POST #4: Home Cultures, Race, Appropriation, and Racism

    If I had to be honest... to describe my "Home Culture" I feel it would take up a plethora of this post. But to simplify this the best way I can, my family moved here from Guangdong, China (the South part of China) in the eighties. Leading me to be born in the United States, making me a first generation citizen. I feel culturally connected to my American side since English is my first language, but my mother would always remind me about my Chinese culture in the way she raised me. For example celebrating both holidays such as Chinese new year and Christmas. I moved around with my family a lot as a kid and lived in both San Francisco and Seattle. My family was not really the typical "nuclear" family, having majority of my life lived with my Mother only, while she took care of me and my older sister. Another rather large aspect that has influenced me especially in my youth till now was B-Boying/Breakdancing when I was in high school, which has led me to my love for dancing. I'm personally not religious, but my Mother is Christian and used to take me the local Chinese church services on Sundays, until I distanced away from it. This is not everything, but most of what I think has produced and influenced my perspectives, morals, and the "Home culture" I have today and continuing. 

    According to Grazian's Functionalist approach in popular culture, it's a form of obsession with mass entertainment that generates solidarity or camaraderie between individual members, a larger society, or communities. Through these events, it provides opportunities for fans to express feelings and opinions on otherwise sensitive topics. Analyzing my home culture and how it connects to race and racism, especially with African American people and culture. The biggest factor in this connection would be when I started dancing, I remembered joining B-boy club based on a recommendation from a friend and soon after I would be continuing to dance in this club for 4 years. Since a lot of mainstream, and popular dance styles, as well as "trendy moves" are from Black culture, it was always emphasized during my time to know and understand the history/origin behind B-boying when I joined. I still remember the many lessons I learned from my past dance mentors especially one of the most important thing to know are the four elements of Hip hop: DJ, MC, Graffiti, and B-boying (at least that was what I was taught). Thinking about the functionalist approach in this instance, I realize because of dance it united everyone regardless of gender, age, race, or background. You were only judged based on what you brought to the dance floor essentially, it was the culmination or what you practiced over and over that was judged. 

    Moving on to one of the articles I read since I think it also intersects with another aspect of my home culture is Teen Vogue's article about "We Need To Hold K-Pop Idols Accountable For Their Racist Actions." Even though I'm not Korean, I am East Asian and I do have an awareness that there are idols who are actually not only Korean, but have many entertainment companies that audition boys and girls from Thailand, Indonesia, China, Hong kong, United states and many other Asian Countries, meaning this is not just a exclusive problem in South Korea, the writer Sandra song states a point I completely agree with is "We need to hold K-Pop groups — and really, all celebrities — accountable when they are being racist." I believe in this universally across all countries. It's genuinely disappointing when you find a group or a soloist that you may feel is talented and exceptional but then these racial actions (black face, appropriation, mocking AAVE, and etc.) happen and fans, especially international fans get hurt, saddened, and angry. I myself have thought about giving up on listening to the music in this industry but I also realized if we did give up completely there'd be no one to keep them accountable. Especially when you know that "K-Pop is the ultimate manifestation of Korean pop culture, then it's essential we call out K-Pop groups when they do something racist or offensive. If they're going to become one of the most visible importers and adopters of Western pop culture, then idols and their record labels (who are just as complicit, as they are often the ones in control of everything from a group's style to their songs) need to educate themselves." Countering the opinions trying to excuse such behaviors as plain ignorance to American history and culture, I find it rather ironic when a lot of idols (or artists in that medium) in general have consumed a lot of American pop culture via music, but cannot take the time to google the meaning behind the song they are listening to? especially if its a Black artist. With the immeasurable amount of international fans of this genre, I realize money is also the biggest drive overall and if we want to see people not only do better, but be better, as Sandra Song suggests "Call them out whenever you see them doing something that perpetuates systemic racism and, perhaps most importantly, don't buy their music. Make sure you're heard and that your idols are listening."

    To answer the question about analyzing modern day manifestations of black face minstrelsy, how I was taught to experience or interpret them is with zero tolerance. Even though I remember seeing cases of black face from Hollywood media to mass media in general, I think what fully clicked into my head when I was younger that it wasn't just white actors/actresses or celebrities that would be caught doing this, it could also be other POC too. I remember the first time I saw something straightforwardly racist appearing on the news from China from a viral commercial back in 2016 that was posted from someone and it was so mind boggling to think they thought this was marketable and okay? the way they filmed it making it seem so carefree and friendly is what was so disturbing when I first saw that. I had so many questions at that time: Who thought of this idea? Why was this black actor okay filming in this? or did he not know? Why couldn't this laundry company just used their mascot as the commercial which was like a freaking dolphin? 

     Also if anyone ever reads this far down, I am lightly aware of what surrounds the social climate in other Asian countries, but first and foremost I am Asian American and seeing these images of blackface, or any other ignorant racial acts offends me too, so when I read about these things and have to explain for a group of people I have barely have a connection with culturally, due to simply being automatically be lumped and condemned for the actions that have happened in Asian countries overseas, it gets a bit tiring. Because I know people will not view me as a American citizen immediately. No one should ever feel ridiculed or mocked for their skin color, and if there is anyone else who is also Asian American... just a note I wanted to leave here, just because we are not black that doesn't mean we cannot empathize with others and if you have felt disgruntled and frustrated at media (especially Western media) for whitewashing Asian shows/films, or when we've experienced "yellow face" for example "Breakfast at Tiffany's" where a white actor Mickey Rooney's performance of Japanese character Mr. Yunioshi was later criticized in subsequent years as an offensive stereotype. The energy we put into that I hope, is the same energy for when we see these modern day manifestations of black face.

Thank you for reading.

   

Racist Laundry commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Few8kJ0zfnY

"We need to keep k-pop Idols Accountable for their racist actions": https://www.teenvogue.com/story/k-pop-idols-accountable-for-racist-actions