A Serious Note About #StopAsianHate
I am taking a break from my NYC Fashion Blogger life (I had paused my blog until I was ready to provide a life update about myself), but I felt the need to share some thoughts around the Asian Hate discussions circulating.
Asian targeted racism is nothing new. America has always had an ugly history towards Asian immigration and faces. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese internment camps to the the phrase “model minority” myth, Asians have always been targeted in America. We are rarely included in demographics, but always trotted out as BIPOC and immigrant success stories.
I strongly believe that the largest cause of hate against AAPI is that most Americans have only been exposed to a racist depiction of Asians from an early age. We are often left out of the conversation, and so these racist tropes are approved and allowed because we have no seat at the table to say otherwise.
Asians are rarely given representation in media. Growing up I was always called either “Lucy Liu,” “Connie Chung,” or “Margaret Cho” because there were no other known “notable” Asian women. Media has always portrayed Asians as caricatures who couldn’t speak English (“Engrish”) or who had hyperbolically slated eyes. These portrayals have been MAINSTREAM for far more than my lifetime. Look at Lady and the Tramp’s “we are Siamese,” Breakfast at Tiffany’s Mr. Yunioshi (also Mickey Rooney in “yellow face” which is despicable enough in itself), Sixteen Candle’s “Long Duk Dong” (described by critic Susannah Gora in her book as “understandably offensive but admittedly “hilarious”), the Dude Where’s My Car’s Chinese drive through “and then...” scene, Mean Girls, ... the list goes on and on. It is not comedy. It’s white accepted racism, written for white people, by white people and if Asians protest, we have always been told to “learn to take a joke.”
There is a RACIST makeup challenge called “fox eyes” that MAJOR influencers are still doing with very little outcry. Most of us grew up being mocked and called “slant eyes” but once it is co-opted by white women and repackaged it’s a trend. It’s insensitive and gross… My eyes are not a beauty trend.
CardiB used an Asian racial slur without apology and I have yet to see anyone I know “cancel” her or stop listening to her music. I have posted about this endlessly, and all people do is make excuses for her. If you want to be an ally to Asians, stop excusing anti-Asian racism, even when it comes from another minority.
I can’t speak too much about this because I will never get over my rage, but does everyone realize that the former President of the United States repeatedly used slurs to label the pandy? Over and over. And then insisted it wasn’t racist and people still insist it isn’t racist? Did you know that when you report the use of these slurs, Facebook insists that it doesn’t violate their community guidelines?
The tragic murder of Asian women is a hate crime and a tragedy... but today is not unique. The world seems stunned that Asian women were targeted for hate. IT’S NOT A SURPRISE OR NEW. It should not have taken 8 murders to be trending for people to realize that American is racist to Asians. It is not a trend. This may seem harsh to hear, but posting some instagram squares with #endasianhate is not doing anything to erase racism towards Asians.
I am GRATEFUL for everyone who has checked in on me, but sadly, what the world needs more is for you to use your breath to DENOUNCE Asian targeted racism.
Ways to Help Combat Asian-Targeted Racism
Stop downloading racists’ music.
Stop buying racist movies.
Stop watching racist tv shows.
Write news producers when they publish racist features. (Or hire racist editors).
Email publications that publish racist headlines.
Stop supporting people who say racist things. Call. Them. Out.
Keep reporting racism to Facebook’s community guidelines… eventually they’ll get the picture.
When people excuse and normalize clear cut racism, call them out. Like Police Captain Jay Baker who claimed the murder was just “having a bad day” while also having a history of racist posts against Asians. Hold them accountable by telling his boss the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Phone: (678) 493-4200 that America doesn’t condone racism.
Tell people that jokes aren’t funny at the expense of Asians.
Learn how to pronounce Asian names. As Hasan Minhaj (Hah-sin Min-hahj) puts it, if you can learn Ansel Elgort, you can learn to pronounce Asian names.
Stop assuming Asian names make bad employees and excluding them when you see an Asian name.
If we normalize the two items above, it will stop forcing Asians to adopt “White Acceptable Names.”
When a white man at your Thanksgiving table says they’re posing as an Asian man on twitter and will use that to try and catfish your adopted Asian family member by pretending to be their biological sibling “as a joke,” you should probably tell him that he is a disgusting racist and to leave your home, instead of laughing and encouraging it. (Yeah, I still have personal rage at personal experiences).
Btw, when you condone and accept racism, it kind of makes you racist too.
Stop normalizing Asian tropes and false stereotypes.
Stop asking us if we speak English.
Stop asking us where we are from.
Stop fetishizing us.
Stop mocking us with fake accents.
Stop using us as the butt of your jokes.
Stop ignoring us when we tell you it is racist.
Stop pretending that we are not just as American as you.
AMPLIFY ASIAN VOICES. Don’t look to white people to provide resources and guidance on how to be anti-racist… share Asian stories and Asian voices and perspectives.
Stop excluding us from a seat at the table.
Lastly, you can be an advocate for Asians and also support the BLM. You can advocate against anti semitism. You can support LGBTQ+. Be an ally for everyone.
It should not take the tragedy of 8 people being murdered to wake up to the reality of racism in this country. Check your privilege and do better.
Xoxo, Mary