What do you think of interracial couples?

You'd think society would have gotten over this racial barrier thing, but some still have problems with interracial relationships.

Personally I see no problem with it as long as it is a loving relationship and not some sort of bizarre racial fetish.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Umma

This will sound racist, but I really want to know: how can East Asians tell the difference between their races?

I didn't expect that someone would consider interracial couple one that belongs to a major race... thinking about it that way, I'm of mixed race, then!

The problem between Koreans and Japanese sounds more related to national than ethnic conflict, though.

Oh, you can certainly tell to an extent, especially if you're an East Asian. They're not all exactly the same "race", but rather distinct varieties of a particular subset of human physiology, much like how you have all kinds of African looking people, or all kinds of Caucasians ranging from the Middle East to Ireland.

It takes a bit of exposure to get a concept of the distinctions between Japanese, Koreans, Northern Chinese, Southern Chinese, Mongolian, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, Malay, Filipino, etc. You're not expected to really KNOW the difference, and unless the person is a complete ass or extremely chauvanist, normally no one would be offended if you accidentaly confuse them with a different ethnicity.

Personally, I can roughly estimate from where someone came from, having to see countless Asians during my commute every morning and afternoon to and from the university. Most are Chinese, occasionally I see some Koreans, Vietnamese and Japanese though it is only confirmed when they talk amongst themselves. Most of the time you can simply tell by the way they dress. Plainer wardrobes usually indicate FOB grad Chinese students, more in fashion are the Koreans, Vietnamese and Japanese (especially with hair). Asian Americans are usually a bit more eclectic but trend towards suburban white kid wear.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Umma

But come on; I can't, for example, tell the difference between an Irish and a Scottish; how could they possibly tell the difference between Laotian and Vietnamese? Both countries are small... and are right next to each other! Would *that* be considered interracial amongst them?

Maybe I'm splitting hairs. It's not really race, but ethnicity that makes the difference, hence you have all those tribal conflicts Africa today. To the outsider, they all look very similar to eachother and are perplexed at the infighting, but to the one who knows, there are reasons why this exists.

Here's a fun diversion for you to try. All Look Same is a small game that tests to see if you can identify if the person in question is Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

I never get a good score because most of the people chosen are so unique to the point of ambiguity.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.