Mentioning someone’s race while telling a story isn’t racist

You know when someone is telling a story and they say something like “so I was sitting next to this little old Asian lady at the bus stop when some crazy dude came up, dropped to his knees and tried to pull her flip flops off her damn feet!”

Some people say it’s irrelevant and even kinda racist to mention someone’s race when telling a story, but I strongly disagree. It’s part of painting a picture, just like saying she’s a “little old lady.” None of those descriptors are really necessary, but they all add to the absurdity of the story.

The best rationale I hear people use for it being racist is that people don’t say “so I saw this white guy…” But, people totally do when they aren’t white and/or white people aren’t the most common where they are from. Everyone has a default race in their mind based on their lived experience.

I have heard black and Hispanic people in the US telling stories that mention when someone is white. And I’m sure people in China mention race or say “I saw this American tourist being crazy…” which may not use the word for white, but still evokes a certain image to a Han Chinese person.

It’s natural, paints a better picture, and unless someone is just mentioning their race to stereotype them- I really don’t see the problem.