People love talking about racism and oppression as long as it's done by white people but ahh it's so easily ignored when people of color are the perpetrators.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about the hypocrisy that are Desi and Asian Activism.

(Desi is an umbrella term for people of the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora, in case you didn't know. Pronounced like "they-see". Indians, Pakistanis, Bengalis and Sri Lankans would be examples. )

I understand it's important to talk about issues like racism and white privilege, etc etc but nearly all Desi and Asian Activists I follow only address issues that affect the west. I get that's important but I don't understand why everyone's activism has to be so west-centric, especially when they don't even live there.

Like we have issues too and who's going to talk about them if not us?

(Also ironic how most western desis that align with the left are so right-winged when it comes to their own countries. Religious discrimination and mistreatment of minorities is okay as long as people of color are doing it, right? Smh. )

Why doesn't anyone talk about the oppression of Muslims and Christians in India, the oppression of Hindus and Christians in Pakistan? About casteism and classism that's literally taking lives? About Sikh persecution? About Pakistan's denial of the Bangladeshi genocide? About Kashmir? About LGBTQ rights?

Why is Desi Activism only limited to calling out cultural appropriation, representation and colorism?

I'm not saying those issues are not important, it's great that so many people are aware about them now. But people are dying, why doesn't anyone talk about that?

This from @ mysei via Instagram, literally the only page I know that talks about all of these issues.

Systematic oppression is very real in Asia, it's just different groups that are being affected. It's different groups that are at the bottom.

I understand the importance of reclaiming culture but when are we going to talk about its ugly side?

When are we going to acknowledge how deeply rooted our culture is in misogyny and patriarchal values? About how so many Asian men literally think it's their responsibility to control and discipline women? About how normalized and widespread child abuse is? About how the majority of Asian parents treat their children like objects? About forced marriages, acid attacks, honor killings and child brides? About how in areas like Peshawar in Pakistan, it's a crime to leave the house without a burka?

I love how we get so defensive when anyone dares to bring up these issues. Like just because you have the privilege of living in a developed city and don't have firsthand experience of them doesn't mean they're nonexistent. These are the same people who will call out white people for their systematic racism yet ignore their own privilege and contribution to their own opressive systems.

I know some Pakistanis that are the same people who will partake in cancel culture over some celebrity that did something ages ago then continue to use anti Black and Bangladeshi slurs themselves.

I remember this interview of this Muslim American activist that I used to like. She spoke about religious freedom and how banning hijab in educational institutions was not okay. But lmao, then the interview asks her about what she thinks about girls being forced to wear the hijab in the rural areas of developing countries.

And guess what she says. "It's just the cultural norms there, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

I was so fucking disappointed because I really looked up to her. I'm sorry but imposing religion is messed up and wrong regardless of whatever religion it is. How can you even be pro religious freedom and then say that?

And guess what, nobody thought there was anything wrong with what she said. What's ironic is that the argument she used is the same one that some people use against religious freedom, the very thing she stood for. So really, what the fuck?

When are Asians going to talk about issues that make us uncomfortable, acknowledge our privilege and flawed systems? When are we going to stop centering the west around all of our discussions and look at our own issues?

If you call yourself an activist, you should speak about things that make you uncomfortable too because we all contribute to these prejudiced systems. We all perpetuate these beliefs. Stop brushing asian issues aside because you don't want to scare your people away.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

And this one's just from today :(