Beijing taxi
Aug. 8th, 2007 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tikistitchInternational Blog Against Racism Week
August 6 through August 12, 2007.
Details here.
We weren't gonna write about this. In tiki's priveleged little life, it's true, we've have to face discrimination against fat people, uncool people, girls, nerds, and kids with glasses, but we've rarely been personally touched by racism.
But this year, we have a suggestion for all the white people who are reading this blog.
Go try to hail a taxi in Beijing.
Chinese taxi drivers don't stop for white people. It's the truth. They'll stop for the Chinese guy down the street, and the Chinese couple up the street. They'll pass you by, turn off their light. Or they'll ask 4 times what they'd charge others, or they'll claim you're going in the wrong direction.
Now, you may say this is just a little thing. It's true. We've heard that before. But little things seem big things when your feet are tired, when you've been carrying a 30 lb backpack all day, when it's 90 degrees where you're standing, when your tummy aches and you want to get closer to a bathroom. When, you know, you just wanna get somewhere.
Now, maybe, you say, the taxi drivers have a reason. It's true. White people tend to be tourists. Maybe tourists don't pay, or don't know where they're going, or yell and argue, or just smell bad.
But, we had our money, we had a map, we had a card with the destination, we were on our best behavior. There was nothing we could do to not be a bunch of white people standing on the corner.
Here's the most important thing of all: it's not enough to read about this on tiki's blog. It's not enough. It's not being there, your feet on the concrete, your head in the sun, feeling the impatience and humiliation and heat and puzzlement and frustration. It's why, when you can watch 24 hours of travel programs, and read a library of books, or have the whole world on your iBook, people still pack their bags and renew their passports.
And hailing a taxi in a foreign country? That's not racism. It's not all of prejudice. That's silly. But it's a little piece. And big things are made from little pieces. Every day. You just want to go somewhere, but instead they make you stand on the corner with your arm stuck out.
So get off the computer, right now, and go.
Go hail a taxi in Beijing.
August 6 through August 12, 2007.
Details here.
We weren't gonna write about this. In tiki's priveleged little life, it's true, we've have to face discrimination against fat people, uncool people, girls, nerds, and kids with glasses, but we've rarely been personally touched by racism.
But this year, we have a suggestion for all the white people who are reading this blog.
Go try to hail a taxi in Beijing.
Chinese taxi drivers don't stop for white people. It's the truth. They'll stop for the Chinese guy down the street, and the Chinese couple up the street. They'll pass you by, turn off their light. Or they'll ask 4 times what they'd charge others, or they'll claim you're going in the wrong direction.
Now, you may say this is just a little thing. It's true. We've heard that before. But little things seem big things when your feet are tired, when you've been carrying a 30 lb backpack all day, when it's 90 degrees where you're standing, when your tummy aches and you want to get closer to a bathroom. When, you know, you just wanna get somewhere.
Now, maybe, you say, the taxi drivers have a reason. It's true. White people tend to be tourists. Maybe tourists don't pay, or don't know where they're going, or yell and argue, or just smell bad.
But, we had our money, we had a map, we had a card with the destination, we were on our best behavior. There was nothing we could do to not be a bunch of white people standing on the corner.
Here's the most important thing of all: it's not enough to read about this on tiki's blog. It's not enough. It's not being there, your feet on the concrete, your head in the sun, feeling the impatience and humiliation and heat and puzzlement and frustration. It's why, when you can watch 24 hours of travel programs, and read a library of books, or have the whole world on your iBook, people still pack their bags and renew their passports.
And hailing a taxi in a foreign country? That's not racism. It's not all of prejudice. That's silly. But it's a little piece. And big things are made from little pieces. Every day. You just want to go somewhere, but instead they make you stand on the corner with your arm stuck out.
So get off the computer, right now, and go.
Go hail a taxi in Beijing.
