Georgia: Shooting the Other

Someone who worked for me once asked me, quite innocently and out of the blue, “So, are your parents, like, from China?” I laughed out loud. My last name is Japanese, and the difference between a Japanese and Chinese surname was evident, I thought. The goof-up was so funny that I called my spouse and relayed the story. We both had a hearty chuckle.

This lack of differentiation is not unique. People of Asian descent are often lumped together because evidently there are not enough of us — 5.6 percent percent of the U.S. population — to garner a distinction. And we are often saddled with the “model minority” stereotype — and I am well aware that I perpetuate this to many — but Asians are a heterogeneous group speaking a multitude of languages, with distinct immigration histories and varied educational attainment levels and socio-economic situations. Not everyone is crazy nor rich.

But it made me think. I am the chief executive of a 4,300-employee organization with a $1.2 billion budget. My name is high on the org chart. Yet, a well-meaning, educated, and sincere employee was curious enough to ask me, at work during a meeting, about my ethnicity. So, it dawned on me: Why did he ask, and why did it matter?