If you’re a fan of comedy, you’ve no doubt heard Chris Rock’s “Black people hate n!gg@s” bit. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and spend the next 10 minutes educating yourself. The humor is great, but it’s not what makes this bit transcendent. This is a monologue that provides a unique perspective into the black community through the lens of an ultra successful black man via comedy, one of the few artforms remaining where open discussion can still occur without being labelled a racist, sexist or all-round piece of ****. Race and identity has always been an issue Americans are either passionate about, or avoid like the shopping addict who’s too afraid to check her bank account. The issue festers but we hope it dissolves itself miraculously. Through humor, Chris Rock brings awareness to an everyday struggle in the black community. Trying to make it “out”, but not “selling out”. Becoming Uncle Phil and not Uncle Tom, but the “******” in the community are ruining it for everyone. He subconsciously forces those who aren’t black to empathize with the back and forth battle being fought in his community. The ability to distill such a sensitive subject with deep racial roots into a ten minute comedy segment is what separates the likes of Rock and Chapelle from the rest.
Esther Ku is a 40 year old Korean American comedian (I used that term very loosely) who’s had her share of TV appearances. Recently she tweeted something which is the motivation of this post. “White guys shouldn’t feel shame about liking Asian women, they make better partners than women beating Asian men”. I’ll always be a proponent of comedians having the freedom to say anything they please, if the intent comes from an attempt at humor. I’ve reread Ku’s tweet and gave myself a few hours to process my thoughts, trying my hardest to give her the benefit of the doubt. Like many minorities, we always want to see “one of us” succeed and represent us in a positive light. I don’t know much about Ku but I’ve always been a cheerleader on the side, simply due to racial association. Unfortunately, I’m still struggling to find the attempt at humor behind her tweet. All I see is another example of self-hatred which permeates throughout the Asian community. The same self-hatred I experienced as an immigrant and one that I’ve had to work hard to overcome. Self-doubt, self-denial and self-hate is common amongst immigrants. The need to fit in just for survival purposes deems it a necessity at times. Learn to be silent or risk returning to the ****hole where we came from. The desire to be “normal” during the formative years of life creates a conflict in identity, and eventually surfaces as self-hatred. Unless Ku has lived life culturally and socially ignorant, she’s aware this is a common theme among first generation Asian immigrants.
I’d love to convince myself Ku tweeted this from a place of comedy, hoping to find some room left for a satirical interpretation. Sadly, it’s exactly what it looks like. Self-hatred and Asian white worship. Is there a domestic violence problem within many Asian families? Absolutely. A lot of traditional Asian families hold onto the “follow and listen to your man” idiotic ideology. But instead of creating a forum for discussion through comedy, Ku reaffirms every non-Asian person who held onto that stereotype and reinforces it. The Tweet fails at being funny which is no big deal, but the attempt was never there. In a community that barely has a whisper in art, culture and politics, Ku decides to take a stereotype and advertise it with billboards. Asians are underrepresented, underappreciated and too often we fail to speak up. Race in America has become a black and white issue, with Asians accepting whatever role is placed on them.
Ku should love any man she desires, nobody gives a **** about her sexual preferences. It’s the shunning of the Asian race in general. One that she belongs to, and unfortunately for Ku, one that no matter how many white men she dates and sleeps with, will always be her identity when people look at her.
Her Tweet is akin to Chris Rock saying, “It’s OK for black women to only date white men, because black men would just rob and kill you instead.” But Rock’s aware enough to understand that what you see in the media is not black culture, hence the distinction between black people and n!gg@s. Despite what Charles Barkley said, you cannot enjoy fame without others looking up to you and hoping you speak up for them. That’s the cost of being famous and celebrated. You can’t have your fried rice and eat it too. I hope Ku goes on to have a great, healthy relationship with a white man. One who is loving, generous and considerate. But what I hope most for her is she doesn’t project the greatness of her fictional future partner onto whiteness, but realizes she’s with a great man who just happens to be white.