"My friends are so privileged, that any sort of equality to them feels like oppression." You hit it right on the head. Amazing and articulate as always, Anna.

the well-intentioned but ✨kinda racist✨ ones are the trickiest. this is such an important message - thank you Anna!

It should also be made clear that racism seeps into all cultures, not just white... (for context I’m South East Asian myself)

I wish we would talk about racism and hate all together. EVERY race is guilty of it, and if we only single out one for their ignorance, it does no good.

"White" isn't a monoculture. You can be white and have a mixed cultural/ethnic background. A white Brit, a white French person, a white German, and a white Russian (for example) might *look* the same to a person of color, but there are still vast cultural differences between them.

Hearing about the black girl on set who had to straighten her hair makes me wanna cry that is AWFUL - I wish everyone could have the identity that fits them instead of society’s beauty standards

I have to completely disagree on your point about white people lacking in diversity. Europe is made up of many different countries with very different languages, cultures, histories, etc. and many white Americans (myself included) have more than one of these heritages. There shouldn't be anything wrong with discussing and celebrating that. Many of the varied white peoples also suffered under discrimination, oppression and stereotypes either in their homelands or after arriving in America or both because of who they were.

White people come from many different ethnic backgrounds. You are still white for sure, but getting all white people in America to identify as white was one of the key enablers of modern racism.

There is a difference between explicitly racist people and the implicit bias that we all have ingrained in us from society. I can't get mad at someone who is totally ignorant of their microaggressions UNLESS they continue to make them after being made aware of them (e.g., taking that WOC role after being told how wrong it is).

i'm sorry but the corn rows thing bugs me. I taught my white friend how to do it so it protects his hair when we train in mma and do other activities together. Like- it's in effective hairstyle that NOBODY owns. And telling other races what they can't do just sounds racist itself. And yes, I'm black.

You’re talking about how bad is racism, not understanding that you’re racist 😔

What makes you think that 100% white people cannot be a mix of many different backgrounds, different cultures and tribes? You haven’t been to Europe?

I'm half black but my skin is so pale that I haven't done cornrows in my hair since I was a child because people would attack me for that just because my skin is pale. Like I got a white skinned Spanish daddy and an ethnic mother. It's not my fault I got his skin with her hair.

I’m Mexican American and German... exotification has played a huge role in my life. I’ve had people deny my heritage or down play it by saying “you’re not like those Mexicans”, I’ve had people tell me “not to let my Latina anger show”; recently I had a resident tell me while discussing our dog breeds “it makes since that you have a chihuahua because you know”...I’ve added certain blocks to my Instagram because I’ve had my pinup work heavily fetishized. I’ve also been told by the white community that I can’t learn about my heritage because I’m not Mexican enough and would be cultural appropriating my own culture because I don’t look Latino enough.

Imagine someone telling you they're mixed and getting angry about it. She became what she hated in the process. Its a shame

Im Slavic. My ancestors were enslaved by Asians. now what??

Anna, can you talk about sexist friends like this as well?? including how to educate them and myself more about this issue?

This thing happened with the winx saga on Netflix, why do you take a white actress who looks kinda Asian for an originally asian character instead of taking an actual Asian actress? They say it sells better, but it's unfair, just unfair 🤔

There are many different "white people" as there are many different "asian people". So saying your friend is being offensive when she says she comes from many different backgrounds is kind of ridiculous. French are different to the Irish. British people are different to the Norwegians and so on. There isn't just one white culture just like there isn't one asian culture.

please someone talk about how paradoxical it is that in a perfect world race wouldnt matter whatsoever, but somehow it seems to be super important to be super aware of it.

Being white doesn't mean you can't have a mixed background.

I think that the yi fan chow situation is a double edge sword. At it’s core, it is an inherently racist act done by the creator of the poem. I think it’s also kinda racist from the publication point of view. The ones who reviewed and published it didn’t confirm the identity of the person, didn’t bother to reach out but instead selected a poem because it had an Asian sounding name to it. It’s almost like that “oh we have too many white people here, we need a splash of colour to show how DIVERSE we are”.

What do you mean by "Asian culture"? Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian? Typical American that simplify everything what doesn't touch him. "Asian culture" doesn't exist. You want to say that kazakh and Koreans are familiar and part of one culture?

It is so strange how a hairstyle that was used by many different ancient cultures around the world (Vikings; certain Slavic tribes, tribes of the Steppe, Celtic tribes, Southeast Asian tribes, Maori, African tribes and the Picts) is now considered belonging to one race. Claiming only certain races are allowed to wear a hairstyle is also a little racist. Wearing the hairstyle is only racist if the person is also acting like and dressing like they are from the culture that their racism says the hairstyle belongs to. People who say that a hairstyle should only be used by one race are being racist toward themselves and the people they are harassing.

One of my friends talks to her main nail tech in a mocking Asian accent and I don’t know how to tell her how wrong that is... she is white and has been doing this with the same nail tech for at least 3 years. The nail tech says “I love you” to my friend when she leaves so she must know that my friend doesn’t mean anything bad by it. But it’s sooooo wrong and I don’t know how to confront her.

so russians, germans, romanians, french, irish and norwegian are all the same to Anna. Good to know

Also, saying: "You're just white," is JUST as reductive as saying "You're just Asian." Doesn't matter the geography, minimizing someone's identity/existence is wrong.

What is asian culture?

I have a friend who literally told me: ''I'm no racist with you'' because i like you''

Wtf America.. Please put caution before this kind of videos to prevent brain cells death for us non-Americans

I knew a girl who claimed to have a "gypsy soul" yet claimed my family (who are romani) were dirty thieves. What is the point of pretending to be an ethnicity yet hating them

But why white music on ur background?

I agree with most of what you say, but there's a gray area between an honest blending of the cultures and cultural appropriation for profit or offensive attention getting behavior.

I would be so worried abt using a cultures dress, like your example was dressing as a Geisha, and then using their hashtag like "stop asian hate" bc idk, doesnt that feel a bit like using that serious hashtag as a way to bring views to your picture that some people would see as racist anyways? Instead i would do sonething like talk about the culture and educate ppl abt when the ppl from this culture use this dress, and why i think its beautiful

America: We are the great melting pot. Also America: Judge people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Also Also America: You can only do things you like if you first properly frame those things based on race.

Celts and Vikings were wearing "cornrows" in the 8th century and before.

I honestly don’t know how to feel about calling these friends racist, I worry that it will reduce the value of the word and lead to further segregation. With cultural appropriation, seeing white girls with ‘black hairstyles’ initially made me feel better about my own hair texture, and like our hair is finally accepted into society so much that other cultures want to use them as inspiration! Personally, I feel like there are bigger issues with racism that we should put our energy towards. But I do understand the frustration with certain kinds of cultural appropriation, especially with skin tone

i honestly have no idea how these celebrities get away so easily with blackfishing, it's unreal... and disgusting...

So under a white-man name, he couldn't publish his poem?! yet, when he is able to publish multiple poems under an Asian name... How are you using this argument to make him the "racist" ?!!! and why do we still hear about "white privilege" if that's the case?!!

That fact you don't think that white people don't have mixed backgrounds is pretty racist

Saying white people are just white is like saying all Asians are just asian. Not considering nationality like Irish or English compared to japanese or Chinese. Both are identities and both are valid

I mean… poeple can be mix of different cultures and tribes even if they’re white.

Have properly racist friends instead of these fakes

Half way in realized it's not a build up to a joke...

You knocked this out the park. I love when you talk about deeper topics because you explain everything so succinctly and to the point (with evidence). Keep it up Anna ♥️

Cultural appropriation is a byproduct of marketing and capitalism, but all cultures evolve and blend... how to solve the conflict over the long term, who knows...

Since when having multicultural backround have been racism?

As a result, there is more racism on the part of the author than in the examples of the people she cites.

I appreciate the closed captions on upload! Yay accessibility.

So I have a friend who’s Latina. She was born here in the US and her parents are from Mexico. Since her parents are from Mexico, they make a lot of traditional Mexican dishes. My friend’s fave is mom’s tamales. In 2016/2017, she saw a lot of hate from people who were supposed to be her friends. The one that stuck out most to me was when she told me about someone we used to be friends with. My friend had tamales that her mom had made the night before and she was at the microwaves to heat them up. Former friend came up to her and asked if she could have some. When my friend said no, former friend (who is white af) sat there and gave my friend a lecture on how she got all of these opportunities because she was Mexican and that it was so hard for former friend as a white person to get into colleges and get scholarships because PoC were “taking them all from her”. She proceeded to tell my friend that the government gave her and her family money, anyway, so my friend was being greedy by not letter her have a tamale. My friend, speechless, just walked away. Because what do you even say to that?

You can be “white” and be a mix of many ethnicities. You wouldnt condescend to any other ethnicity that their appearance is the only appropriate label for them or curb their enthusiasm for their culture.

“Now racism is sneaky” Welcome to Brazil

It’s pretty funny, so, I’m a Puerto Rican guy living in Chicago, I’ve been told “you’re not Puerto Rican enough” or “you don’t talk like a Puerto Rican or dress like one, you definitely don’t listen to our music, you’re not one of us” Ok cool! I guess I’m not? Oki doki!

Christ. The US is constantly creating new terms explain how people can be assholes while they themselves acting like assholes and failing to see their hipocrisy. the US is like that chaotic brother you have that you dont invite to the room when your friends come over because your friends get that your all cool with each other but your brother has a complex form of ptsd that they project on everyone

You are using classical european music in the background. This is a cultural appropriation of white culture. You should be respectfull to music masterpiece and not to use it as a backtrack.

Please Black Women stop making your hair blond or using lenses with lighter colors! It's appropriating my boy and my culture.

The statement about white people NOT being diverse is wrong. I'm sure we all could name around 50 countries that are predominantly white lmao. That's like saying Asians aren't diverse or black people aren't diverse. Everyone is obviously diverse, especially Americans.

I feel kinda confused about the definition of the word „racist“ these days. Growing up I was taught that it means to think less of someone / regard them as less smart, less deserving of respect, less ... human JUST because of the colour of their skin. That’s why „racist“ was always such a horrible insult to me. And why a title like „My friends are a little bit racist“ makes zero sense to me at first glance - cause who would wanna be friends with someone that awful? My mind goes straight to like the KKK, Nazis etc. I feel like we need a new word for things that are race-related and inappropriate but that don‘t imply that you hold actual racist beliefs. Maybe something like „racially illiterate“.😅 To me, calling someone racist when the problem is just lack of education/being unaware instead of actual malicious bias and intent is kinda dangerous. If you walked up to me and said „You know, my friends are sorta racist - but they are really good people“ I‘d be like „Well, which is it??“

Hudson's point is he was rejected, (as demonstrated by is his own admission), because he was white. Not based on the quality of his work. When he changed his name to ethnic sounding name his work was judged differently. The optimistic view is Hudson was discriminated against because his name is perceived as white. The more pessimistic (and in my view the more realistic scenario) is the quality of his poem remained the same. The industry lowered the bar on the value of the poem and their threshold of quality, due to socio-political pressure, to look more inclusive. So it boils down to was Hudson discriminated against because his name was perceived as white, or is the industry dumbing down standards to appear diverse?? Is this the end goal of CRT advocates? Not to compete, but for the bar to be lowered so more "people of color" can participate? How is that a victory?

I didn't realize 'urban' was a race and that having white skin and being urban makes you racist...

I can promise the vast majority of the population doesn't think anyone at Burning Man is cool regardless of their hairstyle.

So the Kardshians are considered white? Aren't they like half Armenian? Where I live they would be considered half Arab then..

mhm. asian culture. So you wnat to say that Kazakhstan and North Korea have same culture?

Might be risky to say this, but I disagree with the cornrow argument. How can a race own a hairstyle? People should be able to wear their hair anyway they want, regardless of what culture it originated from. A good example is the Mohawk, it originated from a Native American tribe which the name comes from. Does that mean that no one else other than the descendants of this specific tribe should be allowed to have Mohawks? I strongly disagree with this mentality, race should not determine your options in self expression.

Even well-intentioned people could be this way. It takes courage to recognize this and make a change.

Isn't actually using a hair style helps normalize those styles in the society? I mean if stars start using them won't those styles be seen as admirable, and less discriminated against?

That's what happens when a girl isn't taught history and geography at school. Such amount of bullshit.

i agree with some things but the narrow view of americans about who's white is just flawed. maybe "white" people in america can be grouped together but that's not the case in most of the world. many "white" ethnicities are very culturally different and within them are many oppressed groups.

So .... I'm black woman so I'm like a super minority and your friend is NOT racist. Go to alabama or any place other than La and I'll show you racism.

There are some things you got right, and there are some things you got entirely wrong. This would honestly make for a good conversation.

I might have missed something, but it seems weird saying a group of people is generally negatively discriminated against while also saying they are fetishised and immitated. Wouldn't a large amount of people and media focussing on a group show that it is getting more accepted?

This is so shallow that it's even scary

Well to be fair you can be mixed and not look like what someone else may assume what they are. Or you could be lighter yet bornnin a dirt poor country,, doesn't make them privileged though. Myself, for example i'm Mexican and Spanish American, yet if I get a tan sure I can and will look darker but when not I'm lighter. So many times in the past I've been mistakenly assumed to be "white" by other minorities thinking I'm "white, privileged" and all that other bs. I'm like I was born in Mexico, Guardelajara in a part thats considered one of the poorest parts of the country and give up for adoption at birth....im not white nor privileged no matter how light or dark I am. The problem is now days most are blinded by skin color, race and making false generalizations about people based off their looks as oppose to actual origin.

I find my East asian friends sometimes unknowingly being racist to south/West Asians. Unfortunate.

*Not Racist ..."Racially Insensitive"* (they are similar but not the same) I.e __racism: the belief that one's own race is superor to another __racial Insensitivity: being naive or numb to the racial sensitivity towards a person of a particular ethnic group ...what may be offensive to one person may not be offensive to someone else of that same group

such a shame to hear words "When your friend is kinda racist" from the real racist

Hb when your youtube influencer is consistently blind to her own racist biases and blaming anyone else to avoid personal reflection and growth.

So you think if a poem is rejected when submitted by a white male author, but then published when resubmitted, but the author now claims to be a Chinese female, that the problem is the author pretending to be a Chinese female? Not the the publishers are determining whether a poem is worth publishing based on the presumptive race and gender of the author? Do you not see anything wrong with this? What would you have thought if a black friend named Jamal Washington wrote a poem that was rejected, but then resubmitted it under the name Bethany Murphy and got published because they though it was written by a white girl? Still the poet at fault?

Well the Kardashians are Armenian. Their father Robert was that ancestry. And he married Kris the American white girl. So Armenian/American then? And if they tan they get dark skinned of course. Cher and the great Canadian director Atom Egoyan are Armenian too.

Unpopular opinion. Cultural appropriation is not only okay, it is absolutely necessary for diverse cultures to coexist peacefully through adoption of each others culture. Every single culture in history has adopted from multiple other cultures. It's sad how everything is deemed racist today. If we condemn everything that brings us together or makes us individually unique, we will only be left with groups competing against groups, or as we used to call it: racism.

From a historical perspective, there are many cultures that have worn hairstyles of multiple braids that are tight against the scalp. This was a hairstyle worn among both male and female Vikings in Scandinavia. There are statues and other art forms from hundreds and thousands of years ago depicting braids tight to the scalp in various forms from different regions of the world such as Greece, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and other cultures.

Sorry if this question sounds ignorant, but keep in mind I'm from Ecuador, a country with very different racial issues than the US. I was once referred to as a "person of color" by an aquaintance from the US and I found the label to be extremely offensive, made me feel like I was some kind of blue alien or something, like all my culture and complex ethnicity background can be simplified to just the color of my skin (which isn't too brown actually, even though I'm 100% hispanic latino who lived in Ecuador his entire life)... but I've heard that label used a lot lately, even by people who are race rights activist. So I have to ask, why is it okay to use that label to group everyone who isn't caucasian?

All good points, however.... to say that someone is only white because of the color of their skin when they say they are a mix of different backgrounds is also in fact racist. Also only singling out only "white women". Is it racist or appropriation for a non white person to wear plaid? Was the movie White Chicks racist?

Privileged Asian appropriation of black oppression is offense to me.

Being south Asian, I wouldn’t say it’s racist but maybe racially insensitive

So at what point does someone’s ancestry get erased just because they have European blood? If someone’s ancestors are say, Native American or African then there’s been a lot of interracial marriages within their family tree and they end up having a white look to them how are they still not Native American or African at that point? This is why the concept of lumping so many people into one label just doesn’t make sense and is degrading.

I really don’t understand why cultural appropriation is bad, if you like something from a culture then shouldn’t using it be seen as a compliment to that culture

when your friend thinks everything is racist

You know, when I found out I had Native American DNA, I didn't go around saying or acting as though I was BIPOC. It felt like the takeaway was to try to be an ally.. to be a friend.. and follow through on the thin wisp of kinship I suddenly felt by supporting and understanding them. You have to love BIPOC people as much as you love their culture...

I think when It comes to racism, it always important to bring it back to how it is a systemic issues and proof of how it is resulting in a disproportionate negative impact on that groups. Also, It’s weird learning about blackfishing, etc because Living in Thailand they were constantly trying to look white. So do I think Thais are culturally appropriating?

I think this is the best way to put it, interexchange between cultures isn't racist; it's the disregard for the struggles of the other cultures while appropriating the "cool" aspects of it.

This is fcked up, all of this pure madness

can i just... saying 'its not racist' DOESNT MAKE IT NOT RACIST

talking about racism : "wHitE pEoPlE BaaAAaDd"

I was waiting to find the punchline of the joke only to realize you are not joking. How did your cult become a religion? Do your people really think you’re ideas and lectures help or enlighten anyone? BTW, “your people” as in the group who thinks lecturing about your (religion, ideology, philosophy, disorder, movement ) isn’t problematic.

The moral postering and virtue signaling is so thicc.

I love that this is a hopeful message. Racism due to ignorance is different than racism due to pure unthinking hatred, and education can definitely help them to grow as a person.

@Anna Akana: I guess I've always had a problem with the term "microaggression." I've always seen aggression as something intentional. In your vignette about your white friend, she displayed rudeness born of ignorance. It's the difference between someone backing up and accidentally stepping on your foot vs. someone walking up to you and stepping on your foot intentionally. Either way hurts just as bad for you, but one person did it with intent and aggression, and the other did it out of clumsiness. There are definitely hostile, aggressive white racists out there, but there are also a lot of us who are well-meaning but clumsy. I grew up in a town that was 98% white. I had a teacher in grade school who was black and taught at that school for one year, and then I didn't see another black person in the flesh again for about three years! I live in a different place now that has at least SOME cultural diversity, but I'm still ignorant of other people's cultures. I'm a little shy about interacting with people from the Middle East because I figure I'm bound to make some sort of faux pax. It was only recently that I found out that some Asian Americans are offended if you ask them about their ethnic background. White people ask each other about our ethnic backgrounds all the time. By the way, I can't speak for your friend, but sometimes white people refer to themselves as "mutts" when they have a heritage of say, 1/8 German, 1/8 Swiss, 1/8 French, etc., in their ancestry. "White" isn't a culture; it's a skin color. There are a variety of cultures in Europe, and even white people whose ancestors came to the U.S. over a hundred and fifty years ago sometimes retain some of their cultural heritage, even if they don't label it as such. I didn't participate in the Black Lives Matter protests. There are plenty of white people who love to protest for the sake of feeling self-righteous, for the sake of being "seen" as not being racist. I figure, let them have at it. I don't want to be "seen" as not racist. I want to BE not racist. I want to be judged by my individual actions, not be "seen" with a group of people in order to be presumed as righteous. I've met a lot of white people who talk a good game, but when a lot of black people move into their school district, they'll move to a whiter school district and they'll come up with a euphemistic way of describing their actions. Please do keep talking about what other people find offensive in white people's behavior. A lot of us don't mean to offend and don't realize we're doing it.

I swear every time I see these kinds of videos that marginalise the various races into a title I am reminded that too many people need to get off twitter.

I disagree. Nobody has to say "stop asian hate" (or any other hate) just because he takes a photo dressed as an anime character or what ever. That's BS. By taking a photo as an anime character he is already in appreciation of that culture even if he doesn't like the rest of the culture f.e. Thats his right to do. You can't force somebody to fight something you want him to fight for. That sounds really extremist and fascist.