I have a question...

a while back i posted this on another forum & i got some pretty good responses. i still wonder what more people think so if you don't mind please offer your thoughts.

I have this colleague from Brazil. One day he was kind of hanging out by my office so just to make conversation i asked him if he knew jiu jitsu. He got totally pissy about it and told me off. Then he didn't speak to me for weeks and gave me the evil eye every time he passed by. I thought he was overreacting until a good friend of mine said, "asking a person from Brazil if they know jiu jitsu is the equivalent of asking a random asian person if they know kung fu, you just don't do it!"

OH MAN, i felt bad about it, but it was totally innocent. i swear!!

so, what do you think? is it racist to ask a brazilian if they know jiu jitsu? how about asking asian people if they know kung fu?

IMO racism is based off of intent, but is often judged on perception.

That's pretty Funny But Yeah one of my Wrestling Friends came to America from Brazil when he was 10 and I asked him last Year if he knew BJJ and he said " Does that mean Blow Job Job" and I kid you not I was like A Brazilian that didn't even know about Jui Jitsu I don't think they should hold any offense to it because like if you ask an African if they know Capoeira then they wouldn't get Mad

I wouldn't consider it racist. Maybe ignorant, but not racist. Then again, I also thought that guy overreacted too.

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Posted by grappler0000

IMO racism is based off of intent, but is often judged on perception.

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i don't think you are at fault because you did not intend to insult him but like the old adage goes reality is perception. i think it is inappropriate to ask an Asian if he knows Kung Fu solely because he is Asian and maybe in the future you can approach it differently. for example you can state that you know it is a stereotype and that it is not your intention to be prejudice or racist but that you are just curious. say something like this next time, "not to be prejudice, but i am just curious if you know any Jiu-Jitsu."

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Posted by hotrodttt

That's pretty Funny But Yeah one of my Wrestling Friends came to America from Brazil when he was 10 and I asked him last Year if he knew BJJ and he said " Does that mean Blow Job Job" and I kid you not I was like A Brazilian that didn't even know about Jui Jitsu I don't think they should hold any offense to it because like if you ask an African if they know Capoeira then they wouldn't get Mad

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oh man that's awesome!!!!

i feel waaaay better after that one!!!

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

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Posted by grappler0000

IMO racism is based off of intent, but is often judged on perception.

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i don't think you are at fault because you did not intend to insult him but like the old adage goes reality is perception. i think it is inappropriate to ask an Asian if he knows Kung Fu solely because he is Asian and maybe in the future you can approach it differently. for example you can state that you know it is a stereotype and that it is not your intention to be prejudice or racist but that you are just curious. say something like this next time, "not to be prejudice, but i am just curious if you know any Jiu-Jitsu."

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that's good advice. thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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Posted by misses1112

a while back i posted this on another forum & i got some pretty good responses. i still wonder what more people think so if you don't mind please offer your thoughts.

I have this colleague from Brazil. One day he was kind of hanging out by my office so just to make conversation i asked him if he knew jiu jitsu. He got totally pissy about it and told me off. Then he didn't speak to me for weeks and gave me the evil eye every time he passed by. I thought he was overreacting until a good friend of mine said, "asking a person from Brazil if they know jiu jitsu is the equivalent of asking a random asian person if they know kung fu, you just don't do it!"

OH MAN, i felt bad about it, but it was totally innocent. i swear!!

so, what do you think? is it racist to ask a brazilian if they know jiu jitsu? how about asking asian people if they know kung fu?

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Do you know spanish

thats pretty funny. you better not ask any canadians if they know hockey.

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Posted by holt8081

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Posted by misses1112

a while back i posted this on another forum & i got some pretty good responses. i still wonder what more people think so if you don't mind please offer your thoughts.

I have this colleague from Brazil. One day he was kind of hanging out by my office so just to make conversation i asked him if he knew jiu jitsu. He got totally pissy about it and told me off. Then he didn't speak to me for weeks and gave me the evil eye every time he passed by. I thought he was overreacting until a good friend of mine said, "asking a person from Brazil if they know jiu jitsu is the equivalent of asking a random asian person if they know kung fu, you just don't do it!"

OH MAN, i felt bad about it, but it was totally innocent. i swear!!

so, what do you think? is it racist to ask a brazilian if they know jiu jitsu? how about asking asian people if they know kung fu?

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Do you know spanish

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por supuesto!!!

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Posted by Gipper

thats pretty funny. you better not ask any canadians if they know hockey.

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OH, THAT'S A GOOD ONE!!! I will add it to my list of no-nos...

Sometimes when I call my Canadian colleagues, if they sound too super French for me I get nervous and hang up on them. That is the hardest accent for me to catch on to and the first thing that pops into my head when I hear it is how GSP is not impressed with their performance.

I hate coleslaw.

I do however love pierogies.

If your from southwestern PA youll understand what im saying.

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Posted by misses1112

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Posted by holt8081

Do you know spanish

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por supuesto!!!

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¿Cuándo aprendiste español? ¿Comprendiste español tu vida entera?

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

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Posted by misses1112

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Posted by holt8081

Do you know spanish

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por supuesto!!!

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¿Cuándo aprendiste español? ¿Comprendiste español tu vida entera?

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soy chicana

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Posted by 40ouncetofreedom

I hate coleslaw.

I do however love pierogies.

If your from southwestern PA youll understand what im saying.

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I HATE COLESLAW TOO!!!!

What!! JJfreak speaks spanish?? Caught me off guard.


Yo tambien hablo español

No tenga miedo,
take your chones, y los manden a mi
la cosa que me gusta mas es panochita

eakspay englishway easeplay

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Posted by juanez13

What!! JJfreak speaks spanish?? Caught me off guard.


Yo tambien hablo español

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soy tan blanco como pan, pero yo tomo español a mi escuela.

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Posted by xxMALICExx

eakspay englishway easeplay

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i hate to admit it but i had a pretty difficult time catching onto that

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

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Posted by juanez13

What!! JJfreak speaks spanish?? Caught me off guard.


Yo tambien hablo español

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soy tan blanco como pan, pero yo tomo español a mi escuela.

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LMAO, in school i had a friend we used to call pan blanco!

your spelling sills are awesome

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Posted by 40ouncetofreedom

I hate coleslaw.

I do however love pierogies.

If your from southwestern PA youll understand what im saying.

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I love to go to the Bucs game and get a Prim bros Sandwich and watch Cheese Chester kick some a$$!

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Posted by postman

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Posted by 40ouncetofreedom

I hate coleslaw.

I do however love pierogies.

If your from southwestern PA youll understand what im saying.

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I love to go to the Bucs game and get a Prim bros Sandwich and watch Cheese Chester kick some a$$!

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Yeah the most exciting thing about Pirates Games is watching the pierogie races on the jumbo screen..

Its like asking a Mexican if they like tortillas!....thats not right!!!..... even though we really really do

Im mexican and white so do I love tortilla's filled with mac n' cheese

mmm coleslaw AND pierogies...

And yeah, it's like asking a woman if they know how to shop/nag/complain.

i'm mexican & i love torillas tooooo!!!!!

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

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Posted by juanez13

What!! JJfreak speaks spanish?? Caught me off guard.


Yo tambien hablo español

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soy tan blanco como pan, pero yo tomo español a mi escuela.

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Y yo tambien. Pero no hablo en muchos anos. I'm not even sure if that was proper grammar LOL. I understand it but suck at speaking/writing it.

As to the original topic-

I think the dude totally overreacted. That's like if somebody asks an American if they know freestyle wrestling. As a well travelled american I can tell you I'd take 0 offense to it.

The one thing that always pissed me off in foreign countries was people trying to talk American politics to me. Even when they would press the matter I would just brush them off by saying I didn't follow politics too much. I'd never get angry at them for weeks. Seems a bit ridiculous IMO.

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Posted by Jackelope
Y yo tambien. Pero no hablo en muchos anos. I'm not even sure if that was proper grammar LOL. I understand it but suck at speaking/writing it.

As to the original topic-

I think the dude totally overreacted. That's like if somebody asks an American if they know freestyle wrestling. As a well travelled american I can tell you I'd take 0 offense to it.

The one thing that always pissed me off in foreign countries was people trying to talk American politics to me. Even when they would press the matter I would just brush them off by saying I didn't follow politics too much. I'd never get angry at them for weeks. Seems a bit ridiculous IMO.

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OMG, now that you mention it there was this one time when he started telling me about all the things that are wrong with the US and how Brazil is so much better. He went on and on about it for like 2 hours & seemed pretty upset. He even broke a sweat while talking about it. When he finished talking he was gave me this look like he just defeated me & put me in my place. His forehead was all shiny and he was breathing heavy. I swear that man was about to bust a nut all over himself.