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I have questioned the narrative of rising anti-Asian hate in the US ever since I read an HN-linked editorial on the subject in a major American newspaper by an

I have questioned the narrative of rising anti-Asian hate in the US ever since I read an HN-linked editorial on the subject in a major American newspaper by an Asian-American, and he included supposed microaggressions in the count of hateful actions against Asians. For example, noticing that someone has a relatively uncommon surname in North America (like Nguyen) and asking if that someone was related to someone else they knew with the same surname, was, according to him, microaggressive. This felt like such a reach made in order to claim there was an emergency going on.

hpkuarg 5y ago
I think that counts as a microaggression, in that it's a papercut to someone that builds up over time that a member of the majority culture would not experience (you wouldn't ask a John Smith if they're related to some other Smith). Isn't that what microaggressions are? Something that by itself is innocuous, but when it's the 20th time in a week you're asked the question, it starts being annoying.
- Mediterraneo10 5y ago
  Yet people of the dominant race in the USA with an uncommon surname get asked the same questions, so viewing this as specifically anti-Asian sentiment is, as I said, a reach. Annoying behavior is not necessarily intentionally racist behavior or to be included in a supposedly rising incidence of what is specifically labeled "hate".
  - gsjjsjsbsb 5y ago
    The point of a microaggression is that it's part of the constant pressure of not being part of the "dominant race". You can't do a microaggression to a white person because there's no hierarchy where you're above them to reassert.
    - Mediterraneo10 5y ago
      This is false. The white person may be a member of an ethnicity seen as non-dominant. For example, his surname is unusual because it is typical of Muslim peoples but not for historically Christian whites, as for many immigrants to the USA from the former Yugoslavia or Albania. Yet unless the person asking about the surname is intentionally targeting that ethnicity, the behavior cannot reasonably be called anti-Muslim racism, let alone used as proof of a rising incidence of what is specifically termed "hate".
    - klmadfejno 5y ago
      The problem with Nguyen is that while among white people, it's an uncommon name, among other populations it's INCREDIBLY COMMON, which isn't common knowledge. I think this a pretty negligible example though. Nowhere near as egregious as wondering if people are related because they're just the same race. Hierarchy I don't believe is the right term. The homogeniety of norms is what matter. White women have surely encountered microaggressions. Non-normative white men as well. Honestly everybody differs from the norm in some way. The magnitude and frequency are what make it matter. Someone thinking your last name implies kinship is whatever. Someone thinking you're a secretary because you're a black woman when you're the CEO is a big big problem.
- floren 5y ago
  People mispronounce my last name constantly. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it right the first time, and pretty often they say it wrong even after I correct them. Should this be considered a microaggression? Not a rhetorical question, but an honest inquiry from someone who doesn't tend to think in terms of aggressions/microaggressions
klmadfejno 5y ago
It depends on definitions. Hate crimes against asians are increasing. They're still relatively rare. Are more people becoming anti-asian? Or are the usual suspects just being more vocal in the last gasps of trumpism? Are we able to differentiate anti-asian hate from hostility towards the CCP?

hpkuarg 5y ago

I think that counts as a microaggression, in that it's a papercut to someone that builds up over time that a member of the majority culture would not experience (you wouldn't ask a John Smith if they're related to some other Smith). Isn't that what microaggressions are? Something that by itself is innocuous, but when it's the 20th time in a week you're asked the question, it starts being annoying.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago
Yet people of the dominant race in the USA with an uncommon surname get asked the same questions, so viewing this as specifically anti-Asian sentiment is, as I said, a reach. Annoying behavior is not necessarily intentionally racist behavior or to be included in a supposedly rising incidence of what is specifically labeled "hate".
- gsjjsjsbsb 5y ago
  The point of a microaggression is that it's part of the constant pressure of not being part of the "dominant race". You can't do a microaggression to a white person because there's no hierarchy where you're above them to reassert.
  - Mediterraneo10 5y ago
    This is false. The white person may be a member of an ethnicity seen as non-dominant. For example, his surname is unusual because it is typical of Muslim peoples but not for historically Christian whites, as for many immigrants to the USA from the former Yugoslavia or Albania. Yet unless the person asking about the surname is intentionally targeting that ethnicity, the behavior cannot reasonably be called anti-Muslim racism, let alone used as proof of a rising incidence of what is specifically termed "hate".
  - klmadfejno 5y ago
    The problem with Nguyen is that while among white people, it's an uncommon name, among other populations it's INCREDIBLY COMMON, which isn't common knowledge. I think this a pretty negligible example though. Nowhere near as egregious as wondering if people are related because they're just the same race. Hierarchy I don't believe is the right term. The homogeniety of norms is what matter. White women have surely encountered microaggressions. Non-normative white men as well. Honestly everybody differs from the norm in some way. The magnitude and frequency are what make it matter. Someone thinking your last name implies kinship is whatever. Someone thinking you're a secretary because you're a black woman when you're the CEO is a big big problem.
floren 5y ago
People mispronounce my last name constantly. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it right the first time, and pretty often they say it wrong even after I correct them. Should this be considered a microaggression? Not a rhetorical question, but an honest inquiry from someone who doesn't tend to think in terms of aggressions/microaggressions

klmadfejno 5y ago

It depends on definitions. Hate crimes against asians are increasing. They're still relatively rare. Are more people becoming anti-asian? Or are the usual suspects just being more vocal in the last gasps of trumpism? Are we able to differentiate anti-asian hate from hostility towards the CCP?