From the Annals of Post-Racial America

[Trigger warning for racism.]

My friend Tom pointed me to this post at Angry Asian Man about UCLA student Alexandra Wallace, who posted a video to YouTube in which she complained about the "hordes" of Asian students at UCLA who talk on their cell phones in the library, saying things like, "Ohhhh ching chong ling long ting tong."

Blink. Blink.

Angry Asian Man hits the nail on the head when he notes: "Granted, it's annoying as hell when people answer their phones in inappropriate places. But it's clear that this person is uncomfortable with the large population of Asian students at UCLA, and is working out her issues in the most regrettable way possible." (Emphasis original.)

That her approach was regrettable (a charitable description) was something she knew going in, hence starting her treatise with the sigh-inducing disclaimer: "So we know that I'm not the most politically correct person so don't take this offensively." But whoooooooooooooops she went ahead and did it, anyway.

Wallace has since apologized for the video, saying: "Clearly the original video posted by me was inappropriate. I cannot explain what possessed me to approach the subject as I did, and if I could undo it, I would. I'd like to offer my apology to the entire UCLA campus. For those who cannot find it within them to accept my apology, I understand."

Yep. Clearly inappropriate and inexplicable. But whoooooooooooooops she went ahead and did it, anyway.

Why might a white person do something like that? Well, I have my thoughts. The one that keeps floating to the surface is that perhaps Wallace has shared these thoughts with white/non-Asian friends, who confirmed her biases by nodding along in agreement, or even joining in a rousing round of ching-chong language mockery, or simply by conveying tacit approval with silence.

Wallace's rant has all the markers of a practiced bit of racism, and I bet what "possessed her" to post a public video is having gotten away with it before.

Just a guess.