this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
191 points (73.3% liked)
Memes
4363 readers
3 users here now
Good memes, bad memes, unite towards a united front.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The original context for Xi being Pooh probably wasn't racist either, unless there's a similar connotation to yellow skin in Chinese culture. Therefore you could also dismiss the yellowface concerns because the original meme wasn't meant to be racist.
Of course we shouldn't do this, and instead accept that the meme is now racist because it's mainly used by Westerners who are well aware of the racist implications.
Of course you cantd ismiss the current context. But the current context of the meme is only rarely racist against Obama. He does not figure in the Xinnie the pooh shit. He figures in the original meme. Except for the very occasional cold warrior implying a collaboration between the two, which may involve a racist caricature of him, he's usually not even a figure.
The original where he does figure, was made by Chinese people who are being called racist based on an English interpretation of Mandarin text that the people involved in the discussion hasn't read and cannot read, in order to prove that white people are racist against Chinese people It is a totally unnecessary pretzel to tie yourself into. It is literally the meme in the OP.