Asian Raisins receives reports of incidents that are related to racism and discrimination throughout the year. Apart from registering the reports, we also take action against them. This article is about a recent incident in which the confrontation between two neighbours escalated because of a movie script. It also shows the support that Asian Raisins volunteers provide.
*Anna received a movie script from her neighbour, who is a member of a movie club. The club is working on an anniversary film and was looking for one last candidate to play the role of the new member: someone of Chinese descent. The neighbour asked Anna if she could play the role.
The story is about a a film club that gets together when a package from ‘AliBebe’ is delivered. It contains (inexpensive) memory cards for cameras. However, the chip leads to problems. In three groups, members of the club have to find the cause of the problem. One of the three groups comes up with the explanation that it is a new virus, while another thinks it is a mutation of COVID-19. At the end of the story, a new member, from China, walks into the room. When she looks at the package, she starts laughing. The script says the following:
“The text on the packaging has been mistranslated: these are not memory cards but ‘lie cards’. These are actually only meant for the domestic market to make it easier for the government to monitor the population. The problem can be resolved with an ‘ordinary’ European card.”
In the script, some themes emerge that evoke racist and negative stereotypes. Topics include the coronavirus, 5G, memory cards and webshops from China.
When Anna read the story, she decided to email her neighbour. In the email, she mentioned feeling unwelcome and that she was being treated like an outsider. Anna felt she was being profiled because of her appearance, cultural background and the assigned role of someone of a different origin. The neighbour sent back a short email in which she wrote how she never meant to offend Anna and that she wanted to apologise if she had offended her.
The next day, Anna’s boyfriend and the neighbour’s husband met. In an argument with emotions running high, the neighbour said he found it ‘unacceptable’ when someone called his wife a racist. He also accused Anna of doing the same but towards them because of her poisonous attitude, hate and racist remarks that could mislead her boyfriend. Lastly, the neighbour added that this was not the end of it. Anna’s boyfriend replied by email that neither of them felt safe because of the neighbour’s reaction. The neighbour replied that they had no reason to feel unsafe. He added, as a ‘joke’, that he was too old to ‘off’ anyone.
When Anna emailed her neighbour, she also reported the incident to the Asian Raisins (AR) reporting point. That same day, a volunteer from AR informed Anna that the report was being processed. The volunteer also asked if AR could help with anything else. Anna asked if she could call someone from AR, because she was too afraid to leave her house. The video call took place the next day and Anna told AR she had asked the building manager for help. She also expressed how she finally felt at home with AR; something she had not felt before.
Two days after Anna and AR had spoken, the building manager intervened and strongly advised Anna to apologise to her neighbours. To keep the conflict from escalating further, Anna apologised but did not accept the accusations. Her neighbours accepted the communication. Anna and her partner never talked to their neighbours since.
The volunteers who worked on this matter are pleased with this outcome.They are glad they were able to help Anna by having a conversation, offering a listening ear and advice she needed.
Have you seen or experienced something that is unacceptable? Let us know through the reporting point or send us a private message on Instagram or Facebook We are here for you.
*The real name is known to the editors.
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