In the New Yorker review of Going Rogue, Sam Tanenhaus writes that Sarah Palin’s father said she left Hawaii Pacific University after only one semester because she didn’t care too much for Asians. From the review in the New Yorker:
Palin, though notoriously ill-traveled outside the United States, did journey far to the first of the four colleges she attended, in Hawaii. She and a friend who went with her lasted only one semester. “Hawaii was a little too perfect,” Palin writes. “Perpetual sunshine isn’t necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls.” Perhaps not. But Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, gave a different account to Conroy and Walshe. According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: “They were a minority type thing and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.” In any case, Palin reports that she much preferred her last stop, the University of Idaho, “because it was much like Alaska yet still ‘Outside.’ “
I don’t know what I find to be more troubling: that Sarah Palin doesn’t like Asians or that she won’t just come out and admit it. If she had or has a prejudice against people of Asian decent, why can’t she just admit it? Where’s the harm?
I think secret racism is much worse than open racism. When a person is openly racist, at least you know who they are and where they stand. A person who is secretly racist is just as likely to discriminate against someone because of their racial background than someone who is openly racist.
It’s not as though Sarah Palin belongs to a political party that places a high importance on racial sensitivity. Coming out and admitting that she doesn’t care for Asian people wouldn’t prohibit her from ever seeking her party’s presidential nomination.
Who knows, it might even help her score more votes.
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Ironically, the best Chinese restaurant I’ve ever dined at is in Anchorage, Alaska- FuDo. And only an hour from Wasilla where Sarah calls home. I wonder if if it’s only Asian people she doesn’t like, or Asian food as well?
Maybe if she tried FuDo, she’d rethink her stance on Asians- my wife and I ate there one Christmas Day as they were the only place in town open and we were transitioning out of Alaska. They gave us free wine, then sat down and shared a glass with us, took pictures, and we all had a grand time. Anyone would like Asians after a trip to FuDo.
See the menu… http://www.fudochineserestaurant.net/homepage1/ (no, I don’t work for FuDo.)
@Lee B.: Hey, for all anyone knows, if she did have something against Asian people, she may be long over it by now. Even if it were true, it was 18-year old Sarah Palin that disliked Asian folks.
I love Chinese food so much, I’m now thinking of taking a road trip up to Anchorage to check out Fu Do.
“And only an hour from Wasilla where Sarah calls home. I wonder if if it’s only Asian people she doesn’t like, or Asian food as well?”
Well over seven years ago in the summer of 2002, I visited Boise, Idaho. I was walking along the road that leads out of town from the state capitol, when I spotted an Asian female-white male couple walking with their daughter. A few women passing by in a car, shouted some racist insults at them.. a few minutes later, I saw them dining on sushi at a Japanese restaurant! So she may like Asian food but does not like Asian people. I know folks in Australia who like Asian money but dont want Asians around. I also know some white Americans living in Singapore, who despise the locals and would not let their children bring Asian friends home! So why are we surprised by Sarah Palin?
Some of my favorite Skinheads are from Boise!