Two Unrelated ItemsI am struck by the amount of migrant workers in Taiwan. Perhaps that's a naiive discovery, but a discovery nonetheless. Though the VMWBO office (Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office) serves Vietnamese, I am horribly aware of the Thai, Indonesian and Filipino workers facing similar human trafficking issues. In fact, at the International Human Trafficking Conference I attended, I came away feeling that Indonesians have less resources to address this social problem. I've noticed many Filipino detainees in the detention centers too. I wonder how much of Taiwan's economy is fueled by darker-skinned Asians. I'm probably going to get in trouble with that statement. Oh well, it's the truth. Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders have always ranked lower on the Asian scale of privilege. Just like Latinos in North America, the Asian continent has it's own hierarchy of people groups.
On a lighter note, I lost my Invisalign retainers again. I have a lifetime reputation for losing things. We all must be good at something and my talent is losing stuff. I somehow managed to put them in a napkin on a table in the common room. I discreetly asked one person and in about 30 seconds, about 8 shelter residents were involved in the search. It was pretty embarassing, especially because I already managed to lose my phone's SIM card and a few other items over only 3 weeks. Thus, though there's not many things the shelter folks can say in English, they know the phrase "I lose things a lot." And yes, we dug through the trash and found them. Definitely blog-worthy.
5 comments:
Girl, Latinos know what's up. The darker=the more oppressed. Even in Mexico, the Indios are at the bottom of the social ladder. But I would also guess to conclude that even in the States, the darker the Asian, the more oppressed. Its sad to know that even in Taiwan, this occurs.
I think it's true that in many parts of the world, as a lingering effect of colonialism, along with other factors, social stratification is influenced by skin color. As K.Merino pointed out, it's unfortunately a part of Latino culture as well. India, as yet another example, discriminates a great deal based on dark/light skin. Even among the Black community in the U.S., they discriminate amongst themselves based on differing shades of skin.
In Taiwan, the native Taiwanese (aborigines) have traditionally been targeted for discrimination based on their characteristically darker skin as well (along with language, etc.) In mainland China, the darker Chinese which make up a larger population than people realize...and yet, Chinese are counted among the "white" East Asians.
I think that you've made a good point and I'm glad you brought it up. You shouldn't get in trouble for it, any more than people who acknowledge that a great deal of California's economy is fueled by the darker-skinned immigrants. More people need to recognize that it's a universalized problem. I'm curious to know whether the darker Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, and Filipinos also face more oppression in their own countries from their lighter counterparts.
Re: the darker the Asian in the U.S., the more oppressed - the figures show that the correlation is there, but I doubt any study could show that being darker-skinned causes the increased oppression in the U.S., simply because a lot of darker-skinned immigrants to the U.S. got there with less to begin with and under more oppressed conditions - e.g. refugees.
Ohhh Cay Cay =) You lost your invisalign! I wish I could hug you. I love you lots my Darling Sissy-Poo...
The key seems to be not to put 'em in a napkin ;-) May May had the same problem.
I love reading your blogs. I have to admit to my ignorance to the human trafficking subject until recently. It quite the education for me.
Take care of yourself my Darling. I can't help but worry about you.
The desire to have lighter skin is a multi-dollar industry...it's a sad reality.
P.S. I lose things all the time too. Sometimes I make a point to put something somwhere so I won't lose it but then I can't find it. :) Hang in there.
me too! I put things in "safe places" all the time and then can never find them.
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