Harold and Kumar

            It was New Years, and I was attending a party thrown by a few of my friends in Weston who were home from various colleges. It was a big event, packed with people I didn’t know- introducing themselves to me one second and belting Les Mis songs in my face the next. I watched the rambunctious and privileged youths swirl around me in a frenzy of classic high school behavioral tropes. Little did they know, I was carefully observing and analyzing their actions to discover more about the cultural and social atmosphere of Fairfield county. (Obviously a really fun way to spend your New Years.) The night was very hectic, filled with a lot of talking- mostly me quizzing college students nervously about the applications process and their high school gpas- but at one point I wondered out onto the porch for a quiet moment and discovered something worth consideration.

I had sat at a picnic table with several other people whom I did not know already crowded around it. At the table were a handful of classically white, upper middle class college boys and one college age Asian boy conversing. The three white guys were obviously buddies and had only met the Asian guy several times prior, so they were talking to him in an introductory manner. They regarded him warily until the Asian guy started talking about all the crazy parties he went to and how he had nearly flunked one of his more challenging college classes. At this, the three boys looked visibly relaxed.

“Whoa dude you’re really chill. Like your not all Asian or whatever you’re so relaxed” one guy exclaimed.

Then his friend had a revelation.

“Yo you’re totally like Harold from Harold and Kumar”

The third musketeer nodded frantically, enthusiastically agreeing.

“Yo dude no way he totally is! You’re like smart but you’re also chill!”

The Asian guy let out a weak laugh, muttering an obviously rehearsed “Oh I get that all the time. Sometimes I show up to costume parties without a costume and just say I’m Harold from Harold and Kumar.”

The three guys laughed, accepting his acceptance of their systematic stereotyping. They seemed relieved he wasn’t a “classic Asian” and instead fit into another one of their handful of Asian characterizations. I had to wonder to myself, since when is race considered a costume?  Why do white people and Asian people and Black people and Albino people feel like they have to confine themselves to the linear requirements of their race? When we assign people roles and places in society, no matter how favorable, why does race always factor in? In the end, the colour of your skin guarantees nothing about your personality. Believing so is stereotyping. This Asian guy, whose name I unfortunately do not know, reminded me nothing of Harold from Harold and Kumar. For one thing, Harold would never slack off in his college classes the way the Asian guy was describing. He reminded me more of Hyde from “That 70’s Show” to be honest.

The point is, the youth of Fairfield county have been conditioned by whitewashing of TV shows and movies, and the predictable and distinct caricature-like roles assigned to those characters of colour, that they can’t consider personalities divorced from race.

I have another excellent example which I observed some time ago but still sticks with me today. When I was on my community service trip, a few of the girls and I were gathered inside one of the buildings, painting the walls of the school we helped build. To pass the time and have fun, we assigned each other different Disney Princesses according to how they matched our personality. (I got Megara, obviously...) When it came to my friend Brenna several of us agreed that she would be Tiana (from the Princess Frog) without a doubt. Although in my mind Brenna was a carbon copy of Tiana in every sense of her character, Brenna and others were hesitant to accept the role.

“But I’m white!” Brenna protested.

Several of the girls agreed with her. They were by no means racist people, far from it, but their point was derivative of something inlaid in their minds since birth; that race would always separate us as people and define (to some extent) our personalities. Instead of embracing the cultures of many races and considering them equal, we have been taught to alienate all others and view our culture as the baseline "normal."