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I urge western fans engaging heavily in c-dramas or the danmei fandom to, at the very least, check out the wikipedia pages for not only topics of Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, etc but also that for Anti-Chinese sentiment and at least do a little unpacking
of how our understanding of China and Chinese culture is filtered through the lens of ethnocentrism and white supremacy.
Particularly now, in 2021, with in the last year seeing a huge rise of Anti-Asian and specifically anti-Chinese sentiment in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. We have a responsibility to, not only our friends, but to ourselves, to actively unlearn our racism.
It can be hard to find good sources on these topics. Most all of them are filtered through a western lens. When you are reading any source, please keep in mind "who wrote this? what is their goal?" Engage critically with the material.
Know that a part of the process is going to involve making mistakes. Apologize. Simply and honestly. Move on, do better. When someone takes the time to call you out it is because they want to keep engaging with you, because they want you to be a part of the community.
as Griffin said earlier this year, being in a community takes work. Yes, even a fan community. https://twitter.com/GenderGriffins/status/1338285919300935681
Here is a link to a really comprehensive toolkit about Asian American racial justice that includes trainings, factsheets, and discussions about the intersection of anti-black racism and anti-asian racism https://www.apalanet.org/racial--immigrant-justice.html (bottom right)
Here is helpful information about microaggressions https://www.academicimpressions.com/blog/is-it-a-microaggression/
How to Be Anti-Racist: A Social Worker’s Perspective https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/how-to-be-antiracist/
I am sharing this, not to talk over anyone, but because I believe strongly that we should not expect our friends of Asian (or Black, or any other POC or marginalized identity) to have to do all the heavy lifting themselves.
A thread round up of related posts https://twitter.com/soursoppi/status/1353951111011397633
How to call people in, or call people out. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55779/when-to-call-someone-out-or-call-them-in-over-racist-behavior
Last post on this before I log off to tend to personal stuff. If CN/CN Diaspora people are angry and that's making you uncomfortable? That's on you to deal with, their anger is justified. Listen to them, if it's uncomfortable, it's uncomfortable.
Sit with your discomfort, take some time with it, but don't lash out because of it. What matters is that we keep trying and doing what's right by educating yourself. Set your own pace, you don't have to rush through this, you don't have to read a million books or articles *now*
I've been doing equity, diversity, and inclusion work on and off for the last couple of years in my professional life (mostly focusing on trans and disability issues). it takes a lot of time and energy to engage with. but if a bunch of us are making small steps...
it leads to bigger ones, and then it's going to add up to a lot. and we 100% owe it to to the BIPOC and other marginalized members of our communities
