In Senft and Noble’s Race and Social Media, they point out how in most of the media, press, and law reports, racist acts are made out to be singular acts exempt from the rest of society. This makes it seem like racism is something that is out of the norm, leaving no room to suggest that our culture itself harbors structural and societal racism.

I found a humorous, yet insightful video on YouTube that illustrates an interaction between a white man and Asian American woman, where he tries to ask her “where she’s from.” When she answers “San Diego…,” he goes on to “correct” her by asking “No, I mean where are you FROM… where are your people from?” Once she reveals her great-grandmother was from Seoul, he goes on talking about very stereotypical Korean/Asian things that he loves (“Oh I love Kimchi!”). The woman turns the conversation around and asks the man the same exact questions, then goes on to do equally stereotypical and caricatured British acts. The humor of the video, and the biggest statement from the video, comes from the fact that the man does not realize the racism in his actions, yet is offended and confused by the woman’s.

The most insightful piece this comedy sketch has to offer is a follow up clip of the actors reading the comments on the original video. A few of the commenters again fail to see the man’s original racism in his statements, stating that the woman’s acts were racist towards white people instead. Perhaps these people are unaware because this racism is imbedded in white culture; it is normal for some white people to think of themselves as the “original” Americans and to automatically view other races as foreign. They fail to see the racism in their own actions because the media treats racism as isolated acts committed by a few individuals. Luckily with the onset of social media, minorities are able to take their representation into their own hands and point out these flaws in our culture. One can hope that this new representation will translate to mainstream media, a platform that has huge potential to push societal change, and make our cultural stereotypes and racism apparent to everyone, not just the victims.