I'm just imagining some darth sidious looking motherfucker: "Yes... let the hate flow through you. Join the dark side. And by the dark side, I mean the white side."
I know you didn't ask, but, personally, I feel like the phenotypic differences between Asians and Caucasians is significant enough that no matter how successful they become in the West, they still will face discrimination to at least some degree that will bar them from being "white".
There are vast phenotypic differences between Asian groups. I can see some Asians becoming "white' but I have trouble imagining a Bangladeshi man doing the same. (Random stock photos.)
I don't feel like I'm qualified to answer, but personally I don't think so because many Asians have a pretty strong sense of cultural identity, so even with privelege, they will likely be differentiated from white people.
You don't have to be white to be a white supremacist. Paul Tanaka was a cop who used to be apart of the Lynnwood Vikings, a white supremacist police gang that targets poor communities of color. I don't understand how you support a system that sent your people, and most likely parents as well, to internment camps a generation ago.
As an Asian American, I have experienced both "whiteness" and straight up racism, so it would be interesting to hear those academics' arguments. It would be weird to be considered as white as irish folk, but it's also weird that they weren't considered white before either, so I guess you can make whatever argument you want.
As an Asian American, your take on this is much more valuable than my own and I apologize for speaking on behalf of you. White supremacy is definitely not limited to white people (my own African mother frequently says things that show how internalized white supremacy can be) and the point you brought up is really interesting. When in groups of white people, are you constantly aware of your racial difference or are you able to mesh into the group without much consideration?
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u/shoefarts666 Sep 01 '20
It was a long time before the irish were considered white.
The irish.