#anti asian

[thephenotype]

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

[male-spirit]

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

Sesame Street Workshop

[jccheapalier]

Black People Invented Everything... One Eurasian Woman's Thoughts

[seriousbusinessforhumans]

In 1960 a member of the Washington State Committee for the Repeal of the Alien Land Law delivered a campaign speech highlighting, among other things, the injustice done to one Japanese American family because of the legislation. “In 1948,” the speaker recounted,

“four brothers, all Americans of Japanese ancestry, all honorably discharged veterans of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team of Japanese American volunteers that has been described as the most decorated unit in American military history for its size and length of service, purchased a plot of land in Southern California on which to build a home for their widowed mother. … These were the Masaoka brothers, five of whom volunteered for combat service from behind the barbed wire enclosures of government internment camp. … One brother was killed in action, another 100% disabled, with two others also wounded in action. Between them, the five brothers were awarded some 30 individual decorations and awards. … And yet, when they purchased this land and presented it to their mother, the State of California escheated, or in more understandable language, took away, this land on the legal grounds that their mother could not own land in that State because she was … an alien ineligible to citizenship. She could not even receive land in her old age on which to build a home and live out a most useful life with money paid for from the military service of her five sons.”1

This speech, which was delivered on numerous occasions across Washington State, pivoted on the dichotomy of Japanese American patriotism, demonstrated by the wartime sacrifice of the five brothers, in the midst of the social and legal exclusion that the alien land law represented for the Japanese American community.

As old as the state itself, alien land laws were enshrined in the Washington State Constitution and later elaborated upon in legislation and pivotal court cases that resonated nationally. Simply stated, these laws prohibited land ownership by residents who were ineligible to citizenship. Despite the fact that their language contained no direct reference to race or ethnicity, the underlying goal of these laws was clearly the disenfranchisement of non-white immigrants. In Washington State, the laws specifically targeted Chinese and Japanese, but they also impacted Native Americans, South Asians, Koreans and many other groups.

Origins of the Alien Land Laws

In 1853 a swath of land was carved out of the Oregon Territory and named Washington Territory. The first territorial governor, Issac A. Stevens, did not waste any time in attempting to create a new frontier for America that could one day vie for statehood. In 1855, he negotiated treaties with Native American tribes in western Washington. Arguably the first “land laws” in Washington, Stevens’ primary goal with these treaties was to remove all Native Americans to reservations and make their land available for white settlement.2Thus continued a trend in which whites imbibed with a sense of entitlement would strive to dominate the land and cement property rights as a cornerstone of their race privilege.

The first alien land law in Washington territory passed in 1864. Contrary to the laws which would later stop Asians and others from owning land, this first law held that any non-citizen could own land “in like manner and with like effect as if such an alien were a native citizen of this Territory or of the United States.”3 The object of this law was the peopling of the territory with whites in order to displace Native Americans. With the Indian Wars of the 1850s still fresh on its mind, the territorial government urgently sought to increase white immigration, in the form of homesteading, to consolidate the Territory as white man’s land. Accompanying this imperative was the need to accelerate economic growth. At the time, extractive industries such as fishing and forestry dominated the local economy. Capital investment was needed to further these industries as well as develop mining and saw mills which would require very expensive machinery. In addition, money and labor was needed to build the railroads that would link the isolated territory to markets in the rest of the nation. Industry leaders and government officials alike hoped to court foreign investors through liberal alien land laws that favored foreign corporations as well as individuals. Indeed, within ten years the alien land laws expanded to allow aliens, regardless of their residence, to “acquire, hold, use and dispose of railroads, tramways and bridges.”4 The laws worked. The Territory’s population more than doubled from 11,000 to 23,000 in the 1860s.5 Washington Territory had gone from “nowhere” and “Indian country” to a frontier settlement with white farmers and merchants and cities budding throughout the state.

[newsfromstolenland]

In one private chat group conversation, a Mountie was accused of saying a new female employee "was overweight and insinuating that the shape of her vagina was visible through her clothing."

In another, a second RCMP officer allegedly bragged about "Tasering unarmed Black people" and called a sexual assault investigation "stupid" — drawing comments from other members of the online group who "made fun of the victim" and said, "she's a dumb Mexican c--t."

An investigator with the RCMP's professional standards unit detailed those allegations and many more in a search warrant sworn to obtain evidence now being used to call for the firing of three Coquitlam Mounties for violating the force's code of conduct.

The CBC has obtained a copy of the search warrant — which recounts behaviour which led the officer who sparked the investigation to complain to RCMP brass about what he saw as "atrocious" and "racist and horrible" activity in a private group operating on the Signal messaging app.

Full article

Tagging: @allthecanadianpolitics

More from this article below the cut, because I think it's important to understand just how much fucked up shit they were saying:

(tw misogyny, domestic violence, racial profiling, anti-Indigenous racism, racism)

The documents reveal that investigators also reviewed 600,000 messages posted to the RCMP's internal mobile data chat logs — finding evidence of "frequently offensive" usage by the three officers facing termination of "homophobic and racist slurs."

"The reviewers had identified a variety of comments that were 'chauvinist in nature, with a strong air of superiority, and include flippant or insulting remarks about clients (including objectifying women), supervisors, colleagues, policy and the RCMP as a whole,'" the warrant says.

Code of conduct hearings against Const. Philip Dick, Const. Ian Solven and Const. Mersad Mesbah had been slated to begin in Surrey this week but have been adjourned until March of next year. All three officers have been suspended since June 2021.

Although Dick, Solven and Mesbah appear to be the only Mounties currently facing code-of-conduct hearings, the court documents say seven other officers were also part of the private chat group — including two supervisors.

Among the details contained in the search warrant are allegations one of the officers facing discipline joked about a domestic violence victim, calling the victim "a dumb f--king bitch, should've worn a mouth guard."

The whistleblower — Const. Sam Sodhi — claimed that outside of the private chat group, members of the group also "belittled Indigenous people, talking about how they were 'stupid' or 'drunk' and saying they have 'unfortunate bodies' and all have fetal alcohol syndrome."

"They would say, 'We're not going to the reserve,'" the search warrant claims Sodhi told investigators.

"We're not going there because we're not going to help those people."

According to the court documents, Sodhi was posted to Coquitlam in 2019.

"As part of that process, he wrote a letter about wanting to work in an urban centre and help at-risk youth that didn't have role models," the warrant claims.

But Sodhi claimed that on his second day at work, Dick — his trainer — asked him: "Are you a cool brown guy, or are you a Surrey brown guy? Because in that letter, you're whiny, like, 'Ooh, I want to help brown people.'"

Sodhi claimed there were two chat groups for members of the Coquitlam detachment assigned to Port Coquitlam — one for all members of the watch and a second private group that began on WhatsApp but then moved to Signal. He said he was told once he was "worthy" of the private chat group, "we'll add you to it."

The officer claimed he was admitted to the private chat group in March 2021 but left after a few days because of the "constant negativity." He said he was then accused of "not being a team member" and encouraged to return.

According to the search warrant, Sodhi complained to his superiors in May 2021, and a chief superintendent mandated an investigation into five Mounties — including a corporal who was accused of failing to take measures to prevent misconduct.

The probe initially focused on text communications between the RCMP's own laptops — known as Mobile Data Terminals. Investigators reviewed messages between the five men from January 2019 until May 2021.

"When members of the [Signal] chat group realized there was an investigation, they opined that the investigation was probably about 'MDT chats' ... since the private chat group was kept 'amongst the trusted' and 'there's no way this got out,'" the warrant says.

Examples cited from the RCMP computers include statements like, "Why do brown guys have unusually high pitched voices." "As an idiot woman would say ... 'toxic,'" and, "I just racially profile pulled over a car."

A review of the chat logs also allegedly found the three officers facing termination "appeared to use 'goldfish' as a slur for Asian people."

"For example, they talked about how 'goldfish' have 'bulging eyes' that 'can't see anything,' how a Korean church in the detachment was a 'goldfish church' and how 'goldfish' were bad drivers (a common Asian stereotype)," the warrant says.

[icedsodapop]

One of my biggest frustrations is how (mostly) white pple often wilfully misunderstand the concept of cultural appropriation becos they want to wear the "pretty (ethnic) dress".

Like, take the cheongsam/qipao for instance. To the average lay White person, it's a "pretty dress", a costume to wear for a party. But the dress itself comes with centuries of history, marking the evolution of fashion for Chinese women and how it's shaped by war, colonialism, globalisation and political revolution.

And White women can wear the cheongsam/qipao without having to worry about the cultural, socio-historical baggage that comes with it. On the white body, which is seen as the default, these White women get to be seen as beautiful without having to worry about being dehumanized as a result of racial fetishization and sinophobia.

As Jenny Zhang writes in RACKED:

What I wanted to say was how it felt to grow up in a country that indicated to me everything from the country I was born in looked good on anyone but me. This trap made me think the classmate in the hallway making fun of my Chinese last name while sporting a Chinese character tattoo above her ass, was the person I had to defeat, when, in reality, we belonged to the same world — a world that said that Chinese culture looked best as an accessory on a white person. In this world, a qipao was a garish costume on me, but a polyester cheongsam mini-dress on a white girl was adorable.

[peridot-tears]

Hey MDZS fandom. I want you guys to be careful interacting with this person.

If you don't already know, Chinese people have had a long history with cultural erasure when it comes to taking on English-language names. It started with imperialism, and continues as a way to "assimilate" and avoid mockery of our language in western countries.

For Chinese diaspora like myself, it's another form of racism we face, to the point where some of us are reclaiming our names in everyday life. Here's an article about this movement happening across Asian diasporas in the United States -- just to name one instance out of many.

The responses to this post reflect that:

You can see that my comment assumed "good faith." However, OP deleted these comments and blocked me. (That didn't stop other people from calling it out as well, though I have to assume that if OP was so offended by my comment, the next few people will receive the same treatment.)

I honestly didn't like whipping up the diaspora statement -- that I wrote with multiple Chinese diaspora fans of MDZS, all of us hailing from multiple different countries and backgrounds, our ancestry coming from completely different regions of China -- because it meant that we were encountering another microaggression.

If you ever wonder why MDZS and danmei fandoms in general seem to be so bereft of Chinese diaspora voices, that's absolutely because of these microaggressions: Someone makes a joke, writes a story, writes some meta, that is culturally ignorant at best, offensive and harmful at worst, and when we gently correct them, explaining why it's racist, the person in question shuts us down, dismisses us, gets defensive, or worse.

Regardless of where you are -- fandom, social media, on the street, at work, at school -- as long as you are interacting with other people, your words matter and affect other people. That includes being racially offensive, even if you didn't intend to be. It's how you respond to the people you've insulted that reveals your character, how willing you are to be complicit in their mistreatment.

My rule of thumb has always been this -- if multiple people, including those of the culture you've just made a microaggressive joke about, find it unfunny, racist, or harmful, then you listen. Dismiss or ignore them, then yes -- you absolutely are racist.

[edenfenixblogs]

Kinda crazy how any post I make about my experience of antisemitism — whether or not it mentions Israel — immediately becomes inundated with comments about Palestinian pain and suffering. Do you really not see how inappropriate that is, people?

When Black People post about their experience of racism, it’s not OK to come in to that space and talk about, idk, war in Sudan.

When Asian People talk about their experience of racism, it’s not appropriate to come into that space and start talking about China’s treatment of Uyghur people or North Korean aggression.

When Muslim people talk about their experience of Islamophobia, it’s not OK to come into that space and start talking about all the horrible things Isis or Al Qaeda have done.

When a trans person starts talking about their experience of transphobia, it’s not OK to come into that space and start talking about the latest horrible thing Caitlyn Jenner said.

Why are you able to understand this when it comes to every other group, but posts about Jewish pain are always filled with arguments about Palestine that blatantly imply that actually—my group, Jews—actually deserve the hatred we receive?

Spoiler alert: It’s because you’re antisemitic and will double down on your beliefs 100000 times to prove to yourself that you’re not, because actually confronting that you have hateful beliefs is too scary for you.

I��m sorry if it messes with your sense of self righteous inherent goodness, but you have and perpetuate systemic antisemitism just like you have all other forms of systemic bigotry. And if you don’t address it, that makes you a bigot on purpose. Deal with your hatred and stop being horrible to Jews.

[alwaysbewoke]

On March 16, 1991 Latasha Harlin’s short life came to a violent end in the midst of racial tensions in LA, and became a major spark for the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. By the late 1980s, racial tensions were high in South Los Angeles. After the change in national immigration laws in 1965 a large number of Korean immigrants arrived in Los Angeles and by 1968 the first Korean-owned market opened in South Central LA. Longtime African American residents in the area at first welcomed the Koreans but eventually grew angry with them because they refused to hire black employees and often treated their customers poorly. By 1990, 65% of South Central businesses were Korean-owned and a 1992 survey of these storeowners revealed considerable racial prejudice against black customers and black people in general. Koreans in response argued that their attitudes evolved from high crime rates in the area and shop owner fears of shootings and burglaries. Latasha Harlins became a victim of these racial tensions on the morning of Saturday, March 16, 1991. She entered a store owned by a Korean family, to purchase a bottle of orange juice. As she approached the counter, Soon Ja Du, accused her of stealing after seeing her place the bottle in her backpack, despite her holding the $2 payment approaching the counter to pay. Du grabbed the bag and the two women had a violent scuffle. Harlins threw the juice bottle back on the counter and turned to leave the store when Du pulled a .38-caliber handgun and shot 15-year-old Harlins in the back of the head. Du was arrested and her trial was held on November 15, 1991. Security-camera footage which showed Harlins’ attempt to pay for the juice and the subsequent scuffle between the two women convinced a jury to find Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter. The Judge, Joyce Karlin, rejected the jury’s recommendation and instead sentenced Du to five years probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine.

One of the many reasons black people don't f*** with Asians like that and we should collectively drive them out of our neighborhoods

[thisisalljustkink]

[solitaireships]

I feel like I should say since there's been a recent uptick in a lot of communities I'm in/see stuff from a lot of white people pretending to be Asian, but you are not welcome here if you are in anyway stealing from Asian cultures for clout or the aesthetics of it

This includes if you're white and you give your self inserts Asian names, I truly do not care if your f/o is from an anime, you should not be using an Asian name under any circumstances. I hate that whenever I see someone using an Asian name online, I feel like I have to start searching their account to see if they're actually Asian or just a white person who likes the aesthetic of it bcs far too many white people will use Asian names here just bcs it sounds cool, with no regard for the actual cultural meaning behind it. Meanwhile actual Asian people will be mocked for their names, or treated like their names are too hard to learn to pronounce, or discriminated against based on their names

Asian cultures are not a fun little costume for people to dress up with. They aren't just a nice aesthetic, they aren't just a thing you can borrow from bcs you think it sounds cool

[asthedeathoflight]

Yk I keep circling the issue of like how Armand gets talked about in the fandom because he does do some bad shit but at the end of the day nobody has to put a fucking disclaimer on their Lestat posts do they so I'm pretty confident in saying its just fucking racism. Every time anyone mentions Armand in the broader context of the whole show they have to do an aside about how hes an irredeemable monster who we are only discussing in the context of fiction but everyones favorite mediocre white guy doesnt need a disclaimer because everyone just magically understands that this is the choose your favorite war criminal show when the war criminal is blonde.

[ansburg]

not to soapbox but like. diasporic asians growing up the in the west were constantly told we were uncool, ugly, unfit for leading roles, and just so generally other that many of us still struggle with that self-hatred and deal with the material discrimination that comes with looking "different" from the default. so many diasporic asians have stories about how our creative accomplishments or potential were discounted because we were told we didn’t have enough “personality” – a judgment call that can’t be divorced from how racial triangulation has worked to alienate asian people from dominant cultures in the diaspora.

you know how asian people have been treated by western fantasy? we’re either

ugly and monstrous

exotified beyond recognition

or we don’t exist.

(thanks david. it’s not like thedas is the only continent the player can explore or anything. or that boats exist. where does solas get his tea btw? where do the silks in orlais originate from? why are there always asian aesthetics present without asian faces?)

when a game like bg3 comes along and the studio makes a decision to make an asian companion, it’s huge for us. that’s our crumb of representation. karlach is very obviously not “eurocentric” in her features – if anything, westernized beauty standards would have her face redone to comply with market demands.

she has monolids. she has a flat nose bridge. her cheeks are full and round, buccal fat very much in attendance. whatever she may have arguably been in previous patches, that is not what she is now. and pretending like her face – a face that, newsflash, asian people can relate to – is just a toy you can pop features out of because they don’t have enough “personality” to you, or because they’re too “soft," or because you don’t think a face like hers is “warrior-like” (whatever the fuck that means), is insensitive at best and willfully ignorant at worst. her asianness isn’t a setting to opt out of any more than wyll’s blackness is.

lastly, i’m exhausted that it even needs to be said, but being a person of color does not absolve somebody of intercommunity harm. minority status isn’t an excuse to get out of self-reflecting. it’s okay to step back and say, “wow, i didn’t think about how i’d affect members of this community,” without digging your heels in like one mistake on the internet is an extinction-level event.

studies: