Oh my, this one is hard to figure out

I just found an article on a site called "Take Part" with sub-head: Environment Food Health Education Social Justice Animals. (Did they miss any?)

The article was titled, "Asian Nightclubs: Exclusive or Racist?"

Turns out there is a nightclub in Manhattan that caters to Koreans - which by the way is a lot more specific than "Asian," which is said to have a door policy that leans towards, well towards Koreans.

It actually kind of tickles my funnybone when Americans discover that, lo and behold, they didn't invent racism and discrimination.

I remember a professor on my thesis committee who was married to a Japanese had no trouble declaring the Japanese were, "the most racist people on earth."

People familiar with Koreans have disputed this. I once knew a lovely Korean girl who married an American guy. Eloped actually, because her father told her he'd kill her if she married that white guy. And my strong impression was by "kill" he didn't mean, "be very angry with you..."

Curmudgeonly columnist John Derbyshire (an email acquaintance) once related a story of traveling in China with his Chinese wife and their two children. He wrote how when checking into a hotel his wife started loudly and at length cursing out the front desk staff, and ultimately grabbed the family a hustled them out in search of another hotel.

It transpired that what had happened was she noticed staff glancing at her children and saying, "Zazhong." Meaning, "mongrels."

I remember telling the most tasteless joke about Japanese (involving Hiroshima and Nagasaki, can't get much more insensitive than that) to some Chinese, and watching them literally fall to the floor in fits of uncontrollable laughter.

The joke however, was no worse than how Japanese comedienne Tamiyo Otsuke used to begin her standup routine, "Thank you for dropping bomb."

One is strongly tempted to observe that if entertainment establishments discriminate against your particular kind, the obvious remedy is - not to go there.

Another approach was taken by affluent Jews in late 19th/early 20th century America who when barred by exclusive clubs, started their own. B'nai B'rith was founded by an English Jew who was a member of the Odd Fellows in England, and found himself excluded by branches in America.

And of course, you're not likely to be invited to join B'nai B'rith if you're a gentile, any more than you're going to get into the Knights of Columbus if you're Protestant.

Is this a terrible reflection on human nature? I don't know actually. It doesn't affect me much, because the only groups, clubs, and organizations I ever get involved with are interest/hobby groups.

I mean, nobody ever sues a martial arts club because they don't accommodate tennis players.