They might specifically mean blacks when they say "people of color", not that asians aren't a minority, but they person saying that might only be referring to their own race. I am not making a judgement call on what should be a "person of color", I'm just pointing out what they might mean.
In usage, "people of color" tends to be malleable. Sometimes it means "black". Other times it means "not white" or "black or hispanic" or something else entirely.
Sometimes this is just ambiguous. Other times, it becomes a source of liguistic slight-of-hand when people use one meaning (without specifying which) but seek to equivocate with a very different usage with a very different meaning.
You know, every day I feel like I'm told that I have to do something to help other people. There's always a cause. And you know, I'm not against that. I realize people have it rough. But there is this weird perception that Asian men have this amazing privilege in Western society and that we don't endure any racism or discrimination despite the fact that we still do.
They range from how we're depicted in the media, to whether we can achieve the highest levels of our profession (c-level, judges), to even whether women of other ethnicities find us attractive. It's also very easy to casually say something racist about Asians in popular media without the same recourse you'd get if you said something about blacks or jewish people. Growing up, I was picked on by white and black people for being Asian.
And I gotta say, no one gives a shit. No one.
The ones who care, are researchers who either write their findings, or Asian men who have the champion ourselves, such as Aziz Ansari who practically wrote a TV show about it. It's just like, "yeah well you don't have it as bad, so deal with it."
And so when I read articles that tell me that I as an Asian man have to help other ethnicities and that I have amazing privilege that I need to share with others, it irks me because I have to ask, who the hell helped me as an Asian man? Where were the articles about the racism that Asian men like myself experienced? Where are the people writing articles reversing their positions of the way they perceived Asians? Where are the non-Asians who are advocating for more Asians in various parts of society where we are under-represented? I'm just so ticked off by this double-standard.
But saying "there's tons of PoC in SV cause there's lots of asian guys" is missing the point. First of all, as you mention, there's a Bamboo Ceiling problem. Secondly, that doesn't change the fact that blacks and latinos are underrepresented. Diversity is good because it provides a broader range of perspectives, and it helps correct for historical injury. Having a ton of asians helps a little in those two areas, but clearly there's still huge room for improvement. Thirdly, you're allowing our small privileges be used as a wedge. The implication is that blacks and latinos should just work harder like asians if they want to be in SV, which is classic model minority bullshit. We need solidarity between minority groups, not division. It's true that other minority groups don't care enough about asian issues, but that's a reason that we all have to do better, not an excuse for us asians to be worse.
> who the hell helped me as an Asian man?
The Civil Rights Movement was instrumental in the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Literally, we wouldn't be allowed in the United States without the help of everyone from the Civil Rights era.
Academic work about microaggressions and racism owe a lot to black thinkers and the black experience. The condition of the million or so undocumented asian americans goes hand in hand with the struggles of undocumented latinos. Blacks are spearheading the fight for media representation with stuff like #OscarsSoWhite. We have to do the work to include ourselves in these fights, but other PoCs clearly are our allies.
Finally, I'm gonna leave you this article from a few months ago:
This is an absolutely serious question. Can you elaborate on some of the racism you as an Asian male have experienced? Honestly, outside of certain examples of the "good minority" I've seen very little racism towards Asians in any context so I'm interested to hear what is you may have experienced.
i seriously can't even believe you're asking this. i'll start with a real easy one for you.
how about being called a chink while walking down the street?
how about needing to be not just significantly better than the overall population, but specifically better than other asians at literally everything to even be considered for an elite school or job?
how about a 'comedian' openly saying everyone of your race has a small dick, and hearing mocking chingchong fake language, right on the stage at a comedy club, like you're not sitting right there? oh, and of course everyone laughing their ass off.
how many asian males have you seen on american tv? how many of the depictions even remotely positive, or even just neutral? and is this number something you can count to with the fingers on a single hand?
do you not think that the systematic, deliberate exclusion of an entire race of males from basically ALL media is not at least a little bit strange? do you think this is done on accident? it's not.
this one is at least getting better - asian men get to exist in the same reality as asian women now. i think even white people were beginning to feel uncomfortable that only asian females exist in the reality portrayed on screen.
you've seen very little racism toward asians because you're not asian and you probably can't even identify it when it happens because you think it's normal.
An Asian friend of mine had to work with a guy once that thought it was funny to make jokes about how he didn't feel safe leaving his dog alone with him and things along that line.
I am not Asian, but Asians generally have to have higher grades and SATs than Whites (and certainly Blacks and Hispanics) to get into colleges. Totally unfair.
Yea I may not understand the plight of being an asian guy, but I do remember my younger brother being almost traumatized by this article, that was being passed around his friends.
"Person of color typically refers to individuals of non-Caucasian heritage"
"As Joseph Truman argues, the term people of color is attractive because it unites disparate racial and ethnic groups into a larger collective in solidarity with one another."
"In U.S. history, "person of color" has often been used to refer only to people of African heritage. Today, it usually covers all/any peoples of African, Latino/Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Island descent, and its intent is to be inclusive.
Oh I forgot, us Asians don't when it comes to people of color or diversity.