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Complaints about Anti-Asian racism

After reading the chapter “Hearing complaint,” I was deeply felt by what Sara Ahmed was going to talk about. Through her own experiences and testimonies she has collected, she exposes the injustices that women, non-white people, gay people and other disadvantaged groups are subjected to in all aspects of society. And I, as an Asian, have a deep appreciation for such injustice. My name is Xinyue Yu and I am from China. After being treated unfairly, I and very few people will be brave to complain and appeal to the authorities. Because the traditional education in China is to hide the bad parts and show the healthy and good sides. If not, it is not good for the family and the society.

In China, I often heard the news about racial discrimination in the United States or European, but I didn’t have a deep understanding of it at that time. But when I came to Germany, this horrible thing really happened around me. A Chinese female student of mine was harassed on the street in Berlin and was called a Chinese pig. She went to the police, but the police were very perfunctory, saying they had no way to investigate without video evidence, and it was over.

Meanwhile, the clever powers-that-be have found a new way to silence complaints about racism by buying off the Asian elite and getting them to promote the legitimacy of racism. Recently, after the outbreak of the epidemic, the Trump administration blamed China for all of their country’s problems in preventing the epidemic, and Chinese Americans received discrimination and blame. So the Chinese people had to take to the streets in protest. However, a profit-oriented Chinese American politician, Andrew Yang, in order to get the support of the white American political party, publicly published this article in the Washington Post, saying that the accusation of Americans under the new crown epidemic made them feel ashamed of being Asian, and called on Asian Americans to show their loyalty to the United States as the Japanese Americans did in World War II, and prove that they love America so they won’t be seen as a “virus”.

The stereotype of Asian Americans in American society is that they should work hard and not complain too much, so Asians are not considered to be able to attack racism. In order for Asians to continue to silently accept this stereotype, the U.S. government has come up with the idea of having Asian elites take the lead in calling on Asians to accept this stereotype. If the leaders of the Asian community say so, then ordinary Asians will have no way to oppose it. Such a sinister approach is one of the ways that Americans are dealing with racial discrimination and maintaining a white supremacist society.It reminds me of what the Roman Empire did when it ruled Israel: corrupt the Jewish upper elite, make them puppets of the Romans, and then through them call on the entire Jewish people to submit to Rome and keep the Jews in servitude to others in their own land.Asian American complaints about racism have always existed. But under the guidance of the American government, the American media, this complaint cannot change the reality and has been ignored. Because of this, whenever we see an Asian on the political stage, it is inevitable to speculate that it is another white-directed American political show, in order to show the American racial integration and diversity that is only embodied in slogans. The Asians on the stage are just the puppets of the whites.

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book complaints example

Beschweren oder Ertragen Ⅱ

Wenn wir ungerecht behandelt werden, beschweren wir uns dann oder nehmen wir es hin? Dies ist eine Frage für Kinder, die vielleicht nicht zögern, sich zu beschweren. Aber wenn wir älter werden und mehr Erfahrung haben, sind wir oft hin- und hergerissen, ob wir uns beschweren sollen. Es ist möglich, dass man schon einmal eine gescheiterte Beschwerde erlebt hat. Oder das Verfahren zur Einreichung einer Beschwerde hat einen durch die Mangel gedreht. Oder wenn die Beschwerde am Ende erfolgreich war, hatten die Menschen in anderer Hinsicht eine Menge negativer Folgen. Diese Gründe mögen der Grund dafür sein, dass viele Erwachsene lieber schweigen, als sich zu beschweren. Ich glaube, dass niemand im Leben sein Leben kompliziert, voller Kämpfe und nicht so friedlich gestalten möchte. So viele Menschen entscheiden sich für das Aushalten, um dies zu vermeiden. Aushalten ist eigentlich eine notwendige Lebenskompetenz für Menschen, weil das reale Leben voll von Ungerechtigkeiten ist, die sich nur schwer vermeiden lassen. Aber ich möchte sagen, dass diejenigen, die es wagen, sich zu beschweren und zu wehren und bis zum Ende ausharren, wahre Krieger sind. Sie sind diejenigen, die man bewundern sollte. Wenn sie mit ihren Klagen erfolgreich sind, profitiert nicht nur eine Einzelperson, sondern eine Gruppe von Menschen – die Gruppe, die sich in einer ähnlichen Situation befindet, aber Angst hat, sich zu beschweren. Beschwerdeführer tun das, was die meisten Menschen gern tun würden, sich aber nicht trauen zu tun.

In diesem Sommer kam es in China zu einer einflussreichen Beschwerde. Die Klage war erfolgreich und hat zu einer weiteren Verbesserung des sozialen Status der Frauen in China geführt. Ich bewundere die mutige Frau, die die Beschwerde eingereicht hat. Ich möchte beschreiben, was passiert ist: Es gibt zwei Protagonisten. Einer ist WU Yifan, ein sehr berühmter Mann in China. Der andere ist DU Meizhu, eine Studentin im zweiten Studienjahr.

Am 8. Juli 2021 beschuldigte Frau Du Herrn Wu auf Weibo, einer chinesischen Medienplattform, des sexuellen Fehlverhaltens. In ihrer Anschuldigung gibt sie an, dass sie von Wu vergewaltigt worden sei, nachdem sie gezwungen wurde, Alkohol zu trinken. Sie sagte, zum Zeitpunkt des Übergriffs nur 17 Jahre alt gewesen zu sein, außerdem fügte sie Bilder und Screenshots von Nachrichten bei.

Nach dem Vorfall wurde Frau Du von Herr Wus Agentur mit Schweigegeld entschädigt, aber erst zwei Jahre später hatte sie den Mut, sich zu äußern. In einem weiteren Posting schrieb Frau Du, dass es weitere Fälle gab, in denen Herr Wu andere Frauen betrunken machte und sie dann vergewaltigte. Später sagte sie, dass sie weder das erste noch das letzte Opfer gewesen sei, nachdem sich weitere Frauen (darunter zwei Minderjährige) bei ihr gemeldet hatten, um ähnliche Erfahrungen mit Herr Wu zu teilen.

Auf seinem persönlichen Weibo-Account bestritt Herr Wu, Frau Du Alkohol zugeführt zu haben, wies auch die Anschuldigungen zurück, wonach er Mädchen vergewaltigt habe, während sie bewusstlos waren, und Sex mit Minderjährigen gehabt habe. Er kündigte außerdem an, dass sein Unternehmen rechtliche Schritte einleiten werde und bezeichnete die Anschuldigungen als böswillige Gerüchte.

Am 16. August 2021 wurde Herr Wu wegen des Vorwurfs der Vergewaltigung formell verhaftet.

Zum Glück ging es schließlich in die richtige Richtung, auch wenn es ein sehr schwieriger Prozess war. Frau Du hatte in der Anfangsphase nicht viele Unterstützer, da viele Leute dachten, dass sie nur versuchen würde, das Offensichtliche zu nutzen, um ihren Bekanntheitsgrad zu erhöhen. Auch das Team von Herrn WU versuchte zunächst, sie von einer Beschwerde abzuhalten und war bereit, dafür viel Geld auszugeben. Aber Frau Du war damit nicht einverstanden. Dann begann Herr WU mit Drohungen.

Herr Wu benutzte seine Fans, um online Gewalt gegen sie zu entfesseln, sie online zu verhöhnen, zu beschimpfen und sogar Morddrohungen auszusprechen. Und er benutzte seinen Anwalt, um Frau DU einen Anwaltsbrief zu schicken.

Wie im Buch “Complaint!” beschrieben:

“I noted in my discussion of warnings that if the complainer persists, a warning is turned into a threat or the threat that is already in the warning is made more explicit.” (S. 85)

Es ist schwer vorstellbar, unter welchem Druck Frau Du zu dieser Zeit stand. Und sie war so jung. Aber sie beharrte auf ihrer Beschwerde und teilte weiterhin wichtige Informationen online mit. Je weiter die Dinge voranschritten, desto mehr Unterstützung erhielt sie von anderen Menschen. Da Herr WU gegen das Gesetz verstoßen hatte, wurde schließlich die Polizei eingeschaltet und die Angelegenheit auf diese Weise geklärt. Der Erfolg dieser Klage hat dazu geführt, dass immer mehr Frauen in China es wagen, sich zu beschweren. Beschwerden über häusliche Gewalt, Beschwerden über geschlechtsspezifische Diskriminierungen, Beschwerden über sexuelle Belästigungen usw. Ich hoffe also immer noch, dass die Beschwerdeführer (Krieger) mehr Unterstützung erhalten.

Zwei Zitate aus dem Buch “Complaint!” lauten:

“And so we also learn that those who have the least need to complain tend to be those who can most afford to complain, and those who have the most need to complain tend to be those who can least afford to complain.” (S. 97)

“Some forms of violence, however hard they hit you, do not appear to others. If other people can’t see it, that it happened, you might ask your- self, Did it happen?” (S. 105)

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art basic book chapter

Neither the devouring nor the gaping, neither the invisible nor the unnoticed, neither the threatening nor the unclosable gap, but the gap that is recognized and acknowledged.

“Mind the Gap” is the motif of the first illustration in Sara Ahmed’s book “Complaint!”, page 30: In a view from above, the lettering “MIND THE GAP” is embedded in a floor mosaic on the edge of a train platform; the train tracks can still be seen at the upper edge of the picture. The caption is: “The gap between what is supposed to happen and what does happen.”

This sentence refers to Ahmed’s observation of complaint processes on the same page of the book: Here, something does not coincide, namely that which is supposed to happen by means of a complaint in accordance with the policies and procedures and that which actually happens. There is a gap between the two, the should and the is. This gap is “densely populated” (p. 30), says the continuous text above the illustration, it should be paid attention to: “To mind the gap is to listen and learn from those who are experiencing a process.” (ibid).

“Mind the Gap” is the safety notice that can be seen at London Underground stations and heard as an announcement, a warning to passengers not to fall into the gap between the platform and the threshold of the tube. “Mind the Gap” is also the slogan of the London Student Feminists at the University of London, but here with a call to value and promote gender difference. One phrase, two applications, two meanings: one to pay attention to the gap in order to overcome it, the other to pay attention to the gap in order to acknowledge it. Ahmed’s variant combines both the warning and the expression of respect: to take care of the gap means first to recognize it, then to acknowledge it. 

That this message is visualized with the black-and-white illustration of the London Underground at Victoria station, where subway stations meet at different levels of elevation and construction, indicates Ahmed’s interest in the operational level of her topic, “Complaint!” How do which (cultural, institutional, linguistic) techniques meet, how can they be connected or made connectable without leveling their differences? How can differences not be ignored, how can differences be recognized as differences without stigmatizing them into difference? How can closures (of gaps) take place without closing them, but keeping them unclosed? “Mind the Gap” means with Ahmed: notice and respect the gap.

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basic book chapter general

Weder die verschlingende noch die klaffende, weder die unsichtbare noch die unbeachtete, weder die drohende noch die unschließbare Lücke, sondern die Lücke, die erkannt und anerkannt wird.

„Mind the Gap“ ist das Bildmotiv der ersten Abbildung innerhalb von Sara Ahmeds Buch „Complaint!“, auf Seite 30: Zu sehen ist in einer Ansicht von oben der, in ein Bodenmosaik eingelassene Schriftzug „MIND THE GAP“ an einer Bahnsteigkante; am oberen Bildrand sind noch die Zuggleise zu sehen. Die Bildunterschrift lautet: „The gap between what is supposed to happen and what does happen.“ (Die Kluft zwischen dem, was geschehen soll, und dem, was tatsächlich geschieht.) 

Dieser Satz bezieht sich auf Ahmeds Beobachtung von Beschwerdevorgängen auf der gleichen Seite des Buches: Hier fällt etwas nicht in eins, und zwar dasjenige, was mittels einer Beschwerde in Übereinstimmung mit den Richtlinien und Verfahren geschehen soll, und dasjenige, was tatsächlich geschieht. Zwischen beidem, dem Soll und dem Ist, klafft eine Lücke. Diese Lücke sei „dicht bevölkert“ („densely populated“, S. 30), heisst es im Fließtext oberhalb der Abbildung, ihr solle Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden: „Sich um die Lücke zu kümmern, bedeutet, zuzuhören und von denjenigen zu lernen, die einen Prozess erleben.“ („to mind the gap is to listen and to learn from those who experience a process.“, ebd.)

„Achten Sie auf die Lücke“ lautet der Sicherheitshinweis, der an den Stationen der Londoner U-Bahn zu sehen und als Durchsage zu hören ist, ein Warnhinweis an die Passagiere, nicht in die Lücke zwischen Bahnsteig und Türschwelle der U-Bahn zu fallen. „Mind the Gap“ lautet auch der Slogan der London Student Feminists der Universität London, hier allerdings mit dem Aufruf, den Unterschied der Geschlechter zu wertschätzen und zu fördern. Ein Satz, zwei Anwendungen, zwei Bedeutungen: die eine, auf die Lücke zu achten, um sie zu überwinden, die anderen, die Lücke zu achten, um sie anzuerkennen. Ahmeds Variante kombiniert sowohl den Warnhinweis als auch die Respektbekundung miteinander: Sich um die Lücke zu kümmern, bedeutet zunächst einmal, sie zu erkennen, um sie dann anzuerkennen. 

Dass diese Botschaft mit der Schwarz-Weiss-Abbildung der Londoner Underground im Bahnhof Victoria visualisiert ist, in dem U-Bahn-Stationen auf unterschiedlichen Höhenniveaus und in unterschiedlicher Bauweise aufeinander treffen, deutet auf Ahmeds Interesse für die operative Ebene ihres Themas „Complaint!“ hin: Wie treffen welche (Kultur-, Institutions-, Sprach-) Techniken aufeinander, wie können sie aneinander anschließen oder anschließbar gemacht werden, ohne ihre Differenzen zu nivellieren? Wie können Differenzen nicht ignoriert werden, wie können Differenzen als Differenzen anerkannt werden, ohne sie zur Differenz zu stigmatisieren? Wie können Verschließungen (von Lücken) stattfinden, ohne sie zu verschließen, sondern sie entverschlossen zu halten? „Mind the Gap“ heißt mit Ahmed: Beachte und achte die Lücke.

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WOR(D/TH) IT !·#]+*&

POSTER. Quotes from Sara Ahmed. Complaintivism! pp 16-18 + Intervention / Victor del (M) Oral. 2021

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A work of collage, starting point : the listening ear

The voice with no differents in tone, a computer speaking words it doesn’t even understand. As I sit on the white chair of the room in Jakobsplan, I listen to the computer voice reading Complaint by Sara Ahmed. The standard voice of an electronic device artificially pronounces the words.

The phenomenology approach,
Philosophical method developed by Edmund Husserl, which proposes a whole new approach to knowledge. The phenomenological method does not focus on the concrete things and their coherence, but wants to penetrate to the essence and meaning of things, through spiritual-intuitive contemplation.

Cultural dictionary, 30.11.2021, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/phenomenology

Thus, I will experience the chapter “mind the gap” from a detached perspective. Not “my own voice” telling the written down words. Interactive.

Collage work of the captured sentences.

Page 1, collage, a complaint about the complaint.
drawing by Sofie Bussé (symbols of moving, lines of the path).
Page 2, collage, a mythical golden egg.
Page 3, collage, hard to find, difficult to follow.
Page 4, collage, the surreal, a drawing of the complaint.
drawing research body movement performance.
Page 5, collage, The complaint graveyard, the emotional damage.
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book

TO START… LESS PASSWORDS!

I´M TIRED OF PASSWORDS, I´M NOT A ROBOT

PASSWORDS FOR THE MOODLE

PASSWORDS FOR THE MAIL

PASSWORDS FOR THE BLOG

PASSWORDS FOR THE CPTV

PASSWORDS, PASSWORDS, PASSWORDS

LESS PASS , MORE WORDS! ( ? )

LESS WORDS, MORE PASS !

IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO ACCESS TO ALL THE PLATFORMS AT THE UNIVERSITY, THERE ARE SO MANY, AND EACH ONE WITH BAD DESIGN, BAD INTERFACE, NOT PEDAGOGIC, NOT INTUITIVE, NOT FRIENDLY. A LOT OF BUREAUCRACY, UNNECESSARY PROCESSES. STOP, STOP, STOP.

IT´S INCREDIBLE! I´M FED UP OF LOGIN NAMES, USER NAMES, PASSWORDS.. OPEN MORE ACCOUNTS…AND MORE… AND MORE…. DIFFICULT TO GET HERE… EVERYTHING IS SO COMPLICATED, LABYRINTHINE, WHY NOT MAKE IT EASIER?

MY FIRST COMPLAIN IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM IN THE UNIVERSITY.

LESS PASSWORDS, LESS FINE PRINT, I´M NOT A ROBOT!

VICTOR DEL (M) ORAL

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complaining vs. criticizing

What’s the difference between complaining and criticizing and how do I see myself in con- and reaction with proposed definitions ?

Complaining in process.
Mapping talks with and thoughts about father in between criticizing and complaining.

What’s the difference between complaining and criticizing and how is it seen: a) in my family ? b) in society? c) published on “simplicable”? And Why ?

Collective perception of complaining vs. criticism.
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basic book general thoughts

Am I allowed to complain? – about being privileged enough to complain and not being privileged enough to complain

I would like to start this post by stating: Everyone is allowed to complain, anytime, anywhere, concerning any issue.

What does this sentence provoke in you? Do you agree? Do you disagree?

I myself have to say that I am not so sure about this, even though I am also not so sure who should be deciding over this. Complaining means expressing discontent or dissatisfaction about something, making an accusation, stating that something is (done) wrong. I want to specify here that I will focus on complaining when you are treated unfairly, such as for example by a person, a procedure, or an institution. 

Who is allowed to complain? A complaint starts with the reason why you want to complain, and this reason starts with a feeling. A feeling of something being wrong: feeling hurt, suffocated, excluded, offended, hence unfairly treated. And this is where it already gets complicated. “Am I allowed to complain?” starts with a: “Am I allowed to feel wronged?”. The fact that it is so difficult to define right or wrong, especially when emotions are involved, makes the whole process somewhat subjective and easily determined in the end by whoever is in power (with this often being whoever you complain about). So, who decides over right or wrong? The complainer or the “being-complaint-to”? 

Who is allowed to complain? The right to complain is also a matter of privilege. On this issue there is a conflict between the fact that some people are too privileged to complain and some not privileged enough to get through with a complaint. Are you the right person to complain? While going through with a complaint “we learn how only some ideas are heard if they are deemed to come from the right people; right can be white.”1 There is absurdity in the fact that if you are in the position to make a complaint, hence if you are suffering under certain power relations that put you in an unjust situation, you are most probably not being heard. “You might not feel confident that your complaint is being taken seriously when your complaint is about not being taken seriously.”2 Thus when you chose to complain you take a huge risk, which might lead to self-damage. More than often, you are already in a precarious situation and can’t afford to lose your job or hurt your image. If you find yourself in this situation, you might be reminded of your dependence on the one you want to complain to. Hence your issue is not being taken seriously by those in power to do something about it. In addition to this “complaints are more likely to be received well when they are made by those in power.”3 Those who are already more influential are more likely to get through with their complaint. This is widening the already existing inequality gab in hierarchies.

Who is allowed to complain? Those who are heard are those who are in the “right” place to complain: those in a stable state, those with enough power, those who have the right connections, those with the resources to do so. But isn’t it ironic that when you find yourself in a situation of suffering, without support, and hence file a complaint, you are not supported by the system? And if you are in the “right” place to complain you are actually not really in the right place to complain, meaning the reason why you complain might not be that severe, because you don’t find yourself in a precarious situation. 

In conclusion when is complaining justified? When is your state alarming and legitime enough to be entitled to do so? When are you well enough positioned to complain? When are you allowed to take away people’s oh-so-precious time to criticize and tackle the system they are so desperately trying to uphold? To complain is to make yourself vulnerable. Be aware of the burden that comes your way, whether it is the burden of your privilege to be able to do so, or your struggle or even your inability to get through with it.

1 Ahmed, S. (2021): Complaint! 2021, p.6.

2 ebd., p.21.

3 ebd., p.24.

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“WHAT IF THESE DOORS WERE MADE OF GLASS?”

“IF THESE DOORS COULD TALK? WERE MADE OF GLASS?”

.

Part III of “Complaint!” by Sara Ahmed is called “If these doors could talk?”. 

During the two chapters contained in this part, various testimonies are told in which doors have represented a role amid sexual harassment and assault situations, encounters of oppression and misuse of power in different institutions, mostly against women.

In some examples, the infrastructure of the places where such violence occurred was justified as allowing the abuse to take place or even used as a weapon against the victim. For example: if the space between the oppressor and the abuser was too narrow, then the victim won’t come out of the room easily.

My concern was, how in many situations the behaviour of someone is justified by the scenario in which the scene occurred, if there were witnesses or not, if their reputation doesn’t match with the acts, among many other things. I also related this questions with the name of Part III of the book: What if all of those doors of the rooms in which once many misconducts and violations have occurred could talk? What would they say? Who would they put into the spotlight? What would change in the institution?

But what if the door and its big role had a shift? What if all of these doors were made of glass? And everyone around could have seen through. Would the oppressor acted the same way? Which would have been the outcomes of the different violences? Also, would anyone dare to force a violent act against the door knowing how fragile it is?

This also leaves me a question on if these barriers were more transparent and the physical infrastructures of institutions were reformed, then would people act completely different? Their actions would be justified if there were witnesses or not. But most importantly, injustices will be visible for everyone.

And at some point it seems to be what most matters when doing a complaint… if you don’t show enough proof, if there is not any witness, if there is no footage to support your complaint then it is not viable.

I made a poster to support the big question Part III of the book left in my head.

Image 1. Poster, “IF THESE DOORS COULD TALK? WERE MADE OF GLASS?”, Weimar, 2021, Parra.