Lab #14

For this lab i interviewed Jonathan Layne, an internet friend from NYC who i've known for 3 years. Jonathan comes from a chinese lineage but he is more "americanized" than the rest of his family.

First question: how does your chinese lineage/culture affect your day to day life?:
Answer: i'm not culturally associated with my race at all. i'm supposedly genetically related, thus i look chinese. that's about it. my parents are both chinese but they've grown up in guyana. their guyanese culture hasn't rubbed off on me as much as the TV and internet does. my mom sometimes mockingly says to me, "you're so american"

Second question: do people avoid you in social situations because of racial stereotypes or racial difference in general?
Answer: stereotypical identities tend to be applied to me in occasions of humorous discussion. on an honest level, people i encounter don't directly avoid me because of my racial demographic. if so, probably aversively. who knows, people act differently if you look a certain way.

Third question: do YOU find yourself avoiding social situations with people of different racial background?
Answer: no, racial background doesnt prevent me from interracting with people. i am not presumptuous of people's character based on a group that looks physically identical. i approach people on an individual level. i recognize that many of the trends that might lead to someone answering “yes” to this question are generally true but it's not a healthy way to recognize people authentically.

Fourth question: what does social capital look like in the big city?
Answer: the city doesnt help my chances of gaining friends. i find it awkward to figure that out. randomly finding some friend in the city varies on rare occasions, as i am not interested in the activities done in the city. therefore my chances of finding something in common with people in the city is low. my social capital consists of internet culture, mainly small memes that only people associated with videogames would recognize. otherwise, internet = everything. wikipedia + man = pseudo-intellectual.