An Observation

Okay, so let me first start by declaring that I am in no way a racist. You maybe thinking to yourself, “Sure Matt, you must be a racist if you start a blog entry by a declaration of not being a racist.” You might be right, because why must I declare something I am not? Humm… I guess a discussion for another blog entry at a later date. Let me continue…

So today I go to Starbucks to read from Al Franken’s book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (a book I strongly suggest that everyone read). As I was reading, this very cute girl of Asian decent in a very short skirt sits down at the table across from me. I smile, she smiles back, and then she proceeds to ask me in the most southern of southern accents, “Watcha reading there?” Holding back my internal laughter, I reply and begin a rather quaint ten-minute conversation with her about the book. It was a good conversation with some Fox bashing, but I kept wanting to laugh at her thick Southern Belle accent. Eventually her wannabe Abercrombie model boyfriend joined her and the two carried on their own conversation. However, every time she talked, I wanted to laugh at her. This got me to thinking, why should her accent amuse me so much? I don’t want to laugh when I hear a white person with a southern accent. I don’t want to laugh when I hear a black person with a southern accent. Hell, I don’t even want to laugh when I hear a Latino with a southern accent. However, there is just something about a person of Asian decent with a southern accent that makes me want to laugh at them. I believe it has something to do with the fear of the unknown or the fact that it is so contradictory of the stereotype of a person with a deep southern accent. Anyways, it just shows that even I am susceptible to preconceived notions and stereotypes.