SF Mayoral Candidate Harold Miller Wants to Teach Asians to 'Look Blacks in the Eye'

[Newsjock]

Source: SF Weekly

An unknown number of San Franciscans received an introduction to one Harold Miller yesterday, when the little-known mayoral candidate sent out an e-mail illuminating the masses on just how he'd clean up this town.

When Miller rails against the "crazy laws the Board of Supervisors put on the books," or how he wants "anyone in LOVE to marry," it's hard to imagine many San Franciscans disagreeing with him. But when he addresses the solution to black-on-Asian violence, Miller takes a turn for the surreal:

"I don't have to wait to deal with that problem, I am dealing with it now as President of Sunnydale Tenants Association and I have been trying to set-up a meeting with Ms Rose Pak of the Asian community to teach her people to look Blacks in the eye as a sign of respect, which is all the young kids who are doing these attack say they want."

... Regarding the "teach her people to look blacks in the eye," statement, Miller says this comes up repeatedly during town hall meetings in the Southeast of San Francisco. "It's one of the reasons that black people are so angry at the Chinese. They disrespect them by looking at their feet or away from them." Miller says he's not justifying this behavior, however: "You're talking about young guys and their attitude ... if you're going to mug somebody, you mug someone who disrespects you. ... If you disrespect them, they're going to mug you. Just ignore them and get the hell out of there. They are looking for trouble."

Read more: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2010/09/mayoral_candidate_harold_mille.php

[foxfeet]

1. Oy.

[provis99]

2. looking a young tough guy in the eye will get you clobbered.

what is this fool talking about?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. Huh?

:wtf:

[CurtEastPoint]

4. Vote for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Sapphocrat]

5. Talk about culturally clueless.

I can't speak for Asians or for black people, but it sounds like Mr. Miller is getting all steamed up about cultural differences he doesn't understand.

At the same time, he's also saying the exact opposite of what I've understood about cultural differences vis-a-vis body language. For example -- and no, I'm not an expert, and yes, I'm only repeating what I've read:

Some misunderstandings between blacks and whites might be attributed to differences in the way we look at one another when speaking or listening. I've read that whites tend to look away when speaking, and look directly at a speaker when listening -- and vice versa for blacks. So, if a black person is looking away when listening, a white speaker might get annoyed, thinking: "Why isn't he listening to me?" Conversely, if a black person is speaking, and making direct eye contact with a white listener, who in turn is looking at the speaker in order to signal attentiveness, the black speaker might grow uncomfortable, thinking: "Why is he staring at me?"

(I've also read that whites generally insist on a much larger area of personal space than do many other people. So, if you've got one person who unconsciously moves in closer during a conversation, and the other is unconsciously backing away, the former may think the latter finds him offensive, while the latter is simply feeling crowded, and even threatened.)

I don't know how universal or true these observations of black-white interactions may be, but if there's any truth to them at all, it may have a lot to do with Mr. Miller's strange attack on Asians (who, it's also been said, are more inclined to smile when uncomfortable or embarrassed, which is something else that confuses non-Asians).

There's nothing wrong with such cultural differences, unless we fail to make an effort to understand them. When we don't, we can feel angry, or threatened, or disrespected, without even knowing why.

I expect the Asians who have been mugged (Miller's word) are showing respect (or fear) by looking down or away -- while the alleged muggers see the Asians' reaction as disrespect and weakness.