In class today we discussed a controversial poster that read “looking for roommates Chinese preferred.” At first I did not really like the sound of it. It seemed unfair to those of other ethnic descent to display such a thing publicly. However, now that I have thought about it some more I think that if having a Chinese roommate was very important to the person who made these posters, then there should be no problem with what he wrote. We discussed the possibility that perhaps he should have written nothing and eventually just only reached out to those of Chinese descent, but I think this would have created more problems. If I was looking for a roommate and saw this poster I would realize that applying would be useless, but if it said nothing about preferring a Chinese roommate then the poster would probably get my hopes up just to have them later crushed. If somebody would prefer to live with someone similar to themselves, then I probably would not want to live with that person anyway and wouldn’t want it to be a secret that they preferred someone with a different background.
Applying for things is very stressful. I have recently applied to many internships, and honestly I have no idea if I am going to get any of them. One reason that I am left with this mystery is that when applying to jobs there aren’t always clear cut qualifications that indicate what the employer is looking for. I’m not saying that employers should point out that they are looking for a 6’2 , 20 year old Jewish guy that goes to Baruch, but I think that would definitely make the whole process easier. Now, while that gets fishy when it comes to finding a job because of all of the laws protecting different ethnicities… I think that restricting a search may be a good idea in other types of applications and processes. For example, there is an honors program at a college in New York which states that a student cannot get in unless they have a 1400 or over on their SATs. This system may not seem fair at first, but imagine when applying to colleges there was no stress because you pretty much knew whether or not you were getting in. I think that would take a huge weight off of people’s shoulders and decrease a lot of worries.
While singling out a certain ethnicity nowadays may be frowned upon I think that unless it is truly damaging to another ethnicity it may not be the worst idea. We should consider the fact that while writing “Chinese preferred” on a poster might bother some people I think that not being accepted as a roommate and being in suspense for a while could bother people even more.
Hello Evan,
I think that this post analyzed an extremely controversial topic that we discussed in class today. I see where you are coming from when you say that qualifications should be clearer and more thorough in order to make sure that people do not waste time applying for something that they know they will not be accepted to. However, I find the idea of including an ethnicity or nationality as a requirement for a roommate to be rather discriminatory. How can you make a judgment about a roommate based on an uncontrollable factor such as race, nationality, or ethnicity? Being Chinese or practicing a particular religion does not have anything to do with one’s personality, which is what will truly make or break living situations between two roommates. Two Chinese people could have completely different personalities, causing them to not get along. Thus, I agree with your point that preconceived requirements for roommates should be clearly communicated to applicants, however I do not understand where the need for a roommate of a particular nationality stems from.
Evan,
I think your example of job search criteria stretches the preference aspect a little too far. When someone applies for an internship, a job, a college–he/she expects to be selected for what he/she can contribute, not because of appearances or personal beliefs. Our capitalist system actually encourages overlooking ethnic background, gender, etc. when hiring people, because choosing to discriminate would close so many doors for businesses looking to increase productivity. On the other hand, preferences are certainly important and should be considered when picking a roommate. I totally agree that if someone feels more comfortable with a roommate of the same ethnicity, he or she should be able to voice that; after all, he/she would not pick a roommate that doesn’t meet this criteria anyway. Nonetheless, I can’t seem to compare living with someone versus working for someone. These are two very different relationships and thus, I think the way in which applicants are selected should therefore be very different as well.
I agree with Alexandra that living with someone is completely different than working with someone. In a working environment, what should matter is the quality of the work you can contribute. Thus, it doesn’t matter if you are male, female, Asian, black, latino, white, etc. However, living with someone is completely different. Though it may seem to be discriminating that this person is looking for “preferred Chinese”, we have to realize that most of us would also prefer to live with someone similar to ourselves. If we’re athletic, we would prefer to find an athletic roommate. If we prefer to go out on Saturday nights, we would prefer to find a roommate that would like to do the same. We would not give it a second thought if we saw “athletic preferred” on a roommate flier. However, because “Chinese” is a race and racial issues are something that is extremely controversial, we tend to give it more thought and thus more criticism. I think the person is solely finding a relatable roommate for him/her and doesn’t mean to be discriminating. However, I also think there are better ways of advertising it, such as on a Chinese newspaper or in Chinese that would make this situation a lot better.
This post brings about key and interesting topics of discussion. Regarding if someone Chinese wants to find another Chinese roommate, I personally think that’s completely fine. We tend to gravitate towards people who have similar interests, and odds are, if you are the same ethnicity as a person, you will have greater similarities than compared to someone not from your ethnic origin.
Speaking of my own families history with this, we own a house in which the second floor is rented. In the past 15 years of owning this house, our tenants have always been from the Punjabi Community. This is mainly because we post “Looking For Tenant” advertisements on the Gurdwara’s, the Sikh Temple, bulletin board. Thus, only Sikh/Punjabi people will see this ad. This is another way how the Gurdwara serves as more of a cultural hub than a religious institution, an idea I presented in my immigration project presentation. I think my parents tend to want Punjabi tenants because:
1) They speak the same language. This eliminates any language barriers between tenants and the owner.
2) It’s a way of giving back to the community. Normally, our tenants have recently immigrated and are typically needful of a place to live.
3) Creates a closer relationship as we have many similarities with the tenants due to both being Punjabi.
Furthermore, regarding the point about jobs/colleges, I think most jobs and schools do a very well job posting what qualifications are needed. Most places have a certain type of skillets, and most schools have a certain average GPA/SAT score needed to get the job or school. However, there definitely should not be a method where the criteria is “honors program at a college in New York which states that a student cannot get in unless they have a 1400 or over on their SATs.” Each person comes from a different socio-economic background and cannot be compared to another person based on quantifiable measures. This is why I think interviews and essays are very helpful during both the job and college process to measure people based on just more than their numbers and skills.
Evan,
You brought up a few interesting points that I could definitely agree with. Initially, I thought that the publicly displaying a poster which targets only one kind was a little discriminatory to say the least. However, once we started discussing it more, I definitely felt more inclined to see the point of view of the person who put up the poster. Although, there should be a more direct way to reach out to that certain group of people rather than publicly stating that only they are wanted. IF that person who put up the poster wanted to target a specific group of people, he/she should reach out to a community in which only those people would see such an offer. It is a much safer, less discriminatory way to contact people that you want to be involved with. As for the other comments on this post, I can also agree that a workplace or a school is a different environment than a home. Everyone, regardless of cultural variation, should be considered equally for a position in a job or at a university.