Noel Copiaco January 16, 2012
As I mentioned in a previous article, many people here in Michigan assumed that I am an American Indian back in 1969. Having long hair and being a little taller than most Asian men in those days, people just assumed so. People called me “chief” almost everywhere even at my (daytime) workplace. In those days, many white folks still thought it was OK to give people a nickname in reference to their ethnicities. Call it what you want, it was blatant racism.
These days, racism can take on subtle forms that sometimes it is difficult to identify. Regardless, when people call you out on your race for any reason, to me that’s racism. Nobody needs to remind me that I am not Caucasian for any reason. I don’t remind my non-Asian friends that they are not Asian. Why should it matter?
Not too long ago, my old band from the 70s Squirrel Tooth Annie, reunited and played at an outdoor jam fest here in Michigan. Someone overheard a woman who jokingly asked why “those Asian guys are playing country music”. It sounded harmless and I am certainly not saying that the lady meant that in a malicious manner but more often than not, there is negative racial sentiment in such statements. Nevertheless, I just laughed it off when I was told. I know that it doesn’t matter to most people.
There are three Caucasians and two Filipinos in our band and we don’t even think of those demographic statistics even back in the old days and particularly not when we’re playing music. We are just a group of friends who love playing music together. Besides, that makes us a rather special band of musicians in the eyes of many. I hope the woman was not implying that if you are a certain ethnicity, you should not play certain types of music that are not exclusive to your ethnic group. If there is such a law, maybe someone should’ve told the Beatles (who were Brits) they had no business covering black American music in the early 60s. Wonder how that might have affected their music? And what should Asian American musicians play anyway? Gongs, gamelans, tablas and sitars? Gee, someone please remind Yo-yo Ma!
Racism in our modern age shows up in such manner. We’d like to think we’ve come a long way just because we’ve elected our first black president but some things have never changed. There are people who will remain racially prejudiced in their hearts although they may pretend to be tolerant. There are still people out there who see a “foreigner” when they see an Asian or an “alien” when they see a Hispanic. When will they learn to accept the fact that there are more hues to being American other than just black or white? Or that Asians have been in this country since the days of the Galleon Trade (1600s) and that nearly half of what is now the USA once belonged to New Spain (Mexico)?
I have become insightful to this issue in my old age but in a good way. I react to racism differently now. Whereas in my youth, I reacted with rage and quick to retaliate verbally and sometimes physically, I try to do so now with rationale, spirituality, tack and even humor. I am an old man and I’ve put on more miles than many people in this journey we call life. It took me a long time to accept the fact that we are all spirits in the material world . . . spirits with bodies rather than bodies with spirits. In that sense, I actually believe there is only One of us here.
It is unfortunate that many of us will not accept this spiritual truth. Many would rather find something that would justify their “discriminating” ways. Some people will always revert to bigotry when they want to be mean, funny or just assert superiority. Our nation has many blemishes in its history regarding this issue. Sometimes it is easier to find humor in the senselessness of it all. I realize I will never change people but I can change my mind about them.
So, forgive me for “seeing” your spirit and not your body when I look at you. The spirit knows only love. That said, we can all keep on rockin’ no matter what our body looks like :o)