I just read something while surfing tumblr and while this isn’t a new revelation, I figure I might as well write about it too. It is because it is valid, and because as we increasingly immerse ourselves in the media, we have to be aware that it isn’t 100% racism free.
The white man clearly has the upper hand in a lot of respects, but the media is something that is so white-washed these days that in films, television, the news, music, and other forms of media, we don’t react to seeing or hearing anything commonly associated with Caucasians but once anybody from another racial platform steps forward to put their two cents in anything – to change the world – there is always going to be negative reaction. We’re desensitised to white people in the media, and to the way they treat coloureds, but so much the opposite towards coloureds themselves.
Now, it’s impossible to please everyone. Virtually everything we say has the potential to hurt someone; to offend. The problem really is how something that essentially hurts becomes commonplace in society. Just like racism and racial stereotyping. It doesn’t always hit us immediately how offensive it is for ‘the powerful white man’ to say something like the N word or ‘chink’/'orient(al)’, but after awhile perhaps we start to feel anger bubble. Maybe not even bubble – more like simmer. We don’t feel that angry. Should we be?
Sometimes I’m watching television or film, and it’s a dialogue heavy scene, and it’s difficult to follow it word-for-word. However, the second they refer to something derogatory towards a race, my head snaps up. I wonder if the white actors feel remorse for saying something so offensive onscreen – perhaps for several takes at a time. Just as I wonder if authors feel bad for writing those words in their novels or what have you. I wonder how it has become acceptable in the mainstream, why it has become acceptable. ‘It’s real life.’ Really? And doesn’t life imitate art too? So it’s a vicious cycle. It’s been going on for so long it becomes second nature. It becomes ‘okay’. It isn’t okay. Being acceptable doesn’t make it right at all.
I’m Asian, more specifically East Asian. I grew up in a predominantly Chinese environment, so I can’t say that I have been subjected to racism from the white man, but I know the term ‘ching chong Chinaman’. It basically refers to a particular surname, and how some words are pronounced i.e. ‘ching’/'qing’. And guess what,in the modern world: “Chinky is a modern British term for a Chinese restaurant or take-away, and the actual food.” A derivative of the original, completely offensive slur is used so commonly. So such a thing that happens in real life, in British films, will they use the word ‘chinky’ to describe their particular take-away? Like, “gonna grab some chinky on the way back” – that kind of thing. You know what, it’s just plain wrong if it happens.
That was only one example, and I believe I chose it because I myself feel indignant that because of my race, somehow in media terms, there is that notion of superiority. And this is only a niche area in a subject so large. The cycle is not easy to break, and this issue in the media – as well as the issue of LGBTQ (which will be discussed in a different post) – will not go away in fifteen minutes, or even in probably a hundred years. Racism is much more subtle than certain outright portrayals of LGBTQ, and because we’re all so used to it sometimes we cannot see it happening. The fact that one race still happens to dominate the industry whether we like it or not is frustrating, and it doesn’t have to be this way. There are some huge names that are LGBTQ activists and I find that amazing and loving, and a wonderful decision they’re making. Why not some people step up against racism in the media, then? It’s really not much of a different cause. We’re just indifferent towards it.
