“Indians are not Asians”
*Trigger Warning* Racism, Han supremacy, Hinduphobia, white supremacy, anti-Blackness
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”.
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.
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?
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 all the same or are there diversities, racial differences, separate tribes, historical divisions, etc?
How are Indians treated in Malaysia, Ronny’s country of origin?
Are there people in the world who Ronny would think are “Asian” who are in fact Indian?
Why aren’t Europeans called Asians even though there’s literally no physical barrier dividing Europe from Asia?
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.
India, therefore, is actually a separate continent. Indians are not Asian.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.