Rental spaces barring certain races openly

[Lisafuller]

SMS, given the amount of casual racism that passes off as "humor" here, I think it's fair to say that what you are trying to varnish by calling preference, is generally some racist Chinese guy who hates Indians in general (whether Malaysian or Singaporean and of course from India). You may disagree, but this is my assessment /opinion.

I'm speaking specifically about Indians, because from what I can see, the brunt of racism in this country and it's neighbor up north has been borne by the Indian ethnicity in general.

Unfortunately, this does seem to be the case.

[smoulder]

Yes correct. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing it. It happens in most countries. Doesn't make it righteous of course.

For me, the most sickening part is when someone who indulges in this kind of behavior suddenly finds himself at the receiving end in another country and moans about it there. All along, not realizing that they are equally guilty back home where they enjoy the privilege of being the majority group. I've seen Indians do it, I've seen various other Asians do it. I'm sure it happens with most if not all ethnicities.

[Lisafuller]

So quite often, the way it is worded is "no Indians /PRCs please". Slight difference between that and saying "Chinese preferred".

I think listings tend to prefer a certain race, but seldom explicitly rule out any groups. Its more when you call up to enquirer that they ask for your race.

[Lisafuller]

Yes correct. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing it. It happens in most countries. Doesn't make it righteous of course.

For me, the most sickening part is when someone who indulges in this kind of behavior suddenly finds himself at the receiving end in another country and moans about it there. All along, not realizing that they are equally guilty back home where they enjoy the privilege of being the majority group. I've seen Indians do it, I've seen various other Asians do it. I'm sure it happens with most if not all ethnicities.

You’re exactly right. Its almost comical when my Chinese friends complain about feeling like an outsider while in the US or UK. Its almost as if they dont realize that its the very way they treat minorities here.

[smoulder]

So quite often, the way it is worded is "no Indians /PRCs please". Slight difference between that and saying "Chinese preferred".

I think listings tend to prefer a certain race, but seldom explicitly rule out any groups. Its more when you call up to enquirer that they ask for your race.

I've seen a fair number of listings over the years where they have been explicit. Not sure what the current trend is because I no longer rent.

[Lisafuller]

@x9200 just to be clear. If you are talking about a room in shared accommodation, yes that is a preference, albeit one of possibly a narrow mind. Otherwise to give preference to a Chinese couple/family/person to rent an entire home, purely based on their race, that's racism.

Agree. Although I would like to think I’d be okay with living with a member of any race, I can see how people could have preferences, especially if there are fundamental differences in living habits. For example, a landlord may not want to rent out or share a living space with a Muslim tenant if she does not observe halal food requirements. Having to adjust dietary habits solely to accommodate a roommate would be pretty difficult, and make it especially hard to share a kitchen.

[smoulder]

Yes correct. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing it. It happens in most countries. Doesn't make it righteous of course.

For me, the most sickening part is when someone who indulges in this kind of behavior suddenly finds himself at the receiving end in another country and moans about it there. All along, not realizing that they are equally guilty back home where they enjoy the privilege of being the majority group. I've seen Indians do it, I've seen various other Asians do it. I'm sure it happens with most if not all ethnicities.

You’re exactly right. Its almost comical when my Chinese friends complain about feeling like an outsider while in the US or UK. Its almost as if they dont realize that its the very way they treat minorities here.

If you ask them about it, they still believe the spiel about how everyone lives in perfect harmony here.

Often times, it's because they think that someone from the minority who voices his protest is just being over sensitive and sometimes it's because some of the minorities have apparently been conditioned to think some of this abhorrent behavior is OK. At least this is my take.

It certainly is a complex subject like SMS mentioned, but pretending it doesn't exist is not helping the situation.

[Lisafuller]

So quite often, the way it is worded is "no Indians /PRCs please". Slight difference between that and saying "Chinese preferred".

I think listings tend to prefer a certain race, but seldom explicitly rule out any groups. Its more when you call up to enquirer that they ask for your race.

I've seen a fair number of listings over the years where they have been explicit. Not sure what the current trend is because I no longer rent.

I don’t rent either but occasionally I have a look at listings just to see whats out there. Perhaps I’m not looking in the right places, but the listings I’ve seen generally do not express an explicit aversion to any group.

[Lisafuller]

Yes correct. There is nothing to stop anyone from doing it. It happens in most countries. Doesn't make it righteous of course.

For me, the most sickening part is when someone who indulges in this kind of behavior suddenly finds himself at the receiving end in another country and moans about it there. All along, not realizing that they are equally guilty back home where they enjoy the privilege of being the majority group. I've seen Indians do it, I've seen various other Asians do it. I'm sure it happens with most if not all ethnicities.

You’re exactly right. Its almost comical when my Chinese friends complain about feeling like an outsider while in the US or UK. Its almost as if they dont realize that its the very way they treat minorities here.

If you ask them about it, they still believe the spiel about how everyone lives in perfect harmony here.

Often times, it's because they think that someone from the minority who voices his protest is just being over sensitive and sometimes it's because some of the minorities have apparently been conditioned to think some of this abhorrent behavior is OK. At least this is my take.

It certainly is a complex subject like SMS mentioned, but pretending it doesn't exist is not helping the situation.

Right. I believe there’s definitely racial and religious tolerance, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it harmony. It can be very easy to dismiss a minority as being overly sensitive as a member of the privileged majority race. Its only when we have these difficult conversations that we can become reach a better understanding of one another. We’re all just people at the end of the day.

[x9200]

@x9200 just to be clear. If you are talking about a room in shared accommodation, yes that is a preference, albeit one of possibly a narrow mind. Otherwise to give preference to a Chinese couple/family/person to rent an entire home, purely based on their race, that's racism.

Agree. Although I would like to think I’d be okay with living with a member of any race, I can see how people could have preferences, especially if there are fundamental differences in living habits. For example, a landlord may not want to rent out or share a living space with a Muslim tenant if she does not observe halal food requirements. Having to adjust dietary habits solely to accommodate a roommate would be pretty difficult, and make it especially hard to share a kitchen.

I believe it's a common misconception. Unless we are talking about some very orthodox folks, I see no problem with such coexistence. A nanny and later care giver to our son was a Malay Muslim pretty observing all the rules and for 9 years she was with us there was not a single issue. It always boils down to mutual respect. If the respect is there the rest is an easy to solve technicality. If no respect to ones habits or customs, same race, same culture doe not matter, the problems will come soon.