For Asian Americans, the past fortnight has served to remind us that just beneath the surface of a society that claims to be aspiring to colorblindness is a mindset that sees nothing but foreignness in our faces. These episodes are all the more troubling because the mainstream media generally regard Asian Americans as irrelevant to life and times in these United States. Thus, when journalists and celebrities label us foreigners, there is no institutional response, because almost no one in the mainstream media has a vested interest in representing Asian Americans as Americans. If a 21st-century version of Executive Order 9066 had been issued this week and a roundup begun, Asian Americans can be confident that many ordinary Americans of all races would protest on our behalf. But these scenes played out across the country after China detained 24 Navy crew members whose spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet.
Some observers say the backlash rivals the anti-Asian sentiments of World War II and before.
In times of conflict, it is a norm that any country will ridicule the other. But it's more about politics. It's the policy, not the people. This is ridiculing the people. Among the recent incidents was a skit during a meeting of top newspaper editors.