Good Ally™

Good Ally™/Performative Wokeness: Silence on Instagram Amidst Racism Against Asians During COVID-19

Updated: Jul 3

I have been compelled to start a blog, after ranting at my partner last night, amidst a confounded and dejected realisation of the lack of support for the Asian diaspora - from the feminist/activist accounts, personalities, organisations that I follow and support and engage with regularly online.

I hadn't quite noticed the invisibility of the Asian presence in these conversations before. Accounts that are passionate about seemingly intersectional feminism/activism... I've seen barely any content about Asian representation in the media over the last year (which has been an interesting one, with the 'punishment' of Rose Tico in the last Star Wars installment, the success of Parasite at the Oscars etc) and more pertinently - no content about the growing racism against Asians in this coronavirus pandemic of COVID-19 - dubbed the 'Chinese virus' by the POTUS, to deafeningly little uproar.

Where is the outrage? Where is the ally-ship?

I follow a lot of Asian accounts (celebrities, activist accounts etc) as well as the popular Subtle Asian Traits group on Facebook - and I think their content mixed into my feed, gave me a false bubble - it masked the fact that the conversation wasn't happening outside of specifically Asian groups/voices.

What brought this realisation on yesterday, was the social media response to the Ahmaud Arbery tragedy in Georgia, US - in which a young (unarmed) black man went for a jog around his neighbourhood, and was murdered by two white men with guns.

Quite rightly, my feeds were flooded with outrage, condemning the system that allows this, and demanding justice - spreading the word, the message: this is unacceptable, indefensible, vile. I'm glad to see this message being shared, and hope the men involved (cishet, white, police-affiliated, gun-toting American men) have the full weight of justice brought upon them, and that the world takes notice of the plight of black American youth, and the horrifying prevalence of unchallenged police shootings in the US.

BUT - and not to derail, rather to highlight: where is the message that racism against Asians is unacceptable? Now, in a time where underlying racism against Asians that has always existed is all coming to the surface, with the narrative that China (read: all of Asia, to those who don't care to know the difference between a country and a continent) is responsible for the coronavirus - and being fuelled by the silent understanding that Asians are invisible in the conversation about racism. We have been left out of this conversation for so long - but to be left out, now, when there are so many reports of verbal, physical, even acid, attacks on those of Asian descent - the silence is wilful.

I don't know whether the silence of activist accounts is due to 'white feminism' (annoying from self-proclaimed 'intersectional' activists) or due to a lack of exposure, due to poor media coverage.

The latter is true, the mainstream media coverage has been minimal - it often is, in these matters. But the grassroots hacktivist streams of information manage to disseminate other stories on social media on the regs, so I suspect it's not due to a lack of knowledge. Hell, I'M posting about it, so I know a handful of people are seeing it, and not passing it on - so the question of why that information isn't being shared, stands.

I put it partly down to a seeming lack of 'relevance' - seeing a story about racist attack on an Asian person, and not fully seeing it as 'accepted as relevant' in a way you would about an already established "Injustice". I say this to mean, racism against Asians is still not believed to be 'a thing'.

This is what I call Good Allyship™ by white feminism and activism - regularly posting stories about already established injustices (#metoo #blacklivesmatter etc) but not recognising 'new/novel' injustice for yourself.

There is something in the separation of races as 'niche' - the perceived white default. Meaning that if you watch Ozark or Tiger King on Netflix, you are recommended most other Netflix shows. But if you watch She's Gotta Have It or Top Boy, you are recommended a WHOLE bunch of 'Black Shows'. Similarly, watch Korean-Canadian darling sitcom Kim's Convenience (shout-out to Simu Liu, using his platform brilliantly to provide both Asian solidarity and TikTok lolz) and you unlock the previously nonexistent section K-dramas. Because they assume you're 'into Asian stuff', as opposed to the Asian stuff being a relevant part of the wider landscape of media.

So, to any Feminist, activist, #wokeaf accounts that aren't posting about the rising racism and violence and hatred against Asians during this pandemic - please, ask yourselves: why not?

If you are truly not seeing this content, it's a new concept to you - please expand your circle and search out some knowledge in this area. And please, find ways to be active allies.

If you are seeing the content, and are not considering it relevant, or not understanding/believing that it's part of a wider problem, a real tangible and complex tapestry of racism views on Asian people that is built into our culture in the West - trust, it is. And please, again, educate yourselves. And while you are doing so, join the conversation (by which I mean active listening) and please use your platform to share the information of the racism that is happening due to this pandemic.

Be a good ally, not a Good Ally™.

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Edit: this post was written before the widespread BLM protests, before the issue had captured serious momentum, taken on a whole lease of life online and in worldwide rallies etc. The conversation should absolutely be around Black issues, which are in desperate need of addressing - I don't want to co-opt or centre other issues, and I support BLM and the anti-racist movement. My points outlined in this article stand regardless of/separate to this - that racism against Asians is widely not taken seriously, is not recognised, and is ignored by performative 'activist' folx. The issue of performativism will no doubt be seen when the BLM movement loses traction online, and we see an inevitable dropoff in the ‘yt’ participation.