Microaggressions:
AN EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE FOR POC Huiwen Tan CONTENT WARNING: RACISM, ANTI-ASIAN RACISM AND FETISHISATION What you are about to read is the journey and epiphanies of an individual. By no means does this reflect the lives of all people of colour, but it does shed light on a fragment of common occurrences we experience. I can distinctly remember the moment I realised I was one of a handful of POC in a class of 30 students. Growing up as an Asian Australian, the forms of racism which I have been subjected to have mainly been in the form of microaggressions from people who think they are acting upon curiosity rather than racial stereotypes. A common example is the classic question “Where are you from?” Although seemingly harmless, it enforces the idea that the colour of a person’s skin has a correlation to being born somewhere ‘exotic or foreign’. When I reply “Here, I’m from Perth, Australia”, the response I get is the more invasive, “No, but like where are you REALLY from?” These kinds of conversations can continue in a loop until I’m forced to break it and submit to a brief explanation of my family’s ethnicity and cultural background. Not only are these conversations exhausting, but they also enforce the marginalisation of POC and allow people to make assumptions based on cultural background and origins. As I’ve grown up, I’ve only become more aware of my race and how it affects my position in society. Just last year I moved to Melbourne for university and I was under the impression that such a diverse city would have put racial divides and microaggressions behind it. However, I soon saw examples that proved me wrong. On a university Facebook page, white students my age were claiming they had been struck by ‘yellow fever’ (sexual or romantic preference towards people of Asian heritage) by the great number of Asian students present at uni. Being fetishized was never a thought that occurred to me, despite my being an Asian woman. The fact someone would claim this as some sort of brag or epiphany and feel the need to share it was mind boggling to me. From then ‘fetishisation’ was added to my virtual list of red flags. I am sickened by the thought of someone trying to pursue me for some “Asian fetish”.
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As 2020 hit us with COVID-19, a new surge of racism came for Asian people. Hearing stories of international uni students being spat on and blamed for a pandemic was very alarming. I had never felt too unsettled because of my skin colour, but when these attacks happened, I was terrified to think I could be next. I didn’t even know how I would respond. I think as a non-black POC, what we endure can be imagined as a mild rash. Some days the rash is red, angry, and sensitive and hurts us a lot, but most days it is bearable. However, as you think it is fading it reappears to remind you that it’s still there and still is painful. When this rash becomes exhausting, that’s when some of us develop internalised racism towards our own race. To non-POC this analogy may seem very strange. However, for many of us it explains the way we experience and deal with microaggressions. Personally, it took me many years to be able to be fully happy being an Asian born in Australia. I remember in primary school I would ask my parents to pack me more Australian commercialised foods for recess so that other kids wouldn’t ask what I was eating and stare at my food. What starts as something small can warp and quickly turn into self-hatred. Only in my late teens have I started to embrace my culture and stop being afraid to bring Asian foods to school. I now find opportunities to share my culture and heritage with people outside it. I am proud to be an Asian woman in this world. I think for many Asian born Australians the first step is always taking ownership of one’s race. Being confident and loving yourself and who you are helps you face the inevitable microaggressions and prejudice that still exist today. Nowadays if I am asked “Where are you from?”, I transform this into an opportunity to educate those who haven’t yet grasped the ambiguity of the question and what it truly enforces. To those who are non-POC please go out and educate yourselves about microaggressions and subconscious prejudice, and stop yourself from unintentionally participating in them. To be able to actively catch yourself and change just a few words when you converse with POC can make all the difference in minimising that mild rash.
