Hi. I was pretty young and not on twitter when 1d was at the peak so I wasn't aware of the racism that zayn faced. I'm still struggling to unlearn my dislike for desi stuff that for me came from growing up around judgemental auntie culture (rip), so can you tell me how zayn was disrespected and discriminated against if you don't mind. don't worry if you don't want to get into it. Thanks!
Hello, I want to start this off by saying everyone should always be actively trying to unlearn discriminatory behavior. Often times we face this from our own communities because of internalized hate - so I wish you luck on your journey. As a society and individuals who make up society - our goal should be working towards becoming more tolerable/acceptable and appreciative of others so that inequities and injustices will no longer be obstacles we have to face.
That being said I’m putting the answer under the cut.
Zayn was called a terrorist multiple times while he was in 1D and after:
In 2017, Uma Kompton released a track called “Zayn did 9/11″ which had the phrase “Zayn did 9/11” on a continuous loop. This song just got taken down from Spotify – not sure why it took 3 years for some action to be taken but this is truly insulting to the Muslim community and Zayn.
During one concert someone brought a sign that said “die terrorist” with Zayn’s name written on the bottom.
Bill M*her made this comment on live TV after Zayn left the band: “Just tell me two things Zayn. Which one of the band were you? “And where were you during the Boston marathon?” essentially trying to link Zayn to the Boston marathon bomber. I want to know in what world that’s okay? It’s disgusting.
The Daily show also made some comment linking One Direction to terrorism. This was said in 2014: “Just as you were talking, a new terrorist group has formed, with one member each from ISIS, Al Nusra, Al Qaeda, Hamas, One Direction and the Zetas drug cartel." - this comment made fans furious because it was said under the assumption that the member from 1D they are talking about is Zayn even though the daily show claims that no one member is mentioned by name.
Here’s some stuff people have said that were disrespectful and stem from discrimination.
Matt L*uer: In November 2014, 1D made an appearance on the Today show on and Zayn was unable to show up because he was sick. The Host Matt L*uer asked where he was and even after being told they (1D) found out in the morning that Zayn had a stomach bug - he still went on to push and ask “..Is it something more serious than just a minor illness? There have been rumors of substance abuse. What's going on?"
First of all none of that is his business. Second of all (even though the reason doesn’t really matter) Zayn was sick, so he didn’t come. Would he have asked this if this was about one of the other boys? If he had it would come from a place of concern instead of a place of prying AND is he asking because Zayn is the only mixed person in the group? He just further pushed the stereotype that POC have substance abuse problems onto Zayn.
2. In 2015 Ben Baller tweeted these in a row:
The Middle-Eastern dude from One Direction is here at our table and he knows every Drake lyric. It's time for me to exit this club
@ EliWehbe and I've chilled with dude several times and always forget his name lol. I only know Liam because I made him jewels.
To which Zayn responded"@BENBALLER people like you just born racist aye .. Confused.com as to why your such a pr***?"
Apparently they’ve resolved this? But I’m not sure why someone would tweet out like this (generalize someone based on appearance) and then continue to go on to say that they have hung out with this person multiple times but still don’t know their name... You don’t know their name, but you still want to tweet about them? For what? Clout?
After March 2015 lots of people (white girls) were making videos dissing Zayn - idk if you wanna call them ot4 fans or whatever but you can just call them xenophobic
Disrespect from his Bandmates/Management
During MITAM promo when asked what was the hardest part of going from five to four [members] Harry answered “the paperwork” idk if this was a defense mechanism or what but that just seems off putting.
During a concert in 2015 a fan threw a cardboard cutout of Zayn’s face on stage and harry kicked it off.
In some press conference/interview in 2015 after Zayn left Louis said something along the lines of we don’t need him/we’re better off without him – again not sure if this was his hurt being displayed as nonchalance or if he was trying to show that he doesn’t care but still hurtful and insulting especially to someone you’ve known for years. (side bar: no one can forget the infamous zouis twitter fight)
Most recently the Ringo comment harry pulled on his appearance of SNL was very shady and also unnecessary. He really could have went his whole monologue without that joke, but he made the executive decision to put it in there. This and above mentions are probably why Zayn has said that the members of 1D have made snide comments about him after he left.
In Zayn’s 2016 “Complex” interview he revealed that there were certain restrictions in terms of the way that they (1D) could come outside of that “young teen boy look”. Specifically, in regards to his beard this is what he said:
“honestly. I wasn’t allowed to keep it. Eventually, when I got older, I rebelled against it, and decided to keep it anyway. That was just because I looked older than the rest of them. That’s one of the things that is now quite cool. I get to keep my beard. I also wanted to dye my hair when I was in the band, but I wasn’t allowed to”
There is something about telling a Muslim man that he can’t keep his beard that's very.. Islamophobic... did they fear that he would look more muslim or desi? Maybe it really was because they didn’t want the band members looking too old - but taking everything about the world today into context I can’t say for sure. I would hope if anything it really is because they still wanted 1D to appeal to a younger demographic.
Something I think about a lot these days was how Zayn was surrounded by a majority of white people in his group and management. To my knowledge, the only person I can think of that was working with him directly and wasn’t white was Caroline Watson, their stylist. This makes me believe that there was less of a chance for diversity/POC visibility/his voice to be heard in their group. It’s possible that that’s a reason he felt unheard in his band. It’s saddening that you can visibly see him getting quieter and less expressive in interviews and I often wonder if that’s because he felt like that was a way to protect himself from vitriol he would get by simply existing as a Muslim mixed man of color.
Recently, in the Rolling stones article that was released for 1D’s 10 year anniversary Julian Bunetta (songwriter/producer) stated that Zayn played him “Pillowtalk” and a few other songs at 3 a.m. in a hotel room in Japan. To which he further commented that Zayn’s songs were:
“Fucking amazing,” he says. “They were fucking awesome. I know creatively he wasn’t getting what he needed from the way that the albums were being made on the road. He wanted to lock himself in the studio and take his time, be methodical. And that just wasn’t possible.”
Just wondering what would have happened if they made space and time for him and his interests and why they didn’t. This is just further evidence that he was putting himself out there, but he was LITERALLY not being listened to.
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