San Francisco, once known for its ethnically diverse population, is now a place of those who have, those who are trying to have and those who have-not. Although gentrification and economics has changed the racial landscape of this beautiful city, I've been holding on to that old Jesse Jackson hope of a rainbow coalition of races coming together and making for stronger cities and a united nation. Regrettably, today the haves, the wanna-haves and the have-nots are speaking different languages and misinterpreting each others wants and needs. The "Us" that Jesse once preached on has become "Yours," "Mines" and "Theirs."
Whether we choose to agree or disagree with each other we must be able to communicate intelligently to avoid warring with one another. I strongly believe that tone of voice and hand gestures are critical tools when trying to communicate with peoples of other languages. Our body language and facial expressions send many signals that can be taken wrongly and we may not know we're even sending these signals. On the other hand, those who haven't learned the language of the land should desist from using the few offensive words they've learned from ugly Americans and/or television. Case and point:
The clip above is from an incident that occurred on a Municipal Transit bus traveling through San Francisco's Chinatown. If you look closely you'll see the face of the man filming this footage, a Caucasian man, as he adjusts his angle. If our translator is to be believed the misunderstanding between these two women of different language and ethnic backgrounds is over a seat. If they'd only stopped to consider there may have been a misunderstanding of actions, their heated verbal exchange may not have come to blows. And again, if our translator is to be believed, instigators in the crowd can fuel the flames of misunderstanding. Was it Jesse or Rodney King that said " Can't we all just get along?"
The Highly Anticipated Translation
Old Man#1(0:01) Beat that bitches ass.
Old Lady#1(0:02): Don't hit her.
Chinese Lady in the Pink(0:23): Don't let that bitch bully you.
Chinese Lady: (0:09): This bitch got the nerve to yell at me for me asking her politely if i may sit down. She is hogging the seat and won't let me sit. (0:48): If that bitch didn't want to let me sit down don't mean she got to bitch at me. (0:59): I didn't yell at you bitch why you going off on me. If I don't stand up for myself, she won't get scared. (1:44): Dare to fucking pick on chinese people?
(2:05): This bitch hogging the seat and I asked nicely if I may sit and that bitch kept hogging the seat. She has no heart, always bullying chinese people.
Old Man#2(1:26): Hit that bitch.
Old Man#3(1:33): Beat that bitch ass.
Old Lady#2(1:37): Don't fight no more.
Old Man#2((1:59): Beat the fuck out of her till she is scared!
Location: Clay St./Stockton St. Chinatown, San Francisco
30 stockton or 45 union/stockton at 10:00AM October 7th, 2009
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