Well I'm not sure how old your parents are, but this is probably a generational issue. Most likely, they or maybe your grandparents are old enough to have directly experienced overt racism at its most brutal (especially during the 1950's), so it's understandable that race and race issues would be salient for them.
That being the case, it's probably hard for them to trust or feel comfortable around other races, and as a result, they might feel the need to try to instill the notion of self-preservation in you. So while it may irritate you, they may look at it as trying to help you. They remember what it was like for them and they want to keep you from going through the same boat.
Some people do bring up race and race issues unnecessarily; there's no denying that. We all know that there are some people out there who blame any and every negative experience on race, which ultimately dilutes authentic experiences with racism (which is one of the reasons some people think people are generally "overly sensitive" or are "overreacting" about race issues). But while your parents may annoy you, at least now you might have a better understanding of why people in our parents' and grandparents' generations feel this way.
Does anybody hate it when people constantly talk about these annoying race issues? I mean, why can't people just live their lives and disregard race issues?
Malaysian Chinese
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