To ask if people of asian descent feel underrepresented?

[josil]

Please keep this thread polite I don't want it deleted! It's a sensitive question to ask which I'm aware of hence why I'm starting with the disclaimer to please keep the tone non-inflammatory this isn't intended to create any arguments just genuinely want to explore an issue.

I'm asking the question because particularly since BLM a lot of media corporations and people in general are much more aware and inclusive for black people (whilst it's not always perfect I think a lot of people are making the effort to be more inclusive for black people) you see us much more on tv ads and on clothing websites etc.

I just wandered how Asian people feel because I think there is a lack of representation - but also no one really campaigning for it?

I'm interested to hear your perspective on if it bothers you or not? Do you think there's an imbalanced focus on BLM and not on other races?

I appreciate each race has their own unique struggles but I do feel non white people have a unique understanding of each other in many ways when it comes to inclusivity.

Your use of the term "Oriental British" made it clear, that you are not Asian. And in answer to your question, no , I do not get my ideas from the US . You sound ignorant and unpleasant.

This. They're not "in" and don't really fit the current narrative.

Is there a currant narrative?

I think so yes but I won't be going into detail on here. It gets boring being expected to Say The Right/Demanded Thing lest you be called the big ""R" word...

Have a lovely Saturday evening

I agree and you do not sound unpleasant. You sound like you're trying to think about and come to some conclusions around these ideas. That's not really allowed right now though. Though I do think it's starting to swing back a little.

Yes it does get boring dealing with racists, I am sure you know what I mean.

Your use of the term "Oriental British" made it clear, that you are not Asian. And in answer to your question, no , I do not get my ideas from the US . You sound ignorant and unpleasant.

What the heck? This seems unnecessarily hostile.

I think in the US its common for Asian to mean Chinese but here it's more common for Asian to mean Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi.

I don't know the "right" term to differentiate for example a Chinese person from a Bangladeshi person and it seems wrong to lump them into "Asian". Oriental was historically used, fine its now not appropriate but what is used instead?

On a thread where people have been commenting about under representation of certain ethnic groups e.g. Chinese, Thai, and trying to explore this, then shutting posters down for clumsy use of language seems unhelpful to me.

Maybe you should really read what the poster you are so quick to defend has actually written, and digest it first, just a thought.

josil

You sound like a Journalist and Researcher. & your comparisons are off key in terms of 'yeah but Black People' style

& your response is

"I have no idea what you're talking about"

Sure you don't...

You've asked such a question, very swiftly moved to talking about Black people within that question - yet attempt to be dismissive when called out on your bs. Its nothing new.

In what I clearly outlined, if 'I dont know what you're talking about' is your decidedly lacking in intelligence stance then you don't really want to know, do you? So why mention Black people...?

If you want responses from only Asian and White then say that - and dont include Black people in your talk where we aren't relevant to topic and you haven't a clue about issues affecting us - evidenced by your way off the mark assumptions regarding inclusion.

There is no need to compare Asian and Black people; its not a 'versus' game.

As for
'All of Asia''
'Black Peoples'

Really...?🙄

Its merely the usual goady post that you've tried to dress up differently, probably for some shallow clickbait article or very poorly thought out research project

What, this?
Mind you the lack of representation Far Eastern people's in Britain is abominable. When did you last see an Oriental British person in an advert? As a presenter? Considering they were one of the first non white ethic groups in the country and whose spread around the country has been all reaching it is scandalous.

Can you explain to me what the problem is? I think the language is old fashioned maybe but the sentiment seems ok?

I'm mixed (of Indian and Chinese heritage), and it really wouldn't bother me in the least if every single tv ad and clothing website had only blond, blue-eyed models.

Try the following post.

Actually, I'm an old hand at spotting Mens Rights Activists posting disingenuous questions to make feminists look bad/troll them and I think actually I don't understand enough about how people with ill intent would use forums to spread racial disharmony so please don't respond if you don't want to @emuloc

The best term to use would be 'East Asian' (as opposed to 'South Asian', which is usually used for people from the Indian subcontinent), instead of 'Oriental', which is considered to be derogatory.

Is what is shown on UK media becoming less relevant anyway? We have access to media from all over the world. I don't watch enough UK media to know who is represented by it.

SouthEast Asian. Feel this strongly and it's something I can't say in public.
BLM is an American movement and strongly rooted in American prejudice. Segregation in schools, history of slavery, etc.

While much of the slave trade was driven by the British empire it was mostly for service on their colonies.The bigger influx was those who migrated as Commonwealth citizens, same as Indians, Pakistanis, etc. There's no reason to have special prejudice against black, as opposed to brown, yellow or any other colour. White British racists are racists to anybody unlike them (this even extends to Eastern Europeans, etc).

Every ethnic groups have their own story of course, and there have been people of African descent in England since the 11th century. But when the dominant minority are South Asians it's strange to see none in the media. By contrast Black people are overrepresented. This has been changing recently with people like Simone Ashley, Anya Chalotra and Ritu Arya.

At the end of the day.. statistics are statistics. You can't always 'balance' things. South Asians for example are overrepresented in IT. What you CAN do is give people equal opportunity, get rid of bias, and let the best rise. There's no point for example in having university pipelines for minorities, if said minorities live predominantly in areas with bad schooling and have unstable home lives. You also have to differentiate between the children of highly educated immigrants, and British born of X Y Z generations... if you Really want a detailed comparison of social mobility.

For completeness I'm one of the latter. There's no point in using me as a diversity or social mobility example (which my workplaces try to do) because I'm an immigrant, only here for my skills.

Yes, as someone with East Asian ancestry, I do think we're underrepresented.

I do not recognise the term as Asian as referring to me, because in this country, it generally means Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi. Different in the States. There, Asian actually means Asian.

I'm glad that black people are finding more of a platform these days. But to be honest, every stereotype has a grain of truth in it, and culturally, Chinese people tend to not make a fuss about things. So when we're not really given a voice, we tend to suck it up, and get forgotten.

A lot of people don't seem to realise just how bad things were during the pandemic for those of us who looked Chinese, even if we'd never bloody stepped foot in China. We were all to blame for Covid, apparently.

Racism against Chinese people rarely gets reported or talked about.

There was even a mention of 'Oriental' further up in this thread. We're not bloody rugs.

Would it bother you if you were a model and couldn't get hired, given you're not blond and blue-eyed?

Would it bother you if you got passed over for a promotion at work - any line of work -because you didn't look the sort of person who normally gets that sort of role?

Believe me, unconscious bias is real. If there's any area where you don't want to be pushed out, you need there to be true diversity.

I think the representation of black people in the media has come about to combat the years and years of negative stereotypes towards black people - e.g single mothers, absent fathers,gang members, agressive, lacking intelligence. . . the list goes on. I genuinely don't see the deep level of hate and (historically successful) dismantling of a particular race and their sense of self.

It became almost essential to ensure black people represented in the media to normalise them as everyday/successful/intellegent/inspirational, etc. citizens to undo the previous campaign of doing the opposite.

I think all ethnic minorities have their own level of experienced racism. But with black people, it seems particularly aggressive, relentless and, at times, insidious. I think they're (positive) represention in the media holds more meaning. When I think of negative stereotypes of a Chinese person, for example, it pales in comparison to a Jamaican person.

I am sorry to read that you suffered from abuse during the pandemic, due to your appearance. I hope things are better for you now.

I think even in terms of black representation in the UK it's not equal and it's very London centric
we tend to regard the black experience as a London experience and by doing so we can forget to include Black people who live in the north etc there is much more collectiveness between communities who are marginalised in my opinion up north.

We also still have a big problem of colourism when Asians are represented within the media they tend to be lighter skinned, I am black and didn't see my first dark skinned Asian until I was in my teens. This issue also affects the black community.

but you can't compare the experiences the black experience is very different to South Asian or East Asian experience.

I work for a Sikh owned company and this is my impression. They seem to be generally very organised and have a strong cultural work ethic. I don't know as many Muslims but living near and working in a very ethnic city it seems to me that many prefer to stay in their own lane rather than integrate into Western culture.

As mentioned above, I think the black community has been pretty outspoken about racism/inclusion etc and in supporting BLM etc. I've not seen as much of this from the Asian community. I'd be interested to hear whether they'd like to see more representation in general Western media, obviously allowing for the fact that there likely isn't one common view.

But when the dominant minority are South Asians it's strange to see none in the media

Really?
Mishal Husain
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Anita Rani
Isa Guha
Reeta Chakrabarti
Faisal Islam
Inzamam Rashid
Sima Kotecha
Amol Rajan
Rishi Persad
Nasser Hussain

And that’s just off the top of my head…

Thank you