not racism, but some interesting cultural nuances...
I used to go into Chinese restaurants in Chinatown with my late sifu Chan Tai San; sometimes I would go back to those restaurants without him; when I did, the waiter would recognize me and acknowledge me by saying, "Tai San"...
also, if I go into a Chinese restaurant and order something in Cantonese, a lot of times the waiter will think I am fluent and start talking to me, on and on and on, and I sit there without a clue as to what he is saying and just nod and smile and keep saying, "hai-yah, haih-ya, haih-ya" , and we are both very happy...
sometimes in a Chinese restaurant I order something, and the waiter doesn't understand, so he gets another guy and I tell him and he understands me and then he turns to the first waiter and tells him what I asked for, and it sounds exactly the same way that I said it, and the first waiter will understand him...
once I had invited my taiji sifu out to yum cha, and I ordered a bunch of pork buns; he became very quiet and finally asked me in a very concerned manner if I had enough money to pay for the meal; I said of course I did, and asked why he was worried about that; he said that when you don't have a lot of money and have to take someone out for yum cha, you order pork buns because they are cheap and filling; I was like, no, I just like pork buns...
I seem to spend a lot of time in Chinese restaurants...