Asian Appreciation
April 6, 2021
I’m tired.
And you might be, too.
Though I hadn’t initially planned on writing extensively about this, besides a quick point, certain situations introduce themselves to you even as you try to shield your face and slink away. Instances of cultural appropriation and religious mockery have dramatically increased lately, and has, dare I say, been more normalized with celebrities that perpetuate it?
So today, I’ll be touching on particular examples of appropriation, racism and religious discrimination, the uselessness of calling out celebrities/influencers, and examples of how celebrities/influencers/etc. can do it right.
Recent attacks on Asian Americans seem like a new occurrence. How could the “model minority” be so targeted? That simple statement underlines centuries of ignorance.
Model minority. It was the idea to not only divide people of color but justify the living conditions of Black Americans as well as downplay the hate received by Asian Americans, not to mention that it uplifts the American Dream, as Asians find themselves among the highest educated demographics in the United States.
Staunch critic of Hillary Clinton, Andrew Sullivan of the New York Times, claimed that Asian-Americans today are among the most prosperous ethnic groups in America. Because of the maintenance of “solid two-parent family structures, social networks that looked after one another, enormous emphasis on education and hard work, and thereby turned false, negative stereotypes into true, positive ones” and then adding that it could be that “all whites are not racists or that the American dream still lives?”
There, right there, in a single quote sums up the model minority myth. Now I won’t spend time disproving his claims on wealth and prosperity, and nor will I comment on the generalization of the race, or even look at that jab toward African Americans because that’s too surface level. If you’d like to take a gander at the article I’m referencing, please check my sources because breaking that statement down alone will take a whole other essay.
Asia is the most populous continent on earth, with 48 countries, thousands of dialects, tribes, ethnicities and religions. And they all face racial discrimination, erasure, and appropriation on a daily basis, making it a norm not only in popular media, but in reality as well.
Asians face fetishization, hypersexualization, crude remarks and mockery (from names, food, clothing, behaviors), at the same time people wear their clothing, listen to their music, profit off their culture and religions and then defend it by saying, “My ancestors also invented the justice system, democracy, and most of the modern infrastructure you now enjoy. But for some reason I’m always included when the topic is genocide or slavery” or by implying that Halloween is a justified time to dress as another ethnicity. Another glance at the sources will give you a direct link to “a response to cultural appropriation.” So yeah, make your own opinions by weighing both sides, but here’s my criticism.
That defense makes it seem as if people of color face no issues in the current justice system, and undermines the socioeconomic and political strides non-European cultures established before the countless genocides, colonial damage and looting. And the inventions she mentions took years and years of struggles and blood to “enjoy” them.
For her, it’s as if it’s easy for Breonna Taylor’s murderers to have been arrested, more than a year later. As if George Floyd will easily get justice, Ahmaud Arbery or Trayvon Martin will. That’s the justice system we “enjoy.”
In 1922, Asians were considered laborers rather than citizens, and “enjoyed” few rights. Indian Americans had even fewer, as they weren’t even considered Asian. Asians as a whole won the right to vote in 1963, despite having a presence in America since the mid 19th century.
And that’s just on voting.
The People vs. Hall case in 1954 ruled that Chinese (or anyone looking Chinese) may not testify against a White person.
The 1923 case US vs. Bhagat ruled that Hindus individually were racially ineligible to naturalized citizenship due to religious beliefs, despite America being a secular nation.
In 1924, all Asian immigration was banned, followed by Japanese bans. Then Filipinos were banned. Then the Chinese. Then Indians. Then America’s meddling in other countries’ politics grew more popular.
And I can go on for several pages.
This isn’t just about our clothing, jewelry or hair. It’s about everything we are.
Asian women, typically those of Korean, Japanese or Chinese descent, were excessively sexualized as prostitutes during the second world war, where women were forced into prostitution. This perpetuated the idea that Asian women were then by character more sensual and “willing.” This perception still exists full fledged today.
March 2021, the Atlanta shooting of a day spa resulted in eight people killed, 6 of which were Asian women. The crime is not classified as a hate crime, and rather, articles pity the offender, Robert Aaron Long, by talking about his pleasant life taking a vicious turn, rather than the crime itself. Zealously religious, Long found Asian women to be “tempestuous” and “sinful.” Despite believing that, he had a pornography addiction, and to wean off it, he visited Asian owned spas because it was “safer.” The reason he shot it up was because they were a “temptation [he] wanted to eliminate.”
The obsession with Kpop idols stems from seeing perfect marketed Korean faces but not supporting or validating darker Koreans, nor commenting on injustices and social issues of Asia. It’s an aesthetic for people, and it makes out Asians as objects, toys to gaze at, rather than human beings. That idea comes from the hypersexualization of Asian women throughout history, from portraying Geisha as prostitutes rather than female artists. Even in media, shows like Glee portray Asian women as “easy.” Comedians like Amy Schumer mock Asian women for being smaller, and therefore existing to the “male view.”
American troops raping Filipino and Vietnamise women now seems trivial with propaganda making them to be mindless objects, and often that’s how cases of assault were dismissed, calling the victim “naturally willing.”
Since Covid-19, Asian racism has heightened with offensive titles like “king-flu” or “China virus,” and attacks on elderly Asian Americans have risen. In fact, since March 2020, there have been over 3,800 attacks on elderly citizens of Asian descent. This comes despite the fact that Asian countries have generally been successful in controlling the spread of the virus compared to the “land of the free and the brave.”
Indians face racism and appropriation, as any minority group.TV shows mock their religion, and characters are portrayed as single minded nerds, or losers (thanks New Girl). From white women selling overpriced yoga mats with oms printed on, people changing their names to Satya (why always Satya??), the ideas of manifestation, meditation, and crudely marketed online, the Indian clothing worn at proms, the sexualization of Hindu gods and goddesses (why?? It’s just so disgusting) and traditional clothing, turning religious festivals into marathons (seriously the color run combines Holi with the worst thing ever: willful running).
Since the attacks of 2001, brown people, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim were targets of blatant hate and violence, with rising tensions.
Wearing a bindi because you think it’s cute is not okay. Period. Hindu women have been brutally murdered for it, and no not only during colonial times. A group originated in the late 80s in New Jersey that is still active today, The Dotbusters, often targeted young Hindu women that wore bindis. As recent as 2019, a temple was vandalized, and a priest was beaten in New York, though it was not registered as a hate crime.
“Look, let’s cut out the small talk…if I’m walking down the street and I see a Hindu, and the setting is right, I will just hit him or her […] Do you walk down Central Avenue and experience what it’s like to be near them: we have and we just don’t want it anymore. You said that they will have to start protecting themselves because the police cannot always be there. They will never do anything. They are a weak race physically and mentally. We are going to continue our way. We will never be stopped.”
South Asian, Arabic and other Middle Eastern Muslims are a another whole chapter to open, facing blatant hate and Islamophobia throughout their daily lives. After the attacks of 2001,Brown people, mostly Muslims, have become scapegoats for the frustration and fear of the time. Hijabi women have had their veils snatched at grocery stores, been beaten in malls, and of all these attacks only 31.8% of attacks were reported to the police, and of those, just a third are formally recorded. And it starts from as little as, “can I see your hair?” to “were you forced to wear that?”. The lack of education and respect are a large part as non-Muslim people start to wear hijabs as a fashion statement.
Recently, the call for travel bans and excluding middle eastern Muslims has grown prominent, especially under a previous president that fueled that hatred in the country. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, there had been 306 anti-Islam attacks, rising since 2001, though since 2018, anti-Muslim crime has decreased by 28%, after the spike of 2017. What’s this a product of? Mass education and awareness.
Now, I know we can’t demand respect. It’s not a material thing to hand over. And attitudes don’t just change. So when I say to hold celebrities and influencers accountable, I don’t mean wreck their careers, mostly because that’ll never happen, but because what I want is responsibility. Not a #blankpartyisover trending on twitter for three days. That’s not about accountability. That’s about entertainment.
And there are countless celebrities, I mean for god’s sake, Beyoncé has appropriated Indian culture, could there ever be consequences for her? I’ll bet my left kidney there won’t be.
I want them to admit mistakes and try to improve and rectify mistakes while never trying to push the mistake under the rug. Cause trying sets a standard. A norm.
One example is of Jenna Marbles, who quit YouTube after her apology for her racist actions in the past. Now the difference in her apology vs others is that she improved. She took responsibility and action. There wasn’t an offense, emotional apology with three ad breaks then another offense. She admits what she did, regrets it, deleted those videos and says she wants to start over and does that.
A more recent example includes a handful of Dr. Seuss’s books that have been proven to be racist and deeply disrespectful. Is he cancelled?
No.
He’s dead and generations of children have grown up on Sam I am.There’s no use, and the excuse, of course, can be that “it was a different time then.” But his team didn’t do that. They didn’t shrug it off and pull a timeline to say “see, look how long it’s been since those books came out; it means nothing now!”
Those books, from calling Asians “slanty eyed helpers” from “countries no one can spell” to including Black and Jewish characters in derogatory roles, were pulled from publication.
Now while his work has a long and problematic history with racial and religious issues, far beyond the 6 books that will no longer be published and despite the fact that Dr. Seuss is one of the largest perpetrators of “symbolic annihilation,” the fact is, he, the brand at least, took accountability.
His personal opinions or those of his representative really don’t matter. At this point, it was enough that under fire, they decided to do the right thing. To evolve with today’s times. To look at past mistakes, acknowledge them and fix them, and go forward making work that can avoid blatant racist remarks.
Anyone can do that, with enough fingers pointing in their direction, either they rectify their mistakes or defend them, thus their character being solidified. Feigning ignorance can’t be an option, and you need to know the person you idolize.
So when Rihanna apologized for the Islamic verses in her song but then wore bindis, an amulet of a Hindu god and marketed her lingerie brand in a Hindu temple, I find it hard to respect her previous apology.
Because it was nothing.
Rihanna needs to realize she can’t apologize and do it all again.She can’t just go “aww it seems that Muslims didn’t like that, huh, let’s try Hindus today.”
And it’s not only Rihanna. Kpop has a weird fascination with Hindu gods and hymns, as do certain people on Instagram, specifically one who sexualizes them on t-shirts they sell, and when criticized, caption it “TW Blasphemy” while the comments call the gods slurs. I can’t ask them to respect the gods; they’re nothing to this person, and I have to accept that. Just like that girl who wore a kimono to her prom and called it “just a dress.” Educating someone is an uphill journey, but having consequences for actions can make a larger difference.
And I’m not belittling the centuries of pain Black people go through by highlighting Asian racism. All I’m asking is that the pain of Asians and other POC isn’t disregarded, especially nowadays. Let’s stop playing the Oppression Olympics, and realize ALL POC go through similar experiences and share similar blood-soaked pasts. Instead let’s hold people accountable. Instead of a ineffectual cancel on twitter, I want them to apologize, no matter how fake, and simply
✨never do it again✨
We’re tired. And annoyed. It takes zero effort to mind your own business and avoid hurting cultures that have spent centuries fighting to just exist.
So no, you can’t wear a sari, a kimono or a salwar suit. You can’t wear a bindi, wear an Indian headdress, fake a monolid or fox eye, wear a hijab, have a Buddha head on your floating shelf, or Devi Kalika on your dresser. You just can’t. And I don’t care how oppressed that makes you feel. There is real pain and suffering, centuries of it, behind that clothing, the idols, the jewelry and the veils. People have fought to keep them. These are certain things. We don’t gate keep food, certain hairstyles, or discourage learning about the culture or the language, or traveling there. Some things just need proper acknowledgement of credit.
And I reach out to other POC, of African Descent, Indigenous people. We’re in the same boat. I implore you, instead of comparing pasts we need to stand up for each other. Black people can and do appropriate and racially profile Asians, just as Asians do the same, and this divide was formed by the “Model Minority” idea, building a brick wall between all people of color, and leading us to disregard our own cultures to idolize the attributes our colonizers taught us to want.
Black lives matter and so do Asian lives. Fight for both.
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/why-do-democrats-feel-sorry-for-hillary-clinton.html
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/entertainment/rihanna-cultural-appropriation-hindu-gods/https://www.opindia.com/2021/02/rihanna-fenty-lingerie-promotion-photo-shoot-hindu-temple/
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/12/nyregion/in-jersey-city-indians-protest-violence.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1300/J500v04n01_08https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/being-indian-in-trumps-america
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-10/hijab-wearing-women-most-at-risk-of-islamophobic-attacks/8688856
https://www.kulturemedia.org/tv-shows/
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ep4by4/k-pop-south-asia-cultural-appropriation
https://parsikhabar.net/news/remembering-navroze-mody-a-zarathushti-victim-of-hate-crime-in-the-united-states/23086/
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/12/nyregion/in-jersey-city-indians-protest-violence.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/atlanta-shooting-suspect-robert-aaron-long/2021/03/19/9397cdca-87fe-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/world/asia/blackpink-ganesha-kpop-cultural-appropriation.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/entertainment/jenna-marbles-quits-youtube-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/us/hijab-hate-crime-portland.html
https://www.wnyc.org/story/cultural-appropriation-debate-starring-beyonce-coldplay/
https://www.vox.com/22338807/asian-fetish-racism-atlanta-shooting
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/us/robert-aaron-long-suspected-shooter/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/01/super-bowl-halftime-show-coldplay-beyonce-cultural-appropriation-india-bollywood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Hindu_sentiment#United_States
https://4thwavers.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/a-response-to-cultural-appropriation-yes-to-the-entire-theory/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/there-were-3-800-anti-asian-racist-incidents-mostly-against-n1261257
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cultural-appropriation-vs-appreciation_n_5a78d13ee4b0164659c72fb3
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/us/asian-women-misogyny-spa-shootings-trnd/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/racism-sexism-must-be-considered-atlanta-case-involving-killing-six-n1261347
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/15/assaults-against-muslims-in-u-s-surpass-2001-level/
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/us-elections-2016-who-can-vote/index.html
https://www.voanews.com/usa/report-anti-muslim-hate-crimes-drop-second-year-row
