I've been seeing a lot of sentiments about Ada going around, along the lines of "she is incapable of love" or that "she'd sell her child to the highest bidder" if she had one, and I would like to tap the sign and remind everyone that saying things like that are actually micro aggressions, specifically micro aggressions against Asian people.
And I know there are probably a lot of you who are sitting behind your computer screens groaning about how "not everything is about race" and that "it's okay to dislike characters you don't have to make it a moral competition". First, I think maybe you should evaluate why that's your first reaction to people calling out racism and prejudice. Second, the "incapable of emotions" sentiment that I've see numerous times, has historically been used to dehumanize Asian people.
This stereotype has been around since before I was even born, and I grew up understanding that this was my reality, that this is how some people would unfortunately perceive me, simply because of where I was born and how I looked. It makes us akin to robots and machines, incapable of compassion and empathy. Treating us like we are all the same, with no individuality. It strips us of our humanity, which makes it easier to then strip us of our rights. Taking away our humanity makes us easier targets of abuse and harassment, because if we are incapable of compassion and empathy, then we are undeserving of them back. Because if we are not seen as human anyway, then we will not feel the hatred from our peers, or the hurt that comes with it.
It treats us as a perpetual foreigner, forcing us into believing that we will never be accepted in the west, and pushing this narrative that we will never truly belong here. This goes hand in hand with asking "where are you really from?", because while it may seem harmless to you, notice how people of color, specifically in the United States as that where I live and have experience with, are generally the only people who get asked that question right off the bat. Because people already don't see us as belonging here, as citizens, and this stereotype only reinforces that.
Not to mention that it perpetuates the model minority myth, which not only harms the asian community, but it is also used to cause harm towards other racially marginalized communities. It is used to compare us to other races, to promote this narrative that other communities of color, namely the black community, are "lazy" and "a problem", and that we are all "equal", so if they just "work harder", they can climb the ladder of success and overcome these stereotypes, which isn't true. We all know anti blackness runs rampantly unchecked in non black communities, and that this is not a matter of work ethic, but of racism, colorism, and classism. It is used to pit us all against each other in order to keep solidarity among marginalized communities at a minimum, just so they can retain the current status quo, in which white people are the sole beneficiaries and white supremacy prevails.
I'm not saying that if you've said this, you're a bad person. What I am saying, is that you need to be very careful about what you say when in reference to people of color and marginalized communities. Though your intention may not be to cause harm, the things you say still can, and that creates a space for people, who DO intend to cause harm, to feel comfortable spewing their hatred and bigotry. I always remind people, the impact of your words and actions trump your intentions. It might sound harsh, but just because you didn't have ill intentions, does not mean you didn't hurt someone. Ada may be just pixels on a screen, but we are not. We are real people with real feelings.
