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How Asians (Deliberately or Unconsciously) Perpetuate Anti-Black Sentiments

Writer's picture: Second Class CitizensSecond Class Citizens
Sep 18, 20206 min read

Updated: Sep 20, 2020

In the recent months, several news entities across the globe have been flooded with headlines of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murders. Last March 13 Breonna Taylor was shot by Louisville police (after breaking into her own home) because of speculations that illegal drugs were suspected to be in possession of Taylor, as she was linked to a person-in-investigation. Another event further enraged the American populace when the unarmed George Floyd died last May 25. Records of his death show that a  Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s leg while arresting him for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to a grocery store. Despite pleadings that he cannot breathe, police officer Derek Chauvin continued to do his actions for nearly nine minutes. Footage of the actual video of the incident spread like wildfire in various social media sites. 


The cases of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd only exacerbated the never-ending cycle of systemic and/or institutionalized racism. These instances then sparked a #blackouttuesday campaign in support of the cause and to collectively call out the unfair treatments and extensive discrimination agaist Black people in the United States. The #blacklivesmatter also gained traction again in social media platforms to actively show resistance to the current status quo. Celebrities and common people across the world were lifting the same experiences from both the day-to-day disrimination of Blacks and echoing the outcry to denounce the brutality of the police forces in different countries as well. 

(c) CNN, 2020


The world was all in solidarity in support of the victims, permeating other regions in Asia. But unknowingly, some Asians support a cause even without actually correcting their own biases and prejudices. Deplorable as it may seem, Asians may rather perpetuate Anti-Black and racist sentiments—whether deliberately or unconsciously. Enumerated below are specific examples of this:

  • Bullying peers with darker skin than them. This is especially prevalent during childhood days when some kids denote darker skin color as the butt of a joke. It is a disappointing, but at the same time an understandable, fact that this aspect of racism is already inculcated in the minds of young children (mainly because of the influences passed on from the people around them in their formative years). 

  • In mainstream media, dark-skinned actors are often hired as comedic displays. The media really thought they did something when they decided to favor fairer-skinned people than actual talented dark-skinned actors, huh? As in the case of the Philippines, there are still people who automatically assume fairer-skinned television personalities are more attractive than the typical sunkissed morena/moreno.

  • “Don’t stay too long in the sun, you’ll get burnt and darker.” These seemingly harmless remarks brought more harm than good. The idea that ‘darker’ is less attractive should only stay trapped in the fences of the outdated minds, and should not be left to proliferate in this modern era.

  • Thus skin whitening products have long been feeding the pockets of capitalists who prey on the idea that whiter complexion and fairer skin is better. 

  • Black people are perceived as more dangerous in various regions in Asia. To quote an interviewed Chinese man in the newsletter Quartz (2017), “Africans bring many security risks”. Some Asians actually perceive Black people as harbingers of drugs and crime, owing to the stereotypes people see on Western movies where such characters are usually portrayed by a Black actor. 

  • Cultural appropriation. This is defined as the “adoption or taking of specific elements (such as ideas, symbols, artifacts, images, art, rituals, icons, behavior, music, styles) of one culture by another culture” (Ocampo, 2017). This encompasses a broad range of discussion but some instances wherein Asians practice this are as follows: 

  1. Use of the N-word. People, especially ‘edgy’ teenagers on social media, should never use it especially if they are not a member of the Black community. The N-word was a term with an infuriating backstory wherein it exhibited the internalized oppression brought by the supremacy of the White. 

  2. “Blackface”.  Entertainment media outlets in countries like South Korea and China show TV personalities dressing up as a Black person. Although the motivations might be different, doing such might be offensive to the Black race. 

  3. Using sacred artifacts, symbols, distinct culture of the Black community only for aesthetic purposes. Black hairstyles like cornrows, dreadlocks, and afros might be seen sported by Asian hip hop artists.  However, many Black people got into trouble and were subjected into much ridicule and oppression just by simply wearing these same culturally-owned hairstyles. The fact that we, as Asians, cannot be made susceptible to these kinds of problems is the main reason why Asians cannot rightly sport these hairstyles without properly contextualizing. 

  • Asia’s cultural minorities and indigenous peoples are being discriminated against in their own countries. 

  1. Racial slurs, abuse, and mistreatment are being thrown at Papuan people in Indonesia. Papuan minorities are under strict draconian measures for the government to assert enough control to advance their interests in the area. This subsequently has caused various riots and protests among the Indonesian community, being more pronounced especially in the advent of the  #blacklivesmatter movement.

  2. The Aeta tribe in the Philippines are one of the few peoples who migrated to the Philippines during the ancient period. Because of their physical characteristics, they are often referred to as the “Negritos” of the Philippines. They were much discriminated against by their own fellowmen by hearing racial slurs from others and by receiving unfair treatment from the Philippine government—they become “beggars” in their own land— exhibited by being stripped off of their basic rights to assert their possession over their own ancestral lands. 

(c) Foreign Policy, 2020


One perspective we can view these instances is because such mindsets are remnants of the colonial influences in Asia—especially in the Southeast Asian region—where years of colonialism not only pacified our “barbaric” culture but also regarded Western standards as the pinnacle of all things mighty. Asians have in a way become so whitewashed that our mentality rests on the fact that colored individuals are inferior. 


Albeit unconsciously, these sentiments have long been imbued in our systems. This then results in microaggressions specifically to the Black community even when we are not actively aware of it. These are but a tiny fraction of remarks comparative to what the Black people in the United States experience but Asians should unite their voices to repeal this type of situation that is still also currently existing in the region.


Although much has changed in the recent years, especially with more minds becoming more sensitive towards such issues, the same pattern is still rampant especially among older generations and the uneducated and prejudiced few. Individually acknowledging each one’s own mistakes is one step to dismantling systemic racism. Then everyone can move on to speaking about it to family, friends and other people thus opening possible dialogues. Continuously educating ourselves is one way of confronting this uncomfortable truth, too. This goes without saying that as citizens of a diverse world, one must review their own personal biases and modify these as learnings are put into use. By doing these, maybe such efforts can make the world a better place, as cliché as that might sound? 

 

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