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Andrew Yang pens op-ed on rise of anti-Asian racism: "...saying “Don’t be racist toward Asians” won’t work"
- Thread starter Deleted member 5853
- Start date
The shit thats been happening to brown and black people not tip him off or something? The shit doesn't work with bigots. Wake the fuck up.
Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and other Asian countries are all culturally and ethnically diverse from each other, and the former three in particular have some pretty deep hateful shit against each other. But racist-ass Westerners don't give a shit. They see "lololol yellow skin squint squint" and lump them all together regardless.
Latinos see the same shit. Latin America ain't anything close to a monolith but you can bet your ass if you're vaguely dark and can speak Spanish that racist Americans will be telling you to fuck off back to Mexico, regardless of where you're actually "from".
Victim blaming moral repulsiveness aside, the dumbest thing about this is that it simply doesn't work. Racism comes from a place of primal fear and irrationality; it does not account for your actions as a model citizen, or anything else that requires one second of rational thought to appraise.
Racism is instinctive; the justifications for it come later, but don't be fooled, the veredict was rendered before the tally. Racism minds will always find some reason to rationalize why anything good you do "doesn't count" (e.g. you're "trying too hard" and therefore hiding something).
Racism is instinctive; the justifications for it come later, but don't be fooled, the veredict was rendered before the tally. Racism minds will always find some reason to rationalize why anything good you do "doesn't count" (e.g. you're "trying too hard" and therefore hiding something).
The only way you can be "American" enough to avoid racism is to turn into a white person. Draping yourself in Stars and Stripes isn't going to do jack.
A black man became president of America and the very next president yall elected was the leader of the racist birther conspiracy bullshit.
Like fucking LOL at Yang for even implying this shit. Like he thought because he was successful and a presidential candidate that shit mattered? Where the fuck has this dude been?
I can't get over the impression that Mr. Yang has spent too many years hanging around wealthy white people. Sounds frankly like the Voice of Privilege™.
Did you read more than the thread title before responding?
His assessment is right but his solution is wrong. I don't think anybody has an actual solution to racism to this day.
Lmao on behalf of all the Blacks and Browns of the United States, I'd like to welcome you back to the Undesirables Club Mr. Yang. Take a seat and here's your complimentary pin for your lapel.
Isn't he just talking about self-preservation here?
It's like when parents of black people tragically have to coach their kids how to act around police so they don't get shot. We don't spam the threads with "lol you want to end systemic racism by being polite to bigot cops? You're teaching your kid to act like 'one of the good ones?'"
I don't believe he's trying to end racism. I see it as pragmatic advice at a time when Asian Americans are victims of hate crime stabbings and other attacks.
It's like when parents of black people tragically have to coach their kids how to act around police so they don't get shot. We don't spam the threads with "lol you want to end systemic racism by being polite to bigot cops? You're teaching your kid to act like 'one of the good ones?'"
I don't believe he's trying to end racism. I see it as pragmatic advice at a time when Asian Americans are victims of hate crime stabbings and other attacks.
Oh poor naive yang. May sound messed up but I'm actually glad people are getting their wake up call. Better late than never
Because there was a whole lot more to his statement than just "saying 'Don't be racist toward Asians' won't work". Some really problematic shit. So replying "Well, he's not wrong" seems like missing the forest for the trees.
Too bad that two year old that was stabbed wasn't wearing an American flag pin... that would have defused the situation right then and there!
This feels a little victim blaming. Or maybe that 2 year old should have tried to be less asian.
No one faced with racism is under any illusions on what it will take to stop it. The number one racism it presists is that is allowed to continue by a good chunk of the majority that just shrugs.
I doubt what he's suggesting would even be good for self-preservation, though. If anything, it might invite even more hostility from racists. Past a certain point, racists might see an Asian trying to act more "American" as someone posing as something that they're not (using racist logic here - I know how dumb that sounds), and use that as an avenue to pick a fight.
I think the main point that Yang is missing is that racists will never truly accept minorities as one of them, ever. Acting more American will not make them think you're more American. If they see an Asian dressing or acting American, they won't see an American. They'll see an Asian trying to be American, which might just piss them off, because to them, an Asian-American is an oxymoron and a sort of blasphemy to their ideas regarding purity of race. To them, there's American, and then there's everyone who's not American. It's just a black and white line to them, and once they decide you're not on their side, you'll never be on their side in their minds.
Saying don't be racist won't work....by itself. You will need a combination of educating, empathy and good old fashion social shaming to make sure that people understand that this behaviour is not acceptable in any social climate.
Were about a 100 years beyond trying to ingratiate ourselves to our white communities to get that wholesome," you know for a nigger/coon/chink , you're all right. " 😑
Were about a 100 years beyond trying to ingratiate ourselves to our white communities to get that wholesome," you know for a nigger/coon/chink , you're all right. " 😑
If you had evidence that this advice works, you'd have posted it already.
Yeah that was kind of my point. Things got real racist against all Asian people real quick. And some Asian people are happy to partake in that racism until it started to affect them...which is really, really short-sighted.
Some dude frowns at him in front of a store and his first reaction is to feel shame for being Asian. What kind of grown ass adult thinks like this. I can understand a child getting bullied at school by racists thinking this way because they don't know any better and just want to fit in and be left alone, but how can an adult take racism like that, suddenly feel shame for who they are and their immediate solution is to kiss even more ass than they already were to appease racists? Dude's mind is out of wack from being the "model minority" all of his life.
It looks short-sighted because you're attributing a commonality that they don't see existing. There is no concept of "Asian" shared among Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans like the concept of "white" shared among Americans and Europeans. There is no sense of community, no sense of common ground.
And that's not to say you're wrong, it's just the reality of things. If you're Chinese you have to accept that Westerners are going to lump you with Japanese and Koreans and others "Asians" because they can't tell the difference. And racist Westerners are gonna treat y'all the same because of that.
He's wrong because Asian Americans have been "model minorities" for the last 10-20 years and that collapsed overnight with COVID-19. His recommendation is to double down on being model minorities with a dash of extra nationalism.
Although I agree Asian American communities have a tendency to self isolate, a tendency which is counterproductive at the moment, trying to ingratiate yourself to the white man doesn't really work.
Demurely waving a little American flag while repeating "yes massa" does not have a good track record of success.
Although I agree Asian American communities have a tendency to self isolate, a tendency which is counterproductive at the moment, trying to ingratiate yourself to the white man doesn't really work.
Demurely waving a little American flag while repeating "yes massa" does not have a good track record of success.
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Guys, maybe they'll like us if we all are extra nice to them, and bring them gifts, and smile when they spit in our faces, and do all the "american" things.
No, Yang, they're racists. They won't.
No, Yang, they're racists. They won't.
I had a lot of feelings about the note but didn't feel qualified to criticize him - I never had to be in those shoesand endure racism while just trying live my life - except the time I was kicked out of the pool at the Shinjuku Hyatt Regency for having a small tattoo of the Scottish flag (and they also made me put on a bathing cap despite being literally 100% bald).
But Mrs Stinkles is hella azn and she read it and said "what a dong"
She's inscrutable obviously so I can't tell what she meant.
But Mrs Stinkles is hella azn and she read it and said "what a dong"
She's inscrutable obviously so I can't tell what she meant.
I understand that, that's what I've been saying this entire thread. The commonality of being "Asian-American" is relatively new compared to the cultural identities that are incredibly distinct, centuries old, and hold a lot of animosity for other Asian cultures (and non-white cultures).
The reality is that they live in the US now, and there is no way for them to be racist against Chinese people without that immediately slapping back at them because, as you say, racist Americans can't tell the difference. That's WHY it's short-sighted, because the cultural rules and attitudes in the US don't distinguish between the various east Asian cultures; to American white supremacy, they are all the same and they are all considered lesser. Some (particularly wealthy) Asian people come here and think they can benefit from proximity to whiteness much the same way they benefit from racial superiority in their own culture. And sometimes they do benefit, when its convenient for white supremacy. But that never lasts forever.
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I understand some of his rational, aka trying to problem solve an unsolvable irrational problem. Some people try to look at a problem and figure out a way to control the world around them through their own actions, but he's up against an irrational problem of racism/so that kind of thinking won't work.
My question is more, wtf is a billionaire doing out getting groceries? You can afford to pay someone to get them for you. And even if you don't want to, you can get that shit delivered, dude.
Not sure being 'American' is something to strive for given the country's history and continuing debasement. And as others have pointed out, as a minority, you already learn that you'll never be 'American' enough for some folks to accept you being a part of this country. Be yourself and that's it.
In the trumpism era, no less.
In the era where the prez thinks its fucking fine to say out loud on a fucking national podium, china virus.
Then have the brass neck to say he doesn't think Asian Americans will be offended by that remark.
WTAF.
Unless she was looking at PornHub on a second screen, I can't imagine this was said with a tone of admiration.
I cannot believe he pulled out that point without recalling the internment camps.
Put on your Doctor uniforms, fellow Asians. Only then will you be shielded from the racism.
Yang, how about you personally do this shit you wrote and then give us another op-ed explaining your experiences???
Because minorities here in the U.S has tried the shit you are writing about and it don't work.
This ain't it chief.
Because minorities here in the U.S has tried the shit you are writing about and it don't work.
This ain't it chief.
I'd love to give Yang the benefit of the doubt but this is fucking stupid. The implication that these behaviors are "American-ness" and that somehow Asian Americans or any minority haven't already been doing these things or have yet to do them at a significant enough threshold to not be abused or brutalized is fucking disgusting. Being treated as a human being with equal rights shouldn't be dependent on the amount of volunteer work or nationalistic rhetoric you spout. It doesn't matter how "American" you act when history has already shown that the white supremacist status quo of the country will simply redefine what "American" means to exclude whoever they want to exclude.This is victim blaming pure and simple and granting allowances to bigots simply because they're "afraid". Everyone's fucking afraid but that fear doesn't give you the right to act as you like. It doesn't give you permission to short circuit your rationality so you can justify attacking random Asian people for "creating" a virus. The truth about the origins of this virus and any others are readily available at everyone's fingertips and those that want to discount the reality to justify their bigotry are the same as those who want to call it a hoax and pretend that everyone is "overreacting" while touching their face. Fuck this mentality that minorities aren't doing enough to endear themselves to the abusive and oppressive majority. It didn't work for Indigenous Americans, black and brown people, Muslim Americans, or funnily enough Asian people either. Bigotry exists to this day because too many people like Yang put the onus to change on the oppressed rather than the oppressor.
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Japanese Americans speak out against Andrew Yang's call for Asian Americans to display patriotism
“The article brought back memories of elders telling us how they were instructed by organizations to be ‘good Americans,’ when just being American should have been enough,” one Japanese American leader said.
www.nbcnews.com
Japanese American leaders are criticizing former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's call to Asian Americans to display patriotism during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it brings back painful memories of the rhetoric directed at Americans of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated during World War II.
In an op-ed article published in The Washington Post this week, Yang called for Asian Americans to "embrace and show our American-ness in ways we never have before" as a response to anti-Asian racism fueled by the COVID-19 outbreak.
But some Japanese American groups say his words feel all too familiar, pointing out that their families were also encouraged to demonstrate their loyalty to America when they were forcibly removed from their homes and imprisoned in concentration camps by an order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.
"Reading it gave me a sense of deja vu," Bruce Embrey, the co-chair of Manzanar Committee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on Japanese American incarceration, told NBC Asian America of Yang's article.
In his op-ed, Yang addressed the increase in anti-Asian American racism as a result of the pandemic.
"We need to step up, help our neighbors, donate gear, vote, wear red white and blue, volunteer, fund aid organizations, and do everything in our power to accelerate the end of this crisis," the entrepreneur wrote. "We should show without a shadow of a doubt that we are Americans who will do our part for our country in this time of need."
Many experts and readers on Twitter said it shouldn't be the responsibility of Asian Americans to stop racism through a display of patriotism.
"The article brought back memories of elders telling us how they were instructed by organizations to be 'good Americans,' when just being American should have been enough," Embrey said, referring to the period when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 and Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which provided for the forced mass removal and incarceration of more than 110,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry in violation of their constitutional rights as U.S. citizens.
Yang did not respond to a request for comment.