‘If you look white, then you are white’- what is this now?!

[OwlBeThere]

I’ll start this by saying this is a conversation I had on tiktok. Yes,it’s mostly younger people on that app, but there is also some fantastic political discourse and discussion around linguistics which is my field so that’s what I use it for.

I am mixed race. My mother is Asian (Japanese), my dad is Welsh. I have the kind of skin that is very pale until I see the sun then I tan quickly. I don’t ‘look’ very obviously Asian, I suppose. I do have very straight, very dark hair from my mother, and I do have a relatively flat bridge to my nose. In my welsh village where I was raised from age 4 (born in Japan, moved to Denmark when I was 2, then to wales) I was ‘that Chinese kid’ a lot in the 80s, I had my share of casual racism thrown my way. I speak Japanese, welsh and English.
All that backstory is just to explain why I was completely baffled when in a discussion around racism I was told that because my ‘phenotype’ is white and I’m ‘white passing’ then I am white and have no business taking part in a discussion on racism as I’ve ‘probably never experienced it’.
Many people ask me my heritage, so I think it’s pretty clear to most people that I’m mixed in some way because otherwise they wouldn’t ask, right?
Have any other people mixed race people come across this as a thing? This phenotype argument that appears to negate half of my family?!

I'm mixed race. Part of my background is Pakistani. I'm white until the sun comes out too. In summer I would get called nasty words for black. The rest of the time I'd get called a curry muncher, asked why I didn't have a red dot, asked if I knew how to use cutlery.

As an adult now I'm rarely in the sun because I'm terrified of ageing skin etc. But I'm clearly a different race, and people express their shock and often say 'but you don't look X!' Or 'you're not really Pakistani'. Well wtf am I then? What am I allowed to be?

@insomniaisaballbag I can totally relate.

@bangerbangs no, Japan is in Asia. Indigenous Japanese people are Asian.

[quote bangerbangs]@OwlBeThere are Japanese not white? [/quote]
My mind is boggling over this slightly. Presumably you know that Japan is in Asia? So why would you think that Japanese people were white?

Suppose because they aren't black or brown. I know they're Asian but skin colour is more white.

L@OwlBeThere all sorts of racism needs to be addressed and not allowed to slip through the net

@theoll I fully agree, racism is racism and it’s not a competition.
@bangerbangs, some Japanese people are very brown. Some are lighter.

@bangerbangs

Suppose because they aren't black or brown. I know they're Asian but skin colour is more white.

It's mind boggling how many people in Britain think racism is only about "black or brown people".

If you haven't lived in many different places or travelled much, or don't watch much TV or read newspapers with pictures, I suppose it might be excusable to sone extent. But what's the excuse for not being able to read the many descriptions on this very thread?

Why on earth would you think that someone with a parent born thousands of miles away in Asia looks white?

It's like the thread on here a while ago about a Polish person exierienc8bf racism, and despite some posters reieatedly pointing out that the law on racism inckudes nationality, they still couldn't get it.

Asi say, mind boggling. Mind boggling that a poster has just popped up about a week after this thread was last posted on to make exactly the same fairly offensive point as a previous poster.

[quote bangerbangs]@OwlBeThere are Japanese not white? [/quote]
This deserves some sort of wooden spoon award, it really does.

Imagine if you said to a black person that you can't suffer much racism because their features look mainly like white people's features.

Honestly @CirclesWithinCircles I’m baffled, are people really not aware of the east Asian stereotypes in the media? The horrible ‘yellow-face’ characterisation in Hollywood?
Google Mickey Rooney in breakfast at Tiffany’s and tell me again how racism isn’t as bad if you aren’t black or brown.

@OwlBeThere as far as I know 'yellow' is an unacceptable word and not allowed anywhere in the world. In my area I see more racism with Muslims or children from Egypt and Bulgaria.
I'm trying to learn and understand different cultures. It's so hard when you get criticized online for being stupid but everyone around me is discussing whether the new boy at primary school (from egypt) is black or Spanish and the teachers can't tell you what language he speaks 🤷

@CirclesWithinCircles it's not excusable at all. It was just a genuine question I had and now I know. I thought Asian was a term like British is that describes the place you come from. white and black describe skin colour so just wasn't sure where Asians fit into that, what about people from Australia are they white?

what about people from Australia are they white?

The indigenous people of Australia are not white. Those who are immigrants or descended from immigrants - i.e. the majority - come from a range of different ethnicities. Many are white, but many are from other ethnicities and many will have mixed ethnicity.

@paralysedbyinertia
That's really interesting I didn't know anything about this actually, indigenous or white I will educate myself this week and try to learn about that.

everyone around me is discussing whether the new boy at primary school (from egypt) is black or Spanish and the teachers can't tell you what language he speaks

Well clearly something has gone very wrong at this school if nobody has been able to communicate with this child and they are instead focusing entirely on his appearance.

@bangerbangs indigenous Japanese people are not white. Yellow isn’t a nice way to describe us no, but it’s a term used to describe East Asian people for hundreds of years.
Australia was colonised by whites people so their mix of ethnicities from other places is much more than in Asia where historically not much mixing has taken places, Korea for example is one of the most ethnically ‘pure’ countries just because of history meaning there is little outside influence from other races, so it’s not comparable to Australia in that respect.
There will be people who are born in Japan who are not ethnically Asian/completely Asian of course. Im one of them i’m that I’m mixed race.

[quote bangerbangs]@OwlBeThere the more I hear the more I realize I don't know but it's so interesting. I've heard the word colonization before but never understood what it meant. Realistically everyone must be mixed race because we all came from somewhere else years previously.
When did the term 'yellow' start and then become bad. I don't understand where it's come from or reasons behind it, but I am appreciating you teaching me new things 😊[/quote]
You know, you could always read some books or something, or even use Google, since you have the Internet. I take it that you'll have been to school or read a newspaper at some point too in the last 50 years or so? As we have had legislation against making the sorts of comments you have managed to slip in above since 1970.

All of this lack of understanding of the basic facts of life is fairly implausible. I wouldn't respond OP.