Although it's also worth noting that the LAPD pretty consciously neglected to deploy in Asian neighbourhoods in favour of white neighbourhoods, which lead many looters to attack Asian businesses out of opportunity rather than concious preference, so institutional racism also plays a part in allowing these lingering distrusts to express themselves as violence.
Hmm. That does seem to have been the case:
Thanks for bringing that up. Does make sense, at any rate. Still, the growing tensions between Asians and blacks (which still remain around today at any rate) I think played a really big role, but it is saddening to see how the police didn't give a damn about protecting non-white neighborhoods.
I would be interested in hearing from others (victims of racism) in the forum some examples of how they maybe have experienced racism. Maybe if there were more awareness of what sorts of behavior we the "majority" act in which has a negative effect on "minorities", that might be help us avoid such behavior.
As an upper-middle class Asian who has lived in extremely diverse areas most of his life, areas where 1st/2nd/3rd generation immigrants are usually the majority, not the minority, I haven't really dealt with a lot of racism myself per se. Probably the most notable instance I can remember of (and hardly something that traumatic), was a few years ago at the place I interned; a girl who also interned there basically had the mindset that all the Asian stereotypes were true, and that reflected in how she dealt with me, when she basically assumed I was a friendless, nerdy fellow who had nothing of a social life. Again, it wasn't very traumatic, she wasn't assaulting me and shouting slurs at me or anything, but it was disheartening to see her so casually look down at me. That said, she wasn't the most pleasant person, being rather superficial and vain to begin with, so I'll leave it at that.
In terms of what the "majority" can do to avoid a negative effect on "minorities," I can only really speak as an Asian, though I think some things apply to other groups as well. One important thing would be to avoid assumptions, and try to think in terms of the individual when you're dealing with a minority person one-on-one. Like in my example above, the girl could've simply not assumed I was a nerdy guy with no life. And even if I was, she didn't need to assume I was nerdy and introverted because I'm Asian - surprisingly, for some people, it'd be really difficult to imagine an Asian who was nerdy and introverted simply because he just so happened to be nerdy and introverted, not because he was Asian. Knowing people of another race can help, I suppose, to temper this, because then it'll be easier to see how different they can all be.
For Asians, though, one big issue is the portrayal of Asians as an exotic "other". While I don't really want to get into the specifics of it (since we'll have to go into Orientalism and other such things I don't feel like blabbering about), a number of Asians aren't satisfied with how the media has been portraying us; like I said before, Asian men are usually asexual nerds or martial artists, and women are generally fetishized. In a way, I feel it is one of the core Asian-American issues, even more so than for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. Anyways, this isn't exactly something any normal person can do, unless if you work in Hollywood, but supporting and watching shows and such that do a better job of portraying Asians is always a nice thing, and/or helping others realize how ridiculous some of these outdated stereotypes and elements are; back to the internship I worked at, it really made me feel a little better when I told one of my supervisors about how I wanted them to portray Asians in a more nuanced light, and he understood.
Another I can think of for Asians concerns Asian girls, so as a male I can't speak of direct experience. Essentially, according to some surveys, which may or may not be reliable, Asian women are seen as the most desirable race of women; even if this weren't exactly true, there is a certain amount of truth to it. Asian women are seen as feminine, exotic, and passive, so "traditional" female qualities. Due to that, and the Asian stereotypes, when a lot of non-Asian guys hit on Asian women, they end up sounding misguided at best and really, really creepy at worse because they make these assumptions. Things like speaking to the girl in Engrish, or saying how you know so much about so-and-so culture when it's obvious you don't, and so on. I read an article a while back about how this Asian girl had a white guy hitting on her, and he was saying how he would treat her right, and not abuse her like those evil traditional Asian men would; the girl got really pissed off and blew up on the guy, because her father was nothing like that. So, basically, if you want to date an Asian girl, don't say stupid stuff. It's not that hard, yet some people still do it, and it's becoming enough of a problem that it's hard for some Asian girls to want to be together with non-Asian guys because they aren't sure if they actually like them or if they're just idealizing/fetishizing them.
One last thing, though this varies from Asian to Asian, is don't ask where we're from. It's usually meant as a nice icebreaker, but for some Asians it's seen as insulting because it makes it sound like you're assuming we're not American and are foreigners. Though, again, this varies; I'm not too peeved by it, but for others it might be very insulting, especially those who have stayed here in the states for generations and don't know jack about their 'homeland'.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to getting to know people of other races. You don't even need to be friends with them, but at least interact with them more, know what they're like. It doesn't help fully - my dad lived in a black neighborhood for a couple of years when he came to America, had black friends there and crushed on black girls even, but he still holds some racist views - but it's a good start. I grew up in a diverse area, so I think that accounts for a lot of the reason why I didn't experience much racism myself.
Here's something random to a lot of white folk don't think about. White people, think about how much we love to be like "I'm Irish, Scottish, and German" "Really? I'm Irish too! I'm also Italian, English, Russian, Danish, and Dutch." We'll be counting off our fingers and making a show of it trying to remember them all.
So imagine someone asked your heritage and how it's fun to list your many Germans/Englishes/Polishes you've got plus that speculation of being "1/32nd Cherokee." Now imagine you're someone else and whose answer is "I wouldn't know, they were abducted and brought here as slaves."
I've met plenty of white folk who are first and second generation European-Americans, so I think those people have a right to boast about their origins. But anyways I see your point with the African-Americans. It is sad, really, even if you had a DNA test to figure out your origins, it doesn't do much for you, since you still don't have much of a connection with wherever your ancestors came from.
Actually, I think it's interesting to compare this to other Latin American countries, where Africans there
do still have more of a connection to their homeland. Some of the religious practices in places like Cuba or Brazil, for instance, are close to or even exactly like the ones back in West Africa, and in some parts the people still speak their original Africna language to some extent. It's only here, in America, where the Africans were forced to forget their heritage and culture. (Not to say slavery was better per se elsewhere, but I think it's an interesting thing to consider.)
Awesome post. I think people also forget
Thank you!
wonderful. 
