Here is a new one from my mundane existance! I was invited to join a book club. The invite came from one of the mom’s who knows me well and she insisted for me to come and that i’d be a great addition to the group. All members are american; none work; all are very active in the community; attend all the fundraisings, charities, PTO’s etc.
After introductions and quite a considrable amount of appettizers and wine one of the moms started to say how she feels her kid is now in minority in our town. I was utterly puzzled since she is blond, blue-eyed and as anglo as anglo gets! She proceeded to say that her kid loves to play outside yet none of the kids in her neighborhood come out after school; they are all ASIANS!!! She said it is the same in the classroom; the ASIANS ARE ALL OVER THE TOWN and they are RAISING THE EXPECTATIONS for our kids academically. She said she feels that the district now has a much tougher rubric for each grade to follow and it is all because of the ASIANS! For a second, i was speechless; not knowing should i defend or deter. After all, i am not Asian; but, i am ethnic!
Then someone else said, what is more upsetting is that none of these parents (Asian parents, she meant) are involved in any school activity; they do not contribute to anything; and when we (class moms) call, grandparents answer the phone and they cannot speak a word of English! She added, how as we know with Asians, both mom and dad work long hours.
Now, everyone in the group knows my background; i was invited because of my background. They all know that i work full-time and on occasions my mother in law has been visiting staying with us for number of months. I guess they did not care about those details as they were having their conversations complaining about how the whites are now in minority. And, then here i was speechless not knowing how to respond. At the end, i did not say anything. I just had my wine and cheese; laughed politely; commented on the beautiful artwork on the mantel and the hand-painted mural that went along the way from the dinning room to the kitchen and on to the hallway. I discussed the book and then exited saying that i look forward to our next bookclub!
Should i go to the next one?!
