Race and Travel

We sat down to a meal at a restaurant in Thanjavur (an A/C one–what a treat!), and met with an interesting new variation on a universally repeated question. The waiter, instead of asking simply where we were from (a not altogether easy question, for me), asked if Derek is Japanese. For those of you who don’t know us, this was asked because I was presumed to be Japanese (though I’m not), but Derek being a very tall person of clear northern European ancestry, it was certainly one he had not faced before. Although the lack of hair on his head (and the clue the color would provide) may be one reason for throwing the waiter off, it was also clear that from lack of worldly experience he simply did not have a firm sense of what people from different nations looked like (hard to believe, but no other explanation).

Race makes a big difference to a traveler. In this post, I want to share some anecdotes and personal feelings on race and travel.

I think the biggest impact race (and nationality) must have on a traveler is of course if the traveler shares the same race (or nationality) as the country in which he is traveling. Until I open my mouth, I am treated in China, Korea and Japan at least in the beginning as a native (even if dressed or carrying myself in a way that makes me not fit in), and this gives me opportunities to observe unobserved that Derek does not have in those places. [A “brown” person must benefit from this in so many countries!] Even after I reveal my nationality, there is a sense of familiarity in these countries and certain others in Asia, a sense of having something in common that they may not have with a caucasian visitor.

Sometimes more conspicuous than this effect, however, especially when traveling in a region that does not share your race, are the prejudices that local people may have about your perceived race and nationality. I don’t mean prejudice in an overly negative sense–for the most part, people are not hostile to tourists, at least not white or east asian ones. But race and nationality certainly carry baggage. (I imagine that traveling as a “darker” person must be harder, and that one must face all sorts of unfair bias. An African-American woman reported to us in Vietnam that the degree of open staring made her feel uncomfortable, although she reminded herself that she had been staring / taking pictures equally intensely at / of Hmong villagers. A Jewish tourist in China told Derek that he was thrown out of a store in Nepal. He simply asked if he could get a discount on an item, and the shopkeeper said, “Are you Jewish? You are Jewish, aren’t you? Get out of my store!” and ejected him.)

Being east asian, perhaps the most annoying thing is misguessed nationality. I don’t know why this is so tiring (I don’t think Derek minds being called British or Dutch), but being from a relatively smaller country and constantly asked if you’re from a neighboring larger one, or being greeted with greetings in a language that’s not yours (“konichiwa” must be one of the top ten phrases I hear while traveling) gets old. I imagine it comes down to some sort of national pride, and I still tend to correct (though usually with a curt “I’m not Japanese,” perhaps because an affirmative statement would be trickier to formulate). Depending on the location even Japanese are sometimes misidentified as Chinese or Korean, though the historically higher numbers of Japanese tourists abroad make Japanese the most popular first guess for an east asian tourist. A more experienced Japanese traveler once told me that she is simply tired of bothering to correct, and lets people go ahead and think whatever they want, responding ni hao or annyeonghasaeyo as fits the greeting/question. Maybe one of these days I’ll get so stoic. [Derek has taken national pride a bit further–in Peru, where I was constantly greeted with “chino! chino!” Derek would answer back, “No es chino, as coreano; corea es mas bueno en futbol que peru.” This was right after the 2002 World Cup.] Being Asian-American, another funny thing of course is that people sometimes assume I don’t speak English, like by asking Derek where I’m from.

As for actual impressions of east asian people, I think the worst is the martial arts bit, or being called Jackie Chan and the like. But that’s really at the level of mild annoyance/stupidity. Otherwise, asian people do not seem to have any particular negative association. Perhaps one tricky thing for a Japanese (or perceived Japanese) tourist is that he may be thought to be wealthy and too acquiescent, which can make bargaining difficult. [Though some Japanese backpackers are among the scrappiest, most frugal I’ve met.]

Being American, I think, is still an overall positive. For all of the bad press that the U.S. has received over the last few years, and all the bad things that the U.S. has done, people around the world still have very positive impressions of Americans, probably because Americans are, on average, more outgoing, friendlier and open-minded than the average tourist. America carries with it all of the glamour of Hollywood and the perceived wealth of Wall Street, which are additional attractions. [Generally speaking, I think you are treated better the wealthier your country is, maybe because people think that to be associated with you in whatever small way carries prestige or because, in the case of people in the tourism industry, they think you will spend money more freely.]

We have experienced very limited anti-American feeling on our travels, not including those carefully and expressly reserved to our government’s actions and not to Americans personally. In one incident, in Kerala in 2003, a local man asked Derek why he wasn’t in Iraq (he thought that Derek looked like a soldier), and let us know proudly that Al Qaeda recruits heavily in Kerala. In Nizwa, Oman in 2005, a passerby made a throat-cutting gesture at us, which we perceived to be a vague (and happily empty) anti-Western threat. We’ll see if we experience anything similar in our travels in the year to come (though perhaps American prestige is on an upswing with the upcoming elections, especially if Obama or Hillary wins the presidency).