“...They’re racist to the very core of them,” said a comment under a TikTok of a Filipino sharing her experience with Koreans refusing to hold a conversation with her merely because of her ethnicity. While it is undeniable that this experience reflects the racism many East Asians, not just Koreans, have towards Southeast Asians, in no way does it justify retaliating with hateful remarks such as this. There’s already enough hate in the world. Continuing to fight with fellow Asians only steers our focus away from the more significant problems that affect all of us, such as issues that require us to stand with one another and not against each other.
A great deal of East Asians tend to have the mindset that they’re superior to other Asians. Though it isn’t an excuse, the culture they have been brought up in plays a significant part in why they are the way they are.
Up to this day, some households, particularly the more traditional and conservative ones, still carry purist beliefs. This is reflected in sayings such as “kai kī ê lâng,” literally meaning “own people” in Hokkien, an expression that is often used to say one must only associate and interact with fellow Chinese. Some Korean families even discourage their children, most notably their eldest sons, from marrying foreign women in hopes of keeping their bloodline “pure.” While many East Asian families of today might no longer hold these kinds of values, it is undeniable that it has still been ingrained in their culture to a certain extent.
It’s important that we remember, though, that it isn’t merely East Asians who are in the wrong—it goes both ways. The typical response to being faced with racist East Asians would be to generalize, which is just as detrimental as perpetuating old-fashioned prejudices.
Take Filipinos, for instance. Because of the ongoing conflict regarding the West Philippine Sea and the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become commonplace to blame the Chinese for the issues our country is currently facing. Yet by carrying these kinds of sentiments, we are truly just doing the very thing that offended us in the first place—judging an entire ethnicity solely on a handful of individuals.
By focusing on the hostility among those in the Asian community, we are only causing a greater divide among ourselves.
In the end, we are all fighting for the same team. Let us learn to look inwardly and examine our own biases. Our words and actions often carry more weight than we realize and directly reflect our character. By acknowledging our prejudices and how these affect the people around us, we take the first step towards change.
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