“Indians are not Asians”
*Trigger Warning* Racism, Han supremacy, Hinduphobia, white supremacy, anti-Blackness
Screenshot Image description: A screenshot of the Daily Show were a Malaysian Chinese man wearing a grey suit stands before a screen that shows a picture of an British Indian man wearing a blue suit. Caption on the bottom of the picture reads: “Indians are not Asians, OK?”
Ronny Chieng recently got in trouble for his Daily Show skit talking about how Rishi Sunak isn’t “Asian” and Ronny doesn’t feel “represented” by Rishi because “Indians aren’t Asians”.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Daily Show reads: Don't call Rishi Sunak the UK's first Asian PM in front of @ronnychieng. Below that is a vidio of Ronny’s skit on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Caption video reads: “Indians are not Asians, OK?”
Trevor Noah giggled along as Ronny said these things, right there on stage and on camera. The audience roared with laughter. Click on the tweet to watch.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Binyizdabbalah in black font on a white background reads: “If all the parochial Americans blarting on this thread could see how it really does *not* look positive. It's the sort of stuff you'd expect to hear from someone in a MAGA hat. And yet its the Daily Show. Wow.”
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Jibbs in black font on a white background reads: “You've done a racism lads”.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Rajiv R Shay DO DABR in black font on a white background reads: “@ronnychieng just revealed mainstream Chinese racism to #Indians in Malaysia and Singapore, and @Trevornoah from the @TheDailyShow is on board if he thinks an Apu accent is still funny”.
Now ask yourself these very important questions:
How big is the continent of Asia?
Why does Ronny think only people who look like him are “Asian”?
Is the cultural and ethnic background of everyone in China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, etc., the same or are there diversities, racial differences, specific tribes, historical divisions, etc?
How are Indians treated in Malaysia, where Ronny Chieng comes from?
Why aren’t Europeans called Asians even though there’s literally no physical barrier dividing Europe from the rest of Asia?
Are you starting to see what I mean when I say that “Asian” and “South Asian” labels are a racist colonizer divide and conquer tactic?
So how big is the continent of Asia?
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from The Left Honourable Xian Indigo in black font on a white background reads: “This is pretty embarrassing, honestly.”
Why does Ronny think only people who look like him are “Asian”?
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from 地獄ケーキ(Hokusaist) in black font on a white background reads: “The Daily Show throwing in for Han supremacy is an interesting strategy. Let's see how it plays out.”
Is the cultural and ethnic background of everyone in China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea etc all the same or are there diversities, racial differences, separate tribes, historical divisions, etc?
Screenshot Image description: Title at the top reads in black font on white background: The 55 minority groups in China. Beneath that are colorful pictures of people in different tradition dress all holding a phone up to their ear. Each dress is distinct in color and design and way of wearing. There are many different hats, beads, embroidery. There are also diverse racial features with some lighter skinned and some darker skinned.
Screenshot Image description: A picture of 5 women each wearing the traditional dress of their ethnic background. They are all holding the Malaysian flag. Woman on far left is wearing a type of Indian dress that is a pink red color. Woman on far right is wearing a type of Chinese dress that is a light blue. The three women in the middle are wearing different types of Malay dress that are red and yellow with silver headdress, black and white with red/yellow/gold stripes, and dark burgundy red with gold headdress respectively.
How are Indians treated in Malaysia, Ronny’s country of origin?
Screenshot Image description: A picture of a group of dark skinned Indians crouched outside on the road in the pouring rain. Their heads are bowed and they are yelling something. Most of them are barefoot. Caption below picture reads: “Ethnic Indian Malaysian protesting in 2007.” Some of them have their hands raised with palms pressed together as if in prayer or Namaste.
Screenshot Image description: A picture of an older dark skinned woman wearing a white and blue sari and a bindi on her forehead. She is carrying an umbrella and some bags and walking alone down the street. Lighter skinned people walk around her or stand further away. Caption below picture reads: “People from Africa and South Asia often struggle with racism in Malaysia.”
Are there people in the world who Ronny would think are “Asian” who are in fact Indian?
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Anonymous Punjab in black font on a white background reads: “The following people are Indian - what’s your problem Ronny?” Below that is a video of Temjen Imna Along with his hair tied up in a bun on the top of his head, wearing a pink shirt and a red scarf. He is the Minister of Higher Education & Tribal Affairs in the Indian state of Nagaland.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Dr. Prashant Meshram in black font on a white background reads: “6 times boxing world champion MC Mary Kom. *Indian*” Below that is a picture of Mary Kom wearing boxing gloves and a tank top with her hair tied up in a ponytail.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Tara in black font on a white background reads: “Ronny would certainly blend right in, in a B'wd movie. A huge part of our population look like East Asians (myself included). May I present one of the greatest actors in the industry - Danny Dengzongpa!!” Below that are pictures of Danny from various decades. Left picture shows Danny wearing a blue sleeveless shirt, a moustache, and a longer hair style fashionable in the 70s. Top right, Danny is in a dark suit with shorter hair and crows feet wrinkles. Bottom right, is a black and white picture of Danny smiling broadly, in a striped collar shirt.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from भ्राता~भानु in black font on a white background reads: “The population of North eastern states in India is 45 million. 9 times that of puny little Singapore”.
Why aren’t Europeans called Asians even though there’s literally no physical barrier dividing Europe from Asia?
Screenshot Image description: A map showing the Euroasian tectonic plate that encompassed Europe, Russia, Persia, Mongolia, and most of China.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Fred I. Lee in black font on a white background reads: “Eh, in reality, there is no such thing as Asia. It's Eurasia. Please look at a map.”
Europe is considered a separate continent from Asia purely because of white supremacy. That’s it. Meanwhile, different European countries get to maintain their own identities. Greeks are called Greeks and French are called French and Germans are called Germans and Ukrainians are called Ukrainians. Italians are called Italians. Spanish are called Spanish. Dutch are called Dutch. Belgians are called Belgians. And on and on, no matter how tiny and insignificant their country might seem. They celebrate their national identity and don’t erase that identity by referring to themselves as only European.
Are you starting to see what I mean when I say that the terms “Asian” and “South Asian” are a racist colonizer divide and conquer tactic? They are designed to erase Indigenous identities.
India, meanwhile, does have a gigantic physical barrier separating it physically and culturally from the Asian continent. It’s called the Himalayan mountain range, which only exists because India is on India’s own tectonic plate that moved upwards and crashed into the Euroasian plate. Look at the map.
Screenshot Image description: A map showing the different tectonic plates around the world and how they are what designates the different continents. North America is on its own plate. South America is on its own plate. Africa is on its own plate. Australia is on its own plate. Antarctica is on its own plate. Euroasia is on its own plate. India is on a separate plate called the Indian plate. There is also an Arabian plate and and a Philippine plate.
India, therefore, is actually a separate continent. Indians are not Asian.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Anton in black font on a white background reads: “The very unscientific way we have decided to categorise the Human race as a result of European colonialism is ridiculous enough but how America does it takes to a whole new heights.”
This is why I’ve been saying all along that we need to drop this term “South Asian”. That and the term “Asian” were created by white supremacist colonizers for a white supremacist agenda. They mean literally nothing and yet mean so many racist things at the same time.
Indians are not “Asian” or “South Asians” because the term makes no sense and never will. Call Indians Indian, Pakistanis Pakistani, Bangladeshis Bangladeshi, Nepalis Nepali, Sri Lankans Sri Lankan, Chinese Chinese, Japanese Japanese, Koreans Korean, Malaysians Malaysian and so on. It’s really simple. Call people what they are. If you don’t know what they are, ask. If they say “South Asian”, ask them what country. If they say “Asian”, ask them what country. It’s really simple. Find out what someone actually is before you decide whether or not they “represent” you.
Some Indians will be specific and say “I’m an Indian Gujarati”, or “I’m an Indian Hindu Punjabi”, or “I’m an Indian Jain”, or “I’m an Indian Tamil Hindu”. That’s great too because they’re being specific and they’re proud of their community as they should be. This is a really important point.
Notice who wants to be called “Asian” or “South Asian”. Ask them why they prefer that term to their nation of origin. The answer will disturb you. It’s because they’re ashamed of their nation of origin. They’re so colonized in their hearts and minds that they will fight hard for that “Asian” label because they’re terrified of being called by their nation of origin. Self identified “South Asians” also hate being called Indian because they’re Hinduphobic.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from AN in black font on a white background reads: “Do they know there is more than one country in south ASIA? I don’t think everyone in south Asia want to be classed as ‘Indian’. It’s like calling everyone in east Asia ‘Chinese’….”
Non-colonized Indians aren’t ashamed of their nation of origin at all. They want to be called Indian and always have. That’s why they fight the “Asian” label.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Prem Janardhan in black font on a white background reads: “Indians usually don’t like being called “South Asian” either.”
Indians aren’t the only ones who feel this way. Other people are also tired of the “Asian” label but they fall into the exact divide and conquer trap I’m talking about.
Screenshot Image description: Tweet from Oxilodls in black font on a white background reads: “it’s why i never believed in asian solidarity. i might be asian in the american census, in geography but it doesn’t matter. in the u.s nobody thinks of me as asian so why should i have asian solidarity. split up the continent, dead europeans made it up and it’s not reality.”
Meanwhile, Trevor Noah got into trouble for talking about the racist backlash to Rishi Sunak becoming the UK’s first Asian PM. Trevor Noah said this, totally ignorant of how his own show was propagating the racist backlash.
Screenshot Image description: Headline in black font on white background reads: “Trevor Noah slammed for saying Rishi Sunak faced ‘racist backlash’ after becoming UK’s new PM”.
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak doesn’t represent Ronny Cheug or anyone else and he was never going to. The Prime Minister of the UK represents big business just like every other politician in the Global North. Those in power will never represent marginalized people. This is true even if that politician comes from a marginalized identity like Rishi Sunak who is a British Hindu of Indian Punjabi origin who’s family arrived in Britain via African countries due to colonialism. He’s also extremely rich mostly due to his wife’s heiress status. Before that, his parents were in the medical field with his father being an NHS doctor and his mother running a pharmacy. Does the term “Asian” explain the complexity of Rishi’s racial, ethnic, religious, class, and political identity? Not at all. Does “Asian” explain to you Rishi’s allegiance to the oligarchy? Not at all.
Ronny Chieng and the Daily Show and the Daily Show audience are showing how racist and Hinduphobic they are and also, PM Rishi Sunak isn’t Asian.