Before starting my Bachelor's Degree Program, I never studied abroad. I traveled a lot of countries but I never spent an entire year in a country fourteen hours away from Korea. After I told people that I will earn my degrees in Madrid, many of them told me to be careful because racism is a big deal these days. But I was not afraid because I am a full-grown woman who can speak fluent English. And the reality was all the way same as I expected. I did not experience any harassment or violence and I never felt disadvantaged during my time in Madrid.
However, I went through one bizarre incident that enlightened my perception of the concept ‘racism’.
When my Korean friend visited me during the Christmas break, we went to LaMucca, a bar close to my university, to have a glass of beer. We were having such a great time in the crowded restaurant full of holiday mood. However, I could feel one gentleman staring at us for the entire time until I finished my second glass of caña. And soon after, that tall guy with a suit in his 50s, came to our table and continued staring at us. Because my friend cannot speak any Spanish and I could only speak the very basics, I waited until he say something. Then, even before saying 'hola' or 'Cómo estás?', he suddenly asked us where are we from. I replied, South Korea, and he looked very surprised and stared at me again. I became curious because of that surprised look, so I asked him, seems like you didn't expect South Korea. And he replied, 'No, actually I didn't', and asked me why am I here. So I told him I study in ie university and he was surprised again! As he continued staring at me even after asking everything he wanted, we couldn't bear that awkwardness so decided to leave and said goodbye to that gentleman. And he replied, have a great evening, enjoy your time in Madrid, and even walked us out to the door with his polite manner.
Maybe this was just a cultural thing, being social in bars and speaking to new people, et cetera. But after dwelling on that mysterious incident, I concluded that it was a different type of racism. If you turn on the news these days, you see some violent and immoral incidents happening to colored people, such as an Asian lady got attacked just because she was walking down the street. And this experience of mine was definitely not something like that, but it was still racism due to following reasons.
- Staring at people for more than five minutes straight because they are 'obviously Asian looking girls' drinking 'caña' in the middle of 'Spanish restaurant' while speaking some 'non-understandable language'.
- Asking where are we from 'even before saying hi' because he was so sure that we were Asians.
- Looking surprised after listening to our nationality since he probably expected ‘China’.
- Asking the reason why are we here as if this place does not suit us probably because we were the only Asian looking people in the crowded restaurant few days before Christmas.
I was not physically harassed or unfairly treated by that gentleman. I did not even feel threatened by him even though he was a bit drunk. But what I want to say here is that being polite while making some racist comments and gestures does not make you non-racist. As I said, even though there were no actual harm done, me and my friend did not have a very pleasant evening that day because his questions and attitude were inarguably racist to some extent.
Therefore, what I want to emphasize today is that violence and disadvantages are not the only way how racism can be conveyed. It is so easy to paint racism with something else, racism can anytime be dyed with politeness and friendliness. So from now on, if you think of racism, please remember that true non-racism can only be achieved by behaving normally. If you are truly a non-racist, don’t just 'act' normal, just be yourself and 'treat' them normally.