Frankly, I think it’s either mental gymnastics from tankies to defend Xi Jinping or someone arriving late to the Xinnie the Pooh meme and assuming it has its origins in yellow = Chinese, Chinese = Xi Jinping.
Here’s some reading on the topic I just did to confirm I had it right and you had it wrong:
I’ve read the wiki page, but thanks for linking it again. The fact that the meme originated in China, but spread like wildfire in the west, needs to be examined. Xi Jinping is incredibly popular in China, legitimately so. A picture comparing Xi to Winnie and Obama to Tigger showed up online. There wasn’t mass protest against Xi Jinping or anything.
What then exploded was western usage of the meme, beyond its origins, and in a new context. Largely among the anti-communist right, vile depictions and distortions of Xi Jinping began to take place, creating a racialized caricature. By this point the meme faded away near entirely in China, and instead became a symbol of hatred towards Xi Jinping in particular and the PRC in general in the west.
The western obsession with depicting Xi Jinping as a yellow bear is what is racist, and hiding behind the fact that the first iteration of the meme came from China, before it became distorted by the west, is a “get out of jail free” card for racists. It isn’t only communists that can correctly identify this, marginalized groups that have been caricaturized by westerners can also see this easily.
Strange that you say I “linked it again” considering I linked it one time. Anyway,
Americans/westerners love shitting on communism; it’s generally not a racism issue. I think you know that, but you’re again doing tankie mental gymnastics to defend Xi Jinping/the CCP.
Is it possible some people use it for racist reasons? Absolutely.
I just don’t think it’s that deep for the vast majority of people who use the meme. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say the use of it at all is inherently racist as you did and continue to do.
Signed,
Someone who thinks the meme is funny because it pisses off tankies and literally never made the potential racism connection that Winnie the Pooh had yellow fur until today.
You sound like you have the privilege of being white and not having to deal with racism. Being anti-communist and being racist tend to have much overlap. I have been racially abused and heard more orientalist nonsense then you could even imagine during my brief stint on Reddit and from many people from anti-communist instances such as the one you post from.
You sound like you have the privilege of being white and not having to deal with racism.
I’m definitely not Asian so I definitely have the privilege of forgetting that for a lot of people yellow = Asian and Asian = yellow, that’s true.
Being anti-communist and being racist tend to have much overlap.
No, but it totally tracks that you’re pushing tankie propaganda with what looks like a Mandarin username from @lemmy.ml
I have been racially abused and heard more orientalist nonsense then you could even imagine during my brief stint on Reddit and from many people from anti-communist instances such as the one you post from.
I believe it, and that’s tragic, but it doesn’t logically follow that because some people are racist against Asians, Xinnie the Pooh must therefore be a racist meme. Again, you guys are stretching to fit your narrative.
Saying you don’t think there’s a major overlap between anti-communists and racists and then following that up directly with a racist jab is enlightening.
I said “again” as in I had seen it before and you gave me a chance to revisit it and confirm I’m correct.
As for Statesians loving to shit on communism, this is correct. Statesians are also wildly racist, and usually combine the two. Orientalism runs deep, and as such depictions of Eastern socialism usually involve deep degrees of racial caricature. Other vile memes involve depicting Chinese people as “bugmen” and as a “hive-mind,” which combines racist views of Asians with anti-communism. I’m sure you know this, you’re just refusing to see it because it’s uncomfortable to admit after you defended a racist caricature.
If you just learned about why Chinese people view the meme as racist, why not just change your views? Is your anti-communist thrill so great as to prevent you from growing as a person? That’s a rhetorical question, you don’t need to answer. I just recommend you reflect, rather than deflect.
I said “again” as in I had seen it before and you gave me a chance to revisit it and confirm I’m correct.
No, that would be “I’ve read the wiki page again, thanks for linking it” or even “Thanks for linking it, I read it again but I’ve read it before.” You wrote “I’ve read the wiki page, but thanks for linking it again.” Given your bad faith argument tactics elsewhere I don’t know if I’m helping you learn English or smacking you across the face with your bad faith, but take it in the spirit that you deserve.
Statesians are also wildly racist, and usually combine the two.
No. People in the US are - on average - much less racist than most corners of the world, especially including your precious China - notoriously xenophobic and currently in the process of purging their least favorite minorities like the Uighurs.
Orientalism runs deep, and as such depictions of Eastern socialism usually involve deep degrees of racial caricature. Other vile memes involve depicting Chinese people as “bugmen” and as a “hive-mind,” which combines racist views of Asians with anti-communism.
All true and all irrelevant to your accusation of Xinnie the Pooh being a racist meme.
I’m sure you know this, you’re just refusing to see it because it’s uncomfortable to admit after you defended a racist caricature.
Again: I see it just fine, it’s just not relevant to this discussion.
If I said: You are currently being racist against black people because minstrel shows, lynchings, segregation, etc. exist(ed), does that make any sense? Would accusing you of “refusing to see them” because you didn’t proactively come out against them make any sense? Of course not.
If you just learned about why Chinese people view the meme as racist, why not just change your views?
I already told you my view changed to a new, more factual position. I’m simply not leaping to the BS that you’re trying so hard to push.
No bad-faith on my part, I explained exactly what I meant by saying you linked it for me again. Again, meaning it has been linked for me many times by different people, not you in particular. This is grammatically correct, but you’re using it as a springboard to pretend I can’t speak English well or that I’m bad-faith.
As for the US, it’s a settler-colonial, genocidal empire. It is far more racist than China, which has strong minority protections. This is you, again, being orientalist and revealing your racism. For example, you make false claims of genocide towards Uyghur peoples.
The best and most comprehensive resource I have seen so far is Qiao Collective’s Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation. Qiao Collective is a group of Chinese diaspora living in the west, and they compiled an extremely comprehensive write-up of the entire background of the events, the timeline of reports, and real and fake claims. The majority of their sourcing is western, and they cite official Chinese government writing and white papers when relevant. Uyghur culture is preserved.
The vast majority of the population supports their government, actually, because they are treated very well. Over 90% of the population supports the CPC. NIRA data’s latest polling found China to be one of the more comprehensively democratic countries in the world as seen by its own population:
In other words, you’re digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourself and doubling down on your orientalist views. It isn’t enough for you to defend racist caricatures, you have to project the undeniable racism of the US Empire onto China, using your orientalist views as reason to believe atrocity propaganda.
Why are you doing this? Are you just being racist to get a reaction from people?
How is it racist?
It’s definitely a Whataboutism but… I don’t see any racism here.
You don’t see how depicting an Asian man as a yellow bear is racist?
Considering the meme originates in China, no.
Frankly, I think it’s either mental gymnastics from tankies to defend Xi Jinping or someone arriving late to the Xinnie the Pooh meme and assuming it has its origins in yellow = Chinese, Chinese = Xi Jinping.
Here’s some reading on the topic I just did to confirm I had it right and you had it wrong:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Winnie-the-Pooh_in_China#Comparisons_between_Xi_Jinping_and_Winnie-the-Pooh
I’ve read the wiki page, but thanks for linking it again. The fact that the meme originated in China, but spread like wildfire in the west, needs to be examined. Xi Jinping is incredibly popular in China, legitimately so. A picture comparing Xi to Winnie and Obama to Tigger showed up online. There wasn’t mass protest against Xi Jinping or anything.
What then exploded was western usage of the meme, beyond its origins, and in a new context. Largely among the anti-communist right, vile depictions and distortions of Xi Jinping began to take place, creating a racialized caricature. By this point the meme faded away near entirely in China, and instead became a symbol of hatred towards Xi Jinping in particular and the PRC in general in the west.
The western obsession with depicting Xi Jinping as a yellow bear is what is racist, and hiding behind the fact that the first iteration of the meme came from China, before it became distorted by the west, is a “get out of jail free” card for racists. It isn’t only communists that can correctly identify this, marginalized groups that have been caricaturized by westerners can also see this easily.
Strange that you say I “linked it again” considering I linked it one time. Anyway,
Americans/westerners love shitting on communism; it’s generally not a racism issue. I think you know that, but you’re again doing tankie mental gymnastics to defend Xi Jinping/the CCP.
Is it possible some people use it for racist reasons? Absolutely.
I just don’t think it’s that deep for the vast majority of people who use the meme. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say the use of it at all is inherently racist as you did and continue to do.
Signed,
Someone who thinks the meme is funny because it pisses off tankies and literally never made the potential racism connection that Winnie the Pooh had yellow fur until today.
You sound like you have the privilege of being white and not having to deal with racism. Being anti-communist and being racist tend to have much overlap. I have been racially abused and heard more orientalist nonsense then you could even imagine during my brief stint on Reddit and from many people from anti-communist instances such as the one you post from.
I’m definitely not Asian so I definitely have the privilege of forgetting that for a lot of people yellow = Asian and Asian = yellow, that’s true.
No, but it totally tracks that you’re pushing tankie propaganda with what looks like a Mandarin username from @lemmy.ml
I believe it, and that’s tragic, but it doesn’t logically follow that because some people are racist against Asians, Xinnie the Pooh must therefore be a racist meme. Again, you guys are stretching to fit your narrative.
Saying you don’t think there’s a major overlap between anti-communists and racists and then following that up directly with a racist jab is enlightening.
I said “again” as in I had seen it before and you gave me a chance to revisit it and confirm I’m correct.
As for Statesians loving to shit on communism, this is correct. Statesians are also wildly racist, and usually combine the two. Orientalism runs deep, and as such depictions of Eastern socialism usually involve deep degrees of racial caricature. Other vile memes involve depicting Chinese people as “bugmen” and as a “hive-mind,” which combines racist views of Asians with anti-communism. I’m sure you know this, you’re just refusing to see it because it’s uncomfortable to admit after you defended a racist caricature.
If you just learned about why Chinese people view the meme as racist, why not just change your views? Is your anti-communist thrill so great as to prevent you from growing as a person? That’s a rhetorical question, you don’t need to answer. I just recommend you reflect, rather than deflect.
No, that would be “I’ve read the wiki page again, thanks for linking it” or even “Thanks for linking it, I read it again but I’ve read it before.” You wrote “I’ve read the wiki page, but thanks for linking it again.” Given your bad faith argument tactics elsewhere I don’t know if I’m helping you learn English or smacking you across the face with your bad faith, but take it in the spirit that you deserve.
No. People in the US are - on average - much less racist than most corners of the world, especially including your precious China - notoriously xenophobic and currently in the process of purging their least favorite minorities like the Uighurs.
All true and all irrelevant to your accusation of Xinnie the Pooh being a racist meme.
Again: I see it just fine, it’s just not relevant to this discussion.
If I said: You are currently being racist against black people because minstrel shows, lynchings, segregation, etc. exist(ed), does that make any sense? Would accusing you of “refusing to see them” because you didn’t proactively come out against them make any sense? Of course not.
I already told you my view changed to a new, more factual position. I’m simply not leaping to the BS that you’re trying so hard to push.
No bad-faith on my part, I explained exactly what I meant by saying you linked it for me again. Again, meaning it has been linked for me many times by different people, not you in particular. This is grammatically correct, but you’re using it as a springboard to pretend I can’t speak English well or that I’m bad-faith.
As for the US, it’s a settler-colonial, genocidal empire. It is far more racist than China, which has strong minority protections. This is you, again, being orientalist and revealing your racism. For example, you make false claims of genocide towards Uyghur peoples.
The best and most comprehensive resource I have seen so far is Qiao Collective’s Xinjiang: A Resource and Report Compilation. Qiao Collective is a group of Chinese diaspora living in the west, and they compiled an extremely comprehensive write-up of the entire background of the events, the timeline of reports, and real and fake claims. The majority of their sourcing is western, and they cite official Chinese government writing and white papers when relevant. Uyghur culture is preserved.
I also recommend reading the UN report as well as (especially) China’s response to it, which eclipses it in size and detail. These are the most relevant accusations and responses without delving into straight up fantasy like Adrian Zenz, Christian nationalist and professional propagandist for the Victims of Communism Foundation, does. Zenz’ work has been thoroughly discredited, yet is supported by western media for its utility in fearmongering. An example is lying about 8.7% of new IUDs as 80%, to back up claims of “forced sterilization,” from this chart:
The vast majority of the population supports their government, actually, because they are treated very well. Over 90% of the population supports the CPC. NIRA data’s latest polling found China to be one of the more comprehensively democratic countries in the world as seen by its own population:
In other words, you’re digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourself and doubling down on your orientalist views. It isn’t enough for you to defend racist caricatures, you have to project the undeniable racism of the US Empire onto China, using your orientalist views as reason to believe atrocity propaganda.