Observation Journal #1

I have a friend who's younger sister just recently went off the college for the first time. Of course when this happens you are always faced with the dreaded new roommate situation. Sometimes you luck out and get an amazing roommate who you hit it off with, but sometimes you do not. This particular situation is not a good one, the girl's roommate is fairly odd, she goes to bed at about 7pm, never wantes to even get dinner with my friend's little sister despite repeated invits to leave the room, and smells. Apparently not only does she herself smell (I have been told she has yet to have been seen showering, and its been 3 weeks) she also has brought food from home that, as least to my friends little sister, smells horrible as well. Ordinarily we would just laugh this off however the issue is that this smelly roommate is Chinese. She is a first generation US citizen, her parents came from China, and the food she was sent to school with is all very traditional. The reason I bring this up with that my friend proclaimed to me "I am not racist but..." and has proceeded to dub this girl the "stinky chinky" and laugh about it every time. This is not the first time I have heard her be racist however it is the only time I have heard her refuse to apologize for it stating "well she does smell". I ask you, what does her smelling bad have anything to do with being Chinese? This brings to mind Newman's point that "this emphasis on between-group differences can obscure both the differences that exist among individuals within groups as well as the similaritites that exist between individuals who belong to different groups" (14) I can marginally understand how foods that are much different that what you are used to might smell bad or strange to you to begin with but you need to keep in mind that the same goes for you and the foods you are used to as well, they may be strange to others. The fact that this roommate does not shower has nothing to do with her ethnicity, there are people all all ethnicities and races who come to college and don't shower. I was saddened that someone who I regard as a good friend would be so narrowed minded at to call this girl an ethnic slur due to not showering regardless of if it rhymes or not. There are plenty of nicknames to poke fun at bad personal hygiene with, not that you should, without attaching someones ethnicity.