The title of this article is slightly misleading, but intentionally so. As much as there has been a rise in media of racist slander towards the Asian community. Whether that’s including pictures of random, mostly healthy, Asian people, or outrightly blaming China and using quotes such as “the Chinese coronavirus”; there’s clearly an issue.
What’s “impressive” as Soledad puts it, is the audacity that the media, and the population in general, have managed to go about this racism with.
And let’s get this point clear, it’s racism. If you disagree, then you’re part of the problem.
The confidence with which these people write columns with blatant finger pointing and the Asian community, is worrying. It’s no coincidence that this comes in a political climate with Donald Trump and Boris Johnson leading two of the two major western countries.
As someone who is of mixed Asian/British background, I’m used to the jokes/comments/hate that come along with being “yellow”. Racism is not something that I’ve been sheltered from and not something I’ve shied away from.
It’s been a part of my life, a part of the Asian community’s life since white people “discovered” us.
It’s nice to see people talking about this more, allies on social media calling out the bullshit that people pull. But it still feels that it’s not being taken that seriously.
I could write about this for a long time, but it’s just clear that, as I have for a long time, Asian people have been conditioned into sitting back, making a joke of racism and kind of just ignoring it. It kind of feels insignificant. You’re almost not allowed to get that offended by racism towards your own people.
In a way, it feels like making a joke of the media is a bit of a power play. Realising it’s naivety and ignorance and just being able to laugh at it. It’s evident though that there are just systemic issues that need to be addressed, education that needs to be made. I’m not here to do that, because this would soon turn into a dissertation but I just want to point it out.
I’ll end this with a story my colleague told me yesterday about a comedy show he attended at the weekend. My colleague is Vietnamese/Australian. He was watching a Malaysian comedian, had a good time, good show. When he was leaving the venue he got a tap on the back, a guy who wanted to shake his hand. Why? He said “great set man”. My friend has short hair, the comedian had long hair. My friend is Vietnamese, the comedian is Malaysian.
Looking back on it, my friend couldn’t help but laugh at it. But that’s it. Not all Asian people look the same, and are certainly not the same people. Come on people.
The Over-Analytical 