a rare post

[spotto]

There's an artist on Tumblr who I admire, and who has quite possibly the best sense of humour there is. Unfortunately our opinions don't always align, and she seems extra-sensitive to racial issues like Tumblr is sometimes infamous for. I can't comment on anything not involving my own race for chance of ignorance, but as someone who is Chinese I was a little miffed that despite a large post rebuking an incredibly stupid post written by someone who thought even speaking Chinese when one is not natively Chinese is somehow offensive, apparently Mercy wearing an outfit with Chinese patterns or Widowmaker in a Qipao on just her spray is something they are uncomfortable with.

 

They might have a small beef if they themselves were Chinese, but they're not.

 

White people who get offended for other people's cultures/race piss me off to no end. Especially those who hold the opinion that no matter what people think of or say they cannot possibly be racist against white people because of privilege or whatever, which also pisses me off. That's like holding other cultures/races on a pedestal and making it more "sacred/exotic" compared to white culture simply because they have a history of oppressing minorities. It's still treating us differently as if we're an alien species as opposed to different yet equal. In the end any issue that comes down to racism or cultural appropriation is most likely a case-by-case basis, and never something starkly black and white. To assume so would be almost like generalizing any minority into one melting pot of people compared to white people. Also anytime someone even mentions white people it's always Americans or something and never like, Eastern Europeans who also are pale-skinned and have had a history of being oppressed as well. What about Africans who are white, or are we to assume if they aren't dark skinned they aren't African? This always made the term "African-American" nonsensical to me, because if someone from say Northern Africa who may look tanned at most or someone with white skin from South Africa immigrated to America, what do they call themselves? No one would take them seriously because African-American is ingrained within their minds as black so much that they'd end up just calling the person using the term racist or ignorant. 

 

In other words these "white knights" who try to be allies express some internalized racism without even knowing, without ever acknowledging it. It just pisses me off. It reminds me of a layman trying to correct someone on some topic and talking over the expert who could explain and express everything much more sincerely and accurately. If there isn't someone or even a group of people of that specific race bringing up the issue, what is the issue? Unless there is literally a tiny population of the people, most cultures and races do not need a white ambassador to lecture all the other internet people what is politically correct and what isn't.