Is this really something we need to protest?
CVK
UPDATE: Great background piece about McGee’s artwork and the genesis of this caricature from Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot. Check it. Thanks as always are due to the prolific Angry Asian Man!
There’s an interesting debate brewing in Asian-American circles over a new limited-edition Adidas sneaker named the Y1 HUF. On the tongue of the sneaker appears an image of an Asian man with bowl-cut hair, slanted eyes, pig nose and buck teeth–basically your typical racist caricature.
Now, the anti-Adidas email campaigns have started already, but this issue isn’t as cut and dried as it appears. Oliver from Poplicks.com explains:
This limited edition Adidas shoe was created by graffiti artist Barry McGee aka Twist. He is half-Chinese and moreover, has used Asian caricatures in his past artwork not out of spite or self-loathing, but rather, a subversive statement of self-identity and racial prodding. In fact, this kind of retasking of stereotype is frequent in Asian American art and cinema; it’s a form of detournement.
So basically, the caricature is used by the artist to critique racism–not perpetuate it. Now I will admit that if a huge corporation like Adidas slaps this picture on a sneaker without providing any type of context, it can be problematic. Because I doubt that most sneakerheads are going to take the time to research the background of the artist and the significance of the image.
But is this really such an important fight? I gotta say that Oliver brings up a great point:
Asian Americans, politically speaking, need to expend as energy on issues of urgent social justice import rather than getting perpetually hung up on the issue of negative images/stereotypes.
I know Jeff Chang had a similar point to make a few years back, over the “Tsunami Song” debacle, and it bears repeating: in principle, yes, fighting stereotypes has a political, progressive purpose. However, on the grand scale of social justice issues, it feels like our community becomes disproportionately caught up on fighting stereotypes when much of that rigor and passion might be more usefully expended elsewhere.
Obviously the very existence of this blog proves that I believe in the power of media images–both positive and negative. But even I wonder if the Asian-American activist groups sometimes misdirect their efforts. As Oliver points out, it’s a bit strange that people are more enthused about protesting this sneaker than they are about opposing the HR 4437 immigration bill. And even within the realm of media representations–why are we picking the easy battles (sneakers and racist shock jocks) over what in my mind are more important ones, like the depictions of Asians in Crash? Is it that we can only see racism when it involves ching chong accents and racial slurs but don’t notice it when it’s even slightly more subtle?
Ben wrote:
well parsed.
minority communities are well advised to pick our battles carefully, lest we continue to earn a reputation for crying “wolf.”
Posted 12 Apr 2006 at 9:47 am ¶
anonymous wrote:
I like these excerpts from Oliver’s post:
Asian Americans, politically speaking, need to expend as energy on issues of urgent social justice import rather than getting perpetually hung up on the issue of negative images/stereotypes…I know Jeff Chang had a similar point to make a few years back, over the “Tsunami Song” debacle, and it bears repeating: in principle, yes, fighting stereotypes has a political, progressive purpose. However, on the grand scale of social justice issues, it feels like our community becomes disproportionately caught up on fighting stereotypes when much of that rigor and passion might be more usefully expended elsewhere…For example, I have yet to receive an email blast asking me to write to my political representatives about opposing the HR 4437 immigration bill (though I do not doubt, for a moment, that there are many Asian American organizers working to oppose this legislation). Nor do you often see the same kind of grassroots campaigns being circulated on the internet to draw attention to environmental justice issues affecting low income neighborhoods near polluting industries…In an ideal world, you shouldn’t have to choose but in a world of realpolitik, it’s important to choose your battles wisely. Believe me, there are times when I think people should be rightfully indignant over how Native American imagery is caricatured on sports logos, especially given the saturation of those images nationally…But with this Y1 Huf debate…what are we protesting exactly? It’s a limited edition shoe, destined to only be bought be a few hundred people, designed by an Asian American artist known for subtly subversive work, and located on a part of the shoe that most people will never see. How does this really merit anyone’s outrage considering all there is to be outraged in our nation and world today?…Despite appearances, I’m not trying to single out this campaign for scorn or ridicule. Rather, I’m trying to draw attention to a far larger tradition within Asian American activism that I think really needs to be rethought, especially in these dire times. The need for social justice campaigns that deal with 1) issues of multi-racial import and 2) issues that materially - rather than just symbolically - affect people and families, has rarely been greater in our contemporary history. Let’s not get caught, staring at our feet…Negative images are important (clearly) but I have a wider hope that, as a community, we don’t invest ALL our time in fighting this one area and end up neglecting other important battles that need dedication and focus too.
Posted 13 Apr 2006 at 1:40 am ¶