Sunday, March 27, 2016
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Asians complain over the Oscar ceremony
http://www.buzzfeed.com/krishrach/people-are-unhappy-with-all-the-asian-jokes-made-at-the-acad#.feRaneYpNL
It seems that Asians are up in arms about a couple of harmless jokes by famed African-American comedian Chris Rock and Jewish-American Sascha Baron Cohen. Boo hoo. Cry me a river.
I could care less about people claiming to be offended when it comes coming from a demographic where anti-blackness and anti-semitism runs rampant, where misogyny is an endemic social disease, and where blackface still exists.
Their selective outrage speaks volumes for Asian ethnocentrism that persists even among second and third-generation Asian-"Americans"; rarely do Asians see themselves as part of a multi-racial society but rather as competitors for domination within it. Put in another way, Asians at best want to obtain white privilege at the expense of POC's and at worst wish to dominate American society.
Asians objected to Mr. Rock and Mr. Cohen's jokes not because they were offensive (the mere fact that they were jokes should have been a hint that they weren't), but because it was a non-Asian casting light on problems within Asian society. Rather than scapegoating minority comedians, Asians need to be introspective and look into their own communities. When people use comedy as social commentary, the appropriate response is not to "take offense" but rather to listen and address the issues.
In fact, in this case I would say the real racists in this case are the Asians who are trying to silence and regulate the speech of blacks and other POC. The First Amendment exists for a reason; it exists especially to protect minorities that might be oppressed by authoritarian types which wish to take away their right to speak. Furthermore, in America satire and social commentary are protected by law. This includes the right to offend through social commentary. Such protections of our precious civil liberties are what make America great. What the American constitution does NOT say however is that the thought police must silence POC at the request of other races.
Lest we forget, Asians do NOT experience systematic oppression in the United States. There maybe individual cases of discrimination which may result in having to commute an extra 15 minutes to work because one company doesn't hire them, but this is by and large the full extent of the troubles that Asians face. Asian-Americans (especially East Asians) enjoy a privileged status of "honorary white" much like they did in racist, apartheid South Africa. By contrast, POCs face discrimination in every area of life; from employment, to housing, to education, to criminal justice. Police regularly murder African-Americans and our legal system is set up to disenfranchise them. Most Asian issues pale in comparison to things like Ferguson, or the recent murder of Akai Gurley (killed by an Asian cop no less).
If we truly want to be accepted by American society at large, we need to cease the rampant ethnocentrism in our community and stop trampling upon the rights of a society which has kindly taken us in.
It seems that Asians are up in arms about a couple of harmless jokes by famed African-American comedian Chris Rock and Jewish-American Sascha Baron Cohen. Boo hoo. Cry me a river.
I could care less about people claiming to be offended when it comes coming from a demographic where anti-blackness and anti-semitism runs rampant, where misogyny is an endemic social disease, and where blackface still exists.
Their selective outrage speaks volumes for Asian ethnocentrism that persists even among second and third-generation Asian-"Americans"; rarely do Asians see themselves as part of a multi-racial society but rather as competitors for domination within it. Put in another way, Asians at best want to obtain white privilege at the expense of POC's and at worst wish to dominate American society.
Asians objected to Mr. Rock and Mr. Cohen's jokes not because they were offensive (the mere fact that they were jokes should have been a hint that they weren't), but because it was a non-Asian casting light on problems within Asian society. Rather than scapegoating minority comedians, Asians need to be introspective and look into their own communities. When people use comedy as social commentary, the appropriate response is not to "take offense" but rather to listen and address the issues.
In fact, in this case I would say the real racists in this case are the Asians who are trying to silence and regulate the speech of blacks and other POC. The First Amendment exists for a reason; it exists especially to protect minorities that might be oppressed by authoritarian types which wish to take away their right to speak. Furthermore, in America satire and social commentary are protected by law. This includes the right to offend through social commentary. Such protections of our precious civil liberties are what make America great. What the American constitution does NOT say however is that the thought police must silence POC at the request of other races.
Lest we forget, Asians do NOT experience systematic oppression in the United States. There maybe individual cases of discrimination which may result in having to commute an extra 15 minutes to work because one company doesn't hire them, but this is by and large the full extent of the troubles that Asians face. Asian-Americans (especially East Asians) enjoy a privileged status of "honorary white" much like they did in racist, apartheid South Africa. By contrast, POCs face discrimination in every area of life; from employment, to housing, to education, to criminal justice. Police regularly murder African-Americans and our legal system is set up to disenfranchise them. Most Asian issues pale in comparison to things like Ferguson, or the recent murder of Akai Gurley (killed by an Asian cop no less).
If we truly want to be accepted by American society at large, we need to cease the rampant ethnocentrism in our community and stop trampling upon the rights of a society which has kindly taken us in.
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