Western Europe’s weird “we all learned our lesson after 1945 and now we’re all nice progressives who don’t do icky things like racism and sexism anymore 😇” superiority complex is straight up one of the biggest enablers of the rise of the militant far right here
Also the rightwing directly exploits this complex to recruit people who don’t consider themselves nationalist, or even racist. How many times do you see shit like “Immigrants and refugees are bad because they’re misogynist, they’re antisemitic, they’re homophobic!! And we’re not, because we’re too nice for those things, but the only way to protect our progressiveness is to keep them out so they don’t bring all that bad stuff back!!” or “We give these people all this equality and opportunities and they’re still fucked up and poor! What the fuck is wrong with those people!?”
I think the most honest aspect of Crazy Rich Asians is that Asians born and raised in Western Cultures will always been seen as foreign and as outsiders to Asians born and raised in Asia and it is something white people will never fucking grasp cuz they see us as all the same lmao
This is especially ridiculous when white people go “See? Asians in Asian country where they’re not marginalised aren’t offended by racism” because that xenophobia and racism doesn’t even touch them and they see themselves distinct from us western born Asians
But white people think solidarity is something inherent amongst Asians when there’s major issues of classism and racism amongst the many groups within Asia
It’s different from the U.S. or anywhere else for that matter, since every community is different, but racism, colorism, and antiblackness are still very much present. White foreigners are lionized while SE Asians and Black people are looked down on. There’s a large population of marriage immigrants from Vietnam and elsewhere who endure high rates of abuse and violence from their husbands and in-laws, often in isolated rural settings. Workers from SE Asia, Africa, and the Middle East often suffer from bad working conditions and have no bargaining power under an immigration law that gives all the power to employers. A few hundred Yemeni refugees arrived in Jeju Island back when it had a more liberal entry policy, and the widespread pushback against accepting them has been heartbreaking and infuriating.
There’s xenophobia that can’t be neatly fitted into racial categories, for example against Chinese citizens of Korean heritage who are technically the same race and ethnicity as Koreans. There’s a class element going on here, too, as Korean Chinese are treated very differently from Korean Americans who are assumed to be richer and better educated. There are cultural clashes with and prejudices against Korean Americans as well, of course.
We have serious prejudices against Koreans against mixed heritage. The nationalist myth (and it is a totally fabricated myth) of Korean “purity of blood” has a toxic effect on the lives of people with a non-Korean parent. Mixed Koreans with a white parent are treated the least worst, although they too are subject to unwanted attention and fetishization that I imagine is uncomfortable for them. Koreans with a Black or SE Asian parent are treated considerably worse, subject to the racism faced by their non-Korean parent and lack of acceptance as Koreans. North Korea has the same prejudices, only more violently expressed under an authoritarian regime. I have read reports of North Korean authorities committing infanticide against babies born to NK women returned from China, the reason being that the babies were “Chinese seed.”
A huge number of Korean children of mixed heritage, generally those born to SE Asian women, are subject to racist bullying in school. The first generation of these children since the start of marriage immigration policy are now grown and we should be seeing them in society, but we just… don’t. They don’t seem to be going on to higher education or being hired for jobs. This is really disturbing, that we now have an entire contingent of Koreans who have been pushed out from mainstream Korean society by racism. This is not to say that other factors like class and the marginalization of rural areas are not issues, but racism is a huge factor as well.
It’s racial discrimination to treat someone less polite than someone else would be treated in the same circumstances, because of race. We can’t ignore the case of blatant racism. We MUST draw public attention to such cases. We must ensure that racists are identified and socially discredited. There are no reasons or excuses for racism. It’s just disgusting.
When Suh said she would report the action to Airbnb officials, the host replied: “It’s why we have Trump.”
Suh said that comment made her painfully aware of how threatened minorities have become under the Trump administration.
“For me personally, to now have someone say something racist to me and say it’s because of Trump, it was my fears coming true,” Suh said. “That people who held these racist beliefs felt emboldened.”
The host went on to say she would “not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”
Suh is an American citizen who has called the U.S. home since she was 3 years old.
“If this is my experience as a light-skinned Asian woman, what is it like for people who have darker skin than me or are Muslim?” Suh wondered aloud. “What is it like for people who are undocumented or not U.S. citizens yet?”
BLESS HER FOR BEING VOCAL ABOUT THIS DO PEOPLE REALIZE HOW REAL THIS IS YET!?
L.J.'s Obsessions 