asia.

    (No scientific studies to support this, just my observations from numerous trips to various places there.)

  4. z_adura says:
    October 23, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    I can remember being in Moscow almost 20 years ago with an African friend who was studying at the polytechnic university. People on the subway were worried about standing too close to him – and it was hard not to on the Metro – because they thought his skin would smudge their clothes.

    Obama will change the world.

  5. SaveFarris says:
    October 23, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    Substitute “George Will” or “David Brooks” for Nick Kristof and this post would have been labeled Conservative Columnist has Racist Friend.

  6. ArC says:
    October 23, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    Kristof talked to an friend of his in Beijing? I don’t think this can possibly be as plausible as if he’d talked to a cabdriver from Beijing…

  7. metricpenny says:
    October 23, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    “But president? That’s such an important job! In America, I thought blacks were janitors and laborers.”

    I’m not disturbed by this response from a citizen of China.

    I’m disturbed that many citizens in “Real America” think the same.

  8. Dennis says:
    October 23, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Yes, it is an amazing country. It always has been. It’s just a bit sad for so many people to just now come to that realization.

  9. Quaker in a Basement says:
    October 23, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    It’s just a bit sad for so many people to just now come to that realization.

    Aren’t you people ever satisfied?!?

  10. megamoze says:
    October 23, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    “Substitute “George Will” or “David Brooks” for Nick Kristof and this post would have been labeled Conservative Columnist has Racist Friend.”

    As long as we’re pulling speculation out of our butts, I imagine the conversation with George Will would have gone somewhat differently:

    ” The other day I had a conversation with a Commie Chinese woman and I mentioned that Barack Obama was leading in the presidential race according to the cheerleading liberal media elite:

    She: Obama? But he’s the black man, isn’t he?

    Me: Yes, exactly. And probably a Muslim.

    She: But surely a black man couldn’t become president of the United States?

    Me: I had hoped not. But sadly yes.

    She: But president? That’s such an important job! In America, I thought blacks were janitors and laborers.

    Me: Only if Republicans had their way. And they are only voting for Obama because he’s black. They’re too stupid to do otherwise.

    She: What do white people think about that, about getting a black president? Are they upset? Are they angry?

    Me: Yes.

    [Long pause.]

    She: Wow. You’re a tool.

    Me: Yep.

  11. Duros Hussein 62 says:
    October 23, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Correction:

    She: Wow. You’re a running pig-dog capitalist tool.

  12. Randy Brown says:
    October 23, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    Substitute “HorseShit” for “SaveFarris.”

    ‘Nuf said.