My mom's family was driven out of Indonesia following the Sept. 30 coup in 1967 and the ensuing chaos that led to the ascension of the Suharto New Order regime
-
-
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
A quite brutal ethnic cleansing, as these things go, that had as much impact on my family history on my mom's side as WWII and the Rape of Nanking had on my dad's side One that had its apologists then and even still has them now
1 reply 2 retweets 25 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
"Although there were regrettable acts of violence, the anti-Chinese uprisings were a necessary stage in Indonesians asserting a unified national identity after generations of foreign imperialism" Tell it to the corpses and their survivors you asshole fash bootlicker
1 reply 2 retweets 30 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
A lot of the same tropes are there, like targeting a relatively tiny and helpless (and therefore convenient) ethnic minority for being rapacious capitalists taking all the good jobs, while simultaneously accusing them of being Communist spies on behalf of the PRC motherland
1 reply 2 retweets 27 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
The contradiction between these two tropes doesn't matter The question of the history of how all these objectionable things happened (blaming the Chinese minority for the actions of Dutch colonists who used them as servants and proxies) didn't matter
1 reply 2 retweets 25 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
What matters is people who just don't belong here having the gall to succeed where you can see it Undermining your sense that this country is YOUR country and belongs to people LIKE YOU Acting as a sinister connection between your country and others, undermining its "identity"
1 reply 2 retweets 28 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
So anyway I have a personal connection to this kind of thing I don't think what happened to my mom's family is really directly analogous to antisemitic pogroms in every respect, or that either is directly analogous to my situation, now But the connections are there
1 reply 2 retweets 22 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
People like me in general, "rootless cosmopolitans" from immigrant minorities, "hyphenated" Americans, piss the fascists off Not all to the same degree and not all with the same long bloody history But it's that in-between-ness, blurring boundaries, they can't stand
1 reply 3 retweets 32 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
As a hyphenated American I'm never going to be "100%" anything the way they want me to be They'd only be happy with me if I fully became white, which is impossible, or if I "went back to China" -- where my full assimilation would be just as impossible but not their problem
1 reply 4 retweets 35 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
They're always going to be angry that just by *existing* here and being who I am I raise uncomfortable questions of "What does 'American' mean anyway, does it have a stable definition, is it something that can change and mutate at will"
1 reply 3 retweets 26 likes
And because I am unavoidably aware of this fact, people like me are going to be much more prone to pursuing these questions and adopting the politics that come from that than the good ol' salt-of-the-earth "authentic" white folk who don't think about shit cause they don't have to
-
-
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
So like I think this is an existential struggle I'm always going to be their enemy, I'm always going to be the enemy of a "true authentic United States of America that reflects the vision of its founders" And I'm fine with that Bring it the fuck on
1 reply 4 retweets 35 likes -
Replying to @arthur_affect @Sarahndipity44 and
As sad and ugly as that struggle might be and as likely as I feel it is for people like me to lose this fight in the near future It's not as fucking tragic as being someone like Andy Ngo who thinks he can escape the pogrom by trying to lead it
1 reply 3 retweets 34 likes - Show replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.