I have to say that I am white, product of two white people. One was born in Canada and one in New Hampshire. I was born in Massachusetts. All the time I lived in the USA, 24 years, I lived in a cultural bubble that was more French Canadian than Anglo American.
For two of those years I lived through the tsunami of Puerto Rican immigration that hit the east coast of the USA. I was working in an industrial, high volume printing company. I found myself striving to learn Spanish based on my French fluency thereby helping the immigrants to navigate life on the "mainland."
I confess that I did not learn much Spanish, but I did learn to like the the people and to support them against the prejudice of the long-term residents.
Then, I left my hometown work, went away to school and eventually the country. I graduated from a famous Dominican University connected to the Vatican and went from Rome to Manila where I lived and worked for some ten+ years.
Along the way, somewhere close to twenty years, I learned two inexorable truths: Prejudice is a human condition, no matter what it is aimed at. I have seen it caused by differences of race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sex, educational achievement, profession and political affiliation. In other words, we humans have a tendency to judge other people according to our desire to be better than others no matter the basis of our attraction or detraction.
The other truth is: I am prejudiced in favor of warm climate regions of planet earth. I decided long ago never again to live too far away from the equator. I made that vow to myself during my four year domicile in Rome (42 degrees north). I spent many years in the Philippines (17 degrees north). I have lived accordingly since then. That's why I live in San Diego. (33 degrees north)
San Diego can be a very uncomfortable location for a person who is comfortable with personal biases. Along the way I have shown you the mix of the population in the neighborhood where we have lived since 1977. It is what I sometimes refer to as the "Heinz 57 Varieties" show case of San Diego. I have joked about the fact that Sunday Masses rarely have a total of 10 Caucasians in the building, including the presiding priest. That's only the beginning.
Talk about the leaders of the area churches: Baptist: Korean;
Presbyterian: Korean; Jehovah's Witnesses: African American;
Catholic (2): 1- Vietnamese; 1- Causasian; Methodist: Filipino; Baha'i: Middle Eastern.
Pharmacies: (4) 1- Traditional Chinese herbal; 2-Vietnamese; 1- Rite Aid has a Caucasian manager and the rest of the staff is Vietnamese, Hmong, Latin, African American, Filipino, Laotian, etc.
Dentists: Vietnamese, Hong Kong
Super market: Chinese / Vietnamese
Tailors: (2) 1 - Chinese and 1 - Vietnamese
Florists: (2) 2- Latin
7 Eleven store: Indian
Jeweler: Chinese
Doughnut shop: Mexican
Restaurants: (2) Thai || (3) Vietnamese || (2) Mexican
McDonalds - Mexican; Kentucky Fried - Latin;
Jack-in-the-Box - Caucasian
Small general store: (3) 1 - Mexican; 2 - Iraqi (Chaldean)
Cell Phone, etc: (2) Latin
Women's clothes: Vietnamese
Massage: Thai
Liquor: (2) Iraqi (Chaldean)
Barbers + Hair stylists: (5) 2 Iraqi (Chaldean); 1 Chinese; 2 Vietnamese
Pizza take-out: Latin
Roller rink: (The only one for miles and miles around!) The owner-operator is Caucasian.
US Postal service station: I occasionally see a Caucasian on duty
Clinics-General health care- Private: (2) Vietnamese
Public Laundramats: (2) Latin
Auto repair/Tires: (4) 3 repair = Vietnamese; 1 tires = Latin
N.B. - Latin is used because there are many varieties of them in the area, not all of them Mexican.
Gasoline stations: (3) I confess, I really don't know the owner/operators of these businesses.
I hope you've enjoyed the tour.
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