Asians scare me
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
One of our readers (thanks Alice!) spotted this on PostSecret:
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- Written by Carmen Van Kerckhove
- April 23rd, 2007 at 7:20 am
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- Racialicious is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves newsflashes.
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Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, a diversity education firm. Her perspectives on race and diversity have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, USA Today, and The New York Times.
She hosts the podcast Addicted to Race and blogs at Racialicious and Anti-Racist Parent.
You can reach her at 646.400.5270 or team@newdemographic.com.
- Racialicious is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves newsflashes.
Emily wrote:
Um…wow.
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 10:12 am ¶
Rabia wrote:
Never mind the person who sent in the card, the “After VT” comment is unconscionable. As if anyone would have validated someone’s fear of white people had the killer been white. Truly exasperating…
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 12:03 pm ¶
RobynT wrote:
I think the comment is from an Asian American right? Saying that we fear backlash?
Anyway, I think it’s weird how differently this postcard reads after VT. I think that the guy who runs the site picks several to post every week so it seems like he chose this one purposely because of VT. I don’t know… this is just my sense since there seem to be Valentine’s day themed ones for that holiday and things about mothers for Mothers’ Day…
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 12:12 pm ¶
Kyla wrote:
I think it might have been sent after VT — most of the postcards from this week were. Which makes it even worse, really.
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 1:08 pm ¶
Y. Carrington wrote:
“Asians scare me.” WTF? I can’t begin to fathom how dehumanizing—how fucking evil that comment is. Damn.
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 2:43 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
“I think the comment is from an Asian American right? Saying that we fear backlash?”
Now that you mention it, that’s probably true. now I wonder why I read it the other way. It seems like the person who sent in the card sees Asians as foreign, mysterious and thus dangerous. Hence the pic of an old lady practicing what looks like martial arts. There’s nothing threatening or scary about old ladies, so the scare element comes from the martial arts ( allure of impenetrable mystery and secrecy).
Posted 23 Apr 2007 at 4:00 pm ¶
Oranguteena wrote:
While I understand that the “secret” is offensive in its way, I also kind of want to speak in defense of the person who wrote it – racist though the statement “Asians scare me” is, I think elements of this artifact may have been meant to serve as a kind of stunted apology by someone who can think of no better way to repent for his/her ignorance. To me it seems the venue (postsecret) functions as a confessional for a lot of people who send secrets to it, and the things we confess are the ones we’re ashamed of. So I don’t think that this one warrants being called “evil” because it seems like something the person understands is irrational and wrongheaded. To my mind the fact that the picture chosen was of a very unthreatening kind of character – an older woman wearing one of those grandma sweatshirts in the park and making a graceful gesture that is so unthreatening it’s not even pointed at you – underlines the person’s understanding that their fear makes no sense. I could be reading this wrong, but I don’t think that the intent was to dehumanize.
Posted 24 Apr 2007 at 2:57 pm ¶
shakes head at US wrote:
And the backlash fear is real; a friend posted this to her blog regarding her students:
It’s not just Korean students. Here are some of the feelings some of my students have described to me in email messages, notes, and conversations:
*I feel like people are looking at me differently.
*I’m afraid of what people think when they see me.
*I worry about anti-Asian revenge.
*I worry about how people will treat Asians in the future.
*I hope nothing bad happens to Asian students on this campus.
*My friend called me and told me to go back home as soon as possible.
*I worry about the relationship between Korea and the US and the relationships between people.
*I am afraid of opening the door to a classroom.
*I’m scared someone is going to think about the tragedy and blame me.
Posted 24 Apr 2007 at 6:01 pm ¶
Koko wrote:
“To my mind the fact that the picture chosen was of a very unthreatening kind of character – an older woman wearing one of those grandma sweatshirts in the park and making a graceful gesture that is so unthreatening it’s not even pointed at you – underlines the person’s understanding that their fear makes no sense.”
I completley agree.
Posted 24 Apr 2007 at 11:38 pm ¶
lw wrote:
I agree with Koko and Oranguteena — this is a shameful, secret admission from someone who knows it is wrong — may he who is without any latent racism whatsoever cast the first stone.
Posted 25 Apr 2007 at 10:05 am ¶