[gamedori]

Ingroup biases (race, class, religion) don't really become a factor until the outgroup is assertive. I saw this firsthand as a foreigner in Korea. The first few years I kept my head down and was treated well. "He's just like a Korean." As I became more confident at work, my coworkers started playing politics to hold me back. (One of them used race explicitly to form a coalition.) Nowdays I don't play politics, and my performance is good, but I still get a lot of comments about my "attitude" from my boss. Nevermind that people I don't report to directly love working with me.

[blaser-waffle]

Hell, it doesn't even have to be Asia. As a white dude working in Australia I found myself on the wrong side of arguments and perceptions cuz I had a different accent.