Andrew Yang pens op-ed on rise of anti-Asian racism: "...saying “Don’t be racist toward Asians” won’t work"
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I picture that episode of The Simpsons where Apu pretends to be super American to avoid deportation.
100% with Liu. It's easy for Yang to say "step up" but not only doesn't clearly define what it means, how much it should be done aka. what exactly is the sufficient amount of Yang's directives that makes one finally "American", but what it indicated if you have "stepped up" and still get attacked by bigots. It also suggests that the people who have been abused with violence or slurs somehow haven't been sufficiently American enough. It's just such an bassackwards mentality and bigots and white supremacists rely on minorities claiming the problem is internal to themselves rather than external to the system to reinforce the narratives of the oppressive status quo they want to maintain. Last I checked it wasn't average Asian Americans that were shooting down financial aid to average people while granting millions to CEOs and companies, denying science and spreading misinformation on a massive scale during this time but the white supremacist leadership. Maybe they're the people who need to be more empathetic, helpful & actually act like "Americans" right now.
Right? There are a lot of model minorities who like to use money/privilege or mimic bigoted rhetoric to pretend that gets them access to the club when it doesn't. Doesn't matter how much money you have, doesn't matter how much of an education you have, doesn't matter how kind you are, doesn't matter how successful or well known you are, and it doesn't matter how much you cape for bigots or repeat their talking points. As long as the status quo desires to oppress you and mark you as a minority it will do so and make up whatever rationale it needs to to do it. Hell even among white supremacists, they have battles about which among them have the genes to be considered "more white" and thus "more supreme" and that's within their little ideal echo chambers where they're near indistinguishable.
With the large caveat that I am black and not asian, this just reads as a more polite version of the bullshit in his op-ed. Why does anyone in particular need to "step up"?
Right? The only people who have done the opposite of stepping up has been the Trump & the GOP but for men like Yang, they've already internalized the idea that there's something in the behavior of the oppressed that perpetuates the bigotry they face. When you grow up hearing/learning that the world is somehow inherently fair and everyone is solely judged on the content of their character and that racism ended when Lincoln freed the slaves/when MLK died and sexism ended when women earned the right to vote and homophobia when gay people gained the right to marry, you start thinking that the only reason we've backslid at all is because minorities aren't putting in their work to hold up "their end of the bargain" i.e. "We stopped raping, killing, deprecating, enslaving & overall marginalizing you LGBTQ+ people, women, blacks, Asians, so now you have to assimilate to 'America'!" To Yang it's impossible to think that the US hasn't grown after so many white supremacy-fueled tragedies like genocide, slavery, lynching, segregation, etc. so the issue must not lie in the system or those running it but the disenfranchised people on the ground being affected by it. The truth is the US hasn't grown because it has chosen not to and has changed the narrative as necessary to keep white supremacy as the status quo and rhetoric from naive progressives, like Yang, that ignores and denies those realities ends up perpetuating & reinforcing that very process.
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I like Yang. Honestly, I do. He was never in my top tier of presidential candidates but he ran a positive campaign, the effect of which on young Asian Americans who want to get into politics shouldn't be underestimated. He's become one of the most prominent Asian American voices in the country, so him speaking out about this issue is nominally a good thing.
But man, is that the wrong takeaway. I'm with Liu 100%. Still, good to see that they're discussing it civilly.
But man, is that the wrong takeaway. I'm with Liu 100%. Still, good to see that they're discussing it civilly.
That's why Simu replied by politely replying how Yang is still missing the point.
Props to Simu for speaking up. I've seen him speak up before and I'm glad to see him do it again. Really looking forward to seeing him in Shang Chi next year.
As for Andrew again, I assume these OP-ED's are reviewed by other people before being released? Did no one think it was a bad idea? And were any of them Asian or from another minority group? I still can't believe how bad the message was.
As for Andrew again, I assume these OP-ED's are reviewed by other people before being released? Did no one think it was a bad idea? And were any of them Asian or from another minority group? I still can't believe how bad the message was.
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Meanwhile - a 39 year old Asian woman in Brooklyn was taking out her trash last night and some vile, disgusting piece of shit waits outside her door and pours acid on her.
www.reddit.com
Fuck your take, Andrew. These people are scum and are just waiting to lash out.
r/nyc - [NSFW] Coronavirus Hate Crime: Man poured Sulfuric Acid on Chinese lady’s head in Brooklyn. She’s critically injured.
2,199 votes and 726 comments so far on Reddit
www.reddit.com
Fuck your take, Andrew. These people are scum and are just waiting to lash out.