Probably An Unpopular Opinion: Thoughts On Asian People, Black People, And White People Right Now

Mainly white boys/men. A few dark-skinned thoughts.

I think I want to comment on everything that’s happening right now with Asian people. It’s not going to be a researched post. It’s going to be from my observations, a few Google checks, and personal experience, and I will respect the Asian people who I’ve met and who have been nice to me in some way.

I don’t need to say what they did or draw them into the story. But these random occurrences will influence these words, probably some, just as my observations will too. So it should be interesting. I hope nothing is too off-base. And again, it won’t be informed really by research unless I can Google it quickly.

Rest In Peace

Growing up in Atlanta by way of Nigeria and Columbus, Georgia, I feel like I was around the Gold Spa sometimes, a seedier part of Atlanta where all the strip clubs lay, nestled between businesses and shopping centers. A feeling that it’s where a number of white men go to play when they’re not home with their families. Anyway, I feel like I had a hair appointment around that way a few times.

From what the pictures look like.

But I’ll start by saying Rest In Peace to the victims. Here are their names:

Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Paul Andres Michels, Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz, Hyun Jung Grant, and Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue.

It’s scary to know their life between then and their last now was a moment in between. Can you imagine? Let’s not. I’m so sorry. So it’s important to speak about these things and anything for that matter that compromises humanity.

Now it is odd that most of the victims were Asian, six of the eight. And not male but female. Asian women. So a unique rest in peace to them because I do think their race plays into them being a target. We’ll get to this in a moment too.

Why It’s Weird Right Now To Read Some Things That Focus A Lot On Black People Who Are Anti-Asian.

Technically, yes, it all contributes, but I think white supremacy is the main contributor here. Right here right now. But then it makes a person (me primarily) think, Well if I am anti-Asian, or someone who looks like me or “us” when the writer is black, then hmmm…can’t an Asian person be anti-black, too? Yes they can. Yes you can.

And is this the issue here? Um, no.

But I can’t lie. When I remember hearing when the black person pushed an Asian person into a subway in New York, Ki-Suck Han, I thought, this won’t be good for the relationship between the two groups. That is racial. They wouldn’t have pushed a white person, probably, or who knows, maybe they would…Or all of the Asians right now being randomly assaulted or (deep breath) killed by black people. Oh my God, stop.

Or even now the anger I felt toward the two girls who were black who MURDERED the 66-year old Pakistani Uber driver who was just trying to get his car they were stealing. I saw the video and got so angry. I wouldn’t have stolen a car at 13 or 15…no matter my life circumstances. I’m so sorry, they are horrible! I am so sorry for him. And I don’t know their story, but this isn’t it. These teenagers are evil.

But…oh WAIT.

What about the time the Korean store owner in Los Angeles (a woman in-fact) point blank MURDERED teenager Latasha Harlins, because they thought she was stealing only to learn she wasn’t, and the court was “understanding” and forgiving of the murder? You. Are. Evil. The store owner. The court. The Asian officer who stood by and watched George Floyd get murdered, and the Asian wife of Derek Chauvin. Both on the side of white supremacy. Or the negative treatment of Africans in China during the coronavirus while China EXPLOITS Africa as we speak. Did they treat other foreign groups similarly? No. Just ask the Human Rights Watch.

Like, I promise there is a tit for every tat, and I could go on but really, I don’t think the focus is this at the moment though this is a REAL THING, and when black people do it I think it’s bad, and when Asian people do it, I wonder also if there is a colorist element to it because a lot of black people are darker skinned usually.

And with all of the whitening products in (a number of? many? most?) Asian cultures, anyway…like this isn’t the issue here right here right now. But it’s worth rehashing later.

It’s Really About White Boys/Men Who Fetishize Asian Girls/Women.

I’m not going to comment on the prevalence of the white man-Asian woman match up besides just saying it’s a thing.

There is something in the culture that shows a preference for Asian women even to white women in a number of cases (always black ones), by the white dominant society.

Some based on I’ll guess interactions, I don’t know. But I would think — and sorry, I don’t have research here — some I wonder if the “idea” of an Asian woman is based on a stereotype of being meek or docile. At least this is the stereotype I think I’m aware of.

And here is where I might screw up and show my own prejudice. I don’t know and hope not. But what I think the stereotype also leans to is that an Asian woman is smaller/skinner, or has exotic features with long black hair and slanted eyes. Though I know India and Pakistan are Asian countries too and people here have different looks too.

And I short-term befriended an Asian girl/woman once who shared a story about feeling fetishized by a white boy/man, though the fact that she told me that someone made fun of my and I quote her, “chinky”, eyes was awkward. Shouldn’t you be offended? I’m offended. Don’t call my eyes “chinky”. What’s your problem? Not to say this, but she played into her oppression, right?

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going here except for specifically with an assumed subservience and exoticism, this can cause a certain weirdness around sex, sexuality, “Asianness” (?), and femininity, an expectation that a woman who is Asian is yours. So you might be more aggressive because a “no” just isn’t allowed.

“You” meaning generally men, or studs too I suppose…

Now I can imagine that the white boy/man thought he owned them to a certain extent, that they were only “spa workers” after all and immigrants, too, for that. People don’t care as much about immigrants, at least from a perspective of a WASP dominant American society. And Asian immigrants would be the stereotype’s origin in pure, unacculturated form.

So while I don’t have the strongest, research-based argument, this is the issue. A weird unattractive (read: ugly) white incel who took his aggression out on many random people, but mostly Asian women because of what looks like a race-gender fetishization.

There is also the element of if he chose these spas specifically because of the demographic, and because sex is a part of the story, it all fits well together. Sex (!). Aggression. A sexually fetishized group. I mean I feel like every girl/woman carries a stereotype and sexual fetishization, but the specific docile yet sexual one is for Asian girls/women.

Something I Probably Shouldn’t Do Or Say?

Anyway, I could go into how I observe even some Asian cultures portray girls/women and how it just feel pedophilic when I’ve looked at manga or anime, how even the children are fetishized (extremely short school girl skirts, just weird feeling sometimes). This is Japan. In Korea, comics are called manhwa and the same idea. This is the image of a male toward what he views a female to be, an underage one at that. Men in these cultures, maybe even women illustrators, too. So I wonder how this might play into the stereotypes of Asian women too, though it’s not so much correlated, but I hope it still fits in highlighting it. The animations covertly highlight a girl’s/woman’s sexuality, like it’s a tease. It’s awkward, weird, and kind of sick.

Am I allowed to think this?

Or Furthermore.

In what way has the image of an emasculated Asian man — as proffered by the same society that has contributed to the over-sexifying of an Asian woman — how has this contributed to a white boy/man feeling that he should have access to the Asian woman’s body? It’s the same emasculation of black men that has led to assumed ownership for the bodies of black women by white men, too, me thinks.

And while Asian boys/men weren’t specifically direct victims in this tragedy, they would still be family members. And this tragedy does seem to reflect on something for Asians in general, that anti-Asianness (?) is an issue, and that the dominant society seems to not like Asians any more than it makes you think that Asians “fit” better as minorities. Is it a constructed sham?

So this is really all I have to say.

More than anything, this was white male privilege at play, in full bloom really, and the same weird gimme gimme agency they showed to black women in the 19th century (and beyond).

And also there’s the element of sex trafficking too, but maybe another story another day. Atlanta is well-known for this. I don’t know how it plays in, if it does, but it crossed my mind.

I do know that people are sometimes targeted for being a certain demographics, so if it walks like a duck… To say that it’s not racially motivated when so many of the victims are Asian, whether he wants it to be or not, it looks racially motivated. How can it not be?

But I’m not one to write the anti-Asianness among blacks or anti-blackness among Asians think piece right now, though I kind of want to now. And really, if I dug deep, I do wonder which one might win out? I have my theory and it is along the lines of the colorism in different Asian cultures creating a de-facto anti-blackness bred into cultures. Though blacks have serious troubles with colorism, too, but a number of Asians in America are still, many light-skinned (though my observation isn’t a statistic and could be wrong). It wouldn’t work as well in reverse. Though many Indians I’ve seen are dark-skinned, Filipinos, “and more”…another article another day.

And yes, black people obviously shouldn’t be hurting older Asian people during the coronavirus. Again, it is racism.

But hopefully I can hold my views while still connecting to individuals, no matter their look or background. And that I can also work on my own prejudices too.

Still, the white boy thinking he could have access to Asian bodies because he wanted to pay, and they still didn’t give their consent, this is the real issue here. Where does this entitlement come from? And it didn’t help with religious guilt, but his entitlement was what caused this.

This is the problem. It would be nice to see this be the focus for this specific issue, and how other elements might tie in.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Thank you for reading.

I am out.

Onward.

Gaa n’ihu.