The Problem with Apu | Racial Experiences in America
On Twitter, I noticed a major type of objection to the points The Problem with Apu made: the documentary amounted to an Indian or South Asian American comedian complaining that the fictional Simpsons character mocked his father. Yes, that is literally what it is but that reduction is almost a strawman of the entire argument. It conveniently leaves out why this is so impactful.
The documentary illustrates how that mockery has negatively impacted his life. Not only his life but the lives of his family and other Indian Americans! If you think the comedian is too sensitive to jokes, how do you explain the other actors who confirmed the sentiment? At what point does a collective experience become a phenomenon? Or a cultural observation? How many people have to come together before this poor representation is considered a problem?
For racists, it's never about taking the issue seriously enough to listen and learn. If you're not in this demographic, then you don't have the life experience of said demographic. You can't write off their collective feelings as baseless opinions when you can't personally verify it. The compassionate thing to do is to consider it as an informed opinion and empathize as much as you can. If you can't empathize or learn, then ask! Discuss your questions and concerns (in a respectful manner because it is not someone else's job to educate you; it's yours) with an open mind. American society treats people based on appearance, race included; life is not the same for everyone. No one expects you to inherently know that, but I expect you to be humble enough to admit when you don't know.
*Apologies for the poor audio in the first half of the video. I filmed in the car, with open windows, on a windy day. D'oh!
The documentary illustrates how that mockery has negatively impacted his life. Not only his life but the lives of his family and other Indian Americans! If you think the comedian is too sensitive to jokes, how do you explain the other actors who confirmed the sentiment? At what point does a collective experience become a phenomenon? Or a cultural observation? How many people have to come together before this poor representation is considered a problem?
For racists, it's never about taking the issue seriously enough to listen and learn. If you're not in this demographic, then you don't have the life experience of said demographic. You can't write off their collective feelings as baseless opinions when you can't personally verify it. The compassionate thing to do is to consider it as an informed opinion and empathize as much as you can. If you can't empathize or learn, then ask! Discuss your questions and concerns (in a respectful manner because it is not someone else's job to educate you; it's yours) with an open mind. American society treats people based on appearance, race included; life is not the same for everyone. No one expects you to inherently know that, but I expect you to be humble enough to admit when you don't know.
*Apologies for the poor audio in the first half of the video. I filmed in the car, with open windows, on a windy day. D'oh!
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