"Myths of Asian privilege fuel a brutal and cartoonish bigotry"

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In Britain, few people would tend to place South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, taken together by some margin our largest visible ethnic minority) in the same demographic category as East Asians (mostly of Chinese descent, and fewer in number).

I do not know whether white Britons in general tend to regard East Asians as a privileged minority, nor whether, if they do, it is a motor for prejudice. My perception is that many white British tend to think of East Asians as a minority that does not cause problems (this, of course, is arguably similar to the "model minority" myth in America).

Having Japanese and Chinese colleagues, I am aware that they have occasionally encountered racism; most recently, a Japanese colleague was abused on a bus in the early stages of the pandemic, when she was mistaken for Chinese at a time when the pandemic was largely confined to China. The bus driver did not support her, but suggested that she had better get off the bus.

As far as I understand from my colleagues, such incidents have not been very common. But I am worried that racism against East Asians will become more widespread in America and Britain if relations between these countries and the People's Republic of China continue to deteriorate. I expect that ethnic Chinese citizens of the UK will suffer as a result; and since racism is usually indiscriminate in its discrimination, we should not be surprised if that affects Chinese who may be politically neutral, or even who may have left the PRC because they disapproved of its ideological agenda, as well as Taiwanese, Koreans and Japanese.

There are, of course, ethnic Chinese in the West who may support the PRC regime. So what? In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, at the height of the Cold War, most Western European countries managed to cope with the existence of large and often popular Communist Parties. In those days, we seem to think that was a price worth paying to live in a free country.

@teinosuke said

As far as I understand from my colleagues, such incidents have not been very common. But I am worried that racism against East Asians will become more widespread in America and Britain if relations between these countries and the People's Republic of China continue to deteriorate. I expect that ethnic Chinese citizens of the UK will suffer as a result; and since racism is ...[text shortened]... st Parties. In those days, we seem to think that was a price worth paying to live in a free country.

I'm not sure your fears are well-grounded. Even if relations between Britain and China were to deteriorate further (and I hope they don't) I don't think that would lead to indiscriminate racism here. - It is true that when the virus first hit the UK there were some incidents where Chinese residents were targeted, but this was driven by hysteria and irrational fear. It was short-lived. (I think your fears would only be well-grounded if some kind of military conflict broke out, which I think very unlikely).

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I certainly do not assume that my Chinese and Japanese colleagues come forward to share all their experiences of racism with me. Of course, I appreciate that not every incident they may have experienced is likely to have been reported to me! I should say, however, that some of the people are fairly close friends who might confide in me; and it seems they have not felt embarrassed to report some of their experiences; I hope this means that they do not suspect me of racism or expect me to sympathise with it.

I would see no reason to disbelieve Duchess64 if she described the racism she has experienced. I am not sure why Duchess64 feels I would not believe her.

I of course agree entirely with the final observation Duchess64 makes.

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One of the most recent examples of racism that I know to have happened to a person with whom I am acquainted took place in a pub in the city centre. One of my students suffered verbal abuse, which looked as though it might escalate into physical violence, when some of the other drinkers heard him talking to a friend in his native language, which was Czech. As in the anecdote I reported of my Japanese colleague, the barman failed to defend my student and told him he had better leave the pub.

Eastern European residents of this country have recently seen what was, hitherto, an automatic right to live, work and settle in Britain eliminated as a result of a vote which seems at least in part to have been a hostile response to their immigration.

So (while I am not implying that prejudice against Eastern Europeans is worse than against people of colour in Britain), I think Duchess64's statement should be rephrased: "Being white and ethnically British, Ghost of a Duke need not fear being targeted by racism."

@teinosuke said
One of the most recent examples of racism that I know to have happened to a person with whom I am acquainted took place in a pub in the city centre. One of my students suffered verbal abuse, which looked as though it might escalate into physical violence, when some of the other drinkers heard him talking to a friend in his native language, which was Czech. As in the anecdot ...[text shortened]... rased: "Being white and ethnically British, Ghost of a Duke need not fear being targeted by racism."

I think it would need to be even further refined as there are probably areas of the UK where being white is a liability and could make one targeted for crime, just as how the bulk of incidents pointed to for anti-Asian hate are Asians being victimized by criminals for appearing to be acceptable targets.

@kevcvs57 said
Hahaha we knew it wouldn’t belong before a racist jumped up to defend this racist piece of 💩 murderer.
Was he addicted to having sex with Asian women? The poor man no wonder he killed eight women and targeted Asian massage parlours. Sex addict pfft
This is the result of sustained anti Asian sentiment running riot through the American right wing community .
It’s not about ...[text shortened]... ission to kill from the prevailing attitudes of their host community. Take some fing responsibility.

just gotta be that way doesnt it? facts be damned. it must be terrible being a liberal

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Like Claire Bloom, I of course also have European Jewish heritage (my paternal grandparents were refugees from Berlin in the 1930s); and my father was born in Wales, though (given his background) he never identified as Welsh. I am now a dual national of the UK and Germany. I do, however, feel that "English" describes my identity better than "British", which sounds (to me) a bit vague. My mother's side of the family is English back as far as we can trace; I was born and have always lived in England (except for the years I spent in Japan), and I feel at home among its landscapes and cities in a way I don't quite in Wales or Scotland (much as I like the latter). This is the case, even though I'm dismayed by many aspects of (specifically) English political culture.

Meanwhile, although I also hold a German passport now, I don't identify as German. And I feel more "culturally Christian" than I do Jewish (which I'm not, by rabbinical law). I ticked the "Christian" box on our recent census on that basis (I am an occasional sentimental churchgoer, though not a believer).

Yet back around the millennium, I was talking to an Irish friend and said precisely that I identified first and foremost as "English" rather than "British" - not, I said, in a nationalistic way, but in the sense that a Scotsman will usually be quite clear that he is Scottish first and foremost, and a Welshwoman that she is Welsh first and foremost. My Irish friend looked a bit troubled, and said, "But you know that "English" is a white identity." And I suppose the great merit of "British" as an identity is that it's inclusive. People can talk about being "black British" or "Asian British" or "British Jewish" when they couldn't identify as "black English" or "Asian English" or "English Jewish". So I understand why ethnic minorities in particular gravitate towards the identity of "British".

I hope things will work out OK for young Angharad! Certainly her parents couldn't have chosen a more Welsh name!