{"id":34627,"date":"2011-12-29T12:40:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-29T17:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=34627"},"modified":"2011-12-05T01:53:18","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T06:53:18","slug":"a-thoughtful-response-to-asians-in-the-library-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2011\/12\/29\/a-thoughtful-response-to-asians-in-the-library-rant\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughtful Response to “Asians in the Library” Rant"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last week of December, we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite posts from 2011.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

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Last week Lisa posted about the racist “Asians in the Library” video from UCLA student Alexandra Wallace, and how the responses to it have often drawn on very sexist, demeaning language<\/a>, as though the only way we know to combat one type of stereotyping or prejudice is to use another. Yuki T. send in a video response by slam poet Beau Sia that, as Yuki says, “stands out as a real examination of the white privilege and fear that underlies the racism that Alexandra Wallace displays,” rather than just trying to degrade or mock Alexandra in whatever way possible:<\/p>\n

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UPDATE: I found a transcript at dandelionchild<\/a>, via Common Pitfalls of the Amateur Poet<\/a>, though it appears the first place the transcript was posted was Madame Thursday<\/a>. It’s after the jump. Thanks for reminding me, WellWheeled!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Transcript:<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t you hear me say that I\u2019m not politically correct? I said that, but you\u2019ve all been misinterpreting me so let me be clear. There are hordes of Asians at my school and it\u2019s starting to freak me out. They act in a manner I wasn\u2019t taught growing up and I don\u2019t want to question who I am and how I was raised so they are starting to be a real problem for me. I don\u2019t understand their language, their culture, the way they hold family sacred and shared and instead of consider whether or not that is threatening to me, I\u2019d rather the things they do, the people they are be wrong.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so hard maintaining fitting in when these Asian people clearly aren\u2019t. They\u2019re so not the TV I\u2019ve seen, so not the stories I\u2019ve read, so not my experience where I\u2019m from, and I\u2019m letting their existence jeopardize my idea of the world and I don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m not afraid to personally address those who\u2019s behavior is affecting me so. I\u2019m just choosing to find solidarity in my beliefs on the internet to prevent the course of questioning my statements would cause me. If someone directed similar comments towards whom I\u2019ve had to represent in my life.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to have to consider why I\u2019ve based my observations on a number of Asians smaller than some Asian families. Or what exceptions I\u2019d have to consider if I didn\u2019t use blanket assumptions. Or if there\u2019s a conflict about the world changing that I don\u2019t want to face, because of the face I was born with. There are so many more important things in my life. I don\u2019t want to have to explore my relationship to everything around me.<\/p>\n

And there are many who think the way that I do. And, you know, from what I know of America, these Asian people are not supposed to be this way. And I\u2019m not talking about the laws of this country. Requirements for citizenship or taxes paid in full. Nnn-nn!<\/p>\n

I am talking about what I\u2019ve been programmed to think family is. How manners prove native, who should decide how identity must conform, for whom identity must conform, and why identity must conform. If only these Asians would learn English! If only they understood. That I\u2019m here too. That I share this place with them. That I belong here. That the hordes and swarms invading the system I\u2019ve learned remember who I am as the world changes. I\u2019m so afraid I\u2019ll have to fend for myself. Without what I\u2019ve been told was mine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last week of December, we\u2019re re-posting some of our favorite posts from 2011. \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014 Last week Lisa posted about the racist “Asians in the Library” video from UCLA student Alexandra Wallace, and how the responses to it have often drawn on very sexist, demeaning language, as though the only way we know to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[283,285,1759,1757],"class_list":["post-34627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-prejudicediscrimination","tag-raceethnicity","tag-raceethnicity-asianspacific-islanders","tag-raceethnicity-whiteseuropeans"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34627"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42734,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34627\/revisions\/42734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}