I don't think someone is denying that. And I think most US people here and at least some non US people understand the US context right now.
But demanding that all Asian people be part of the same context is the issue here. Asian Americans are going through something totally different. This about them.
But as was already discussed it is very unrealistic to make special events for everyone.
So it is either find a more global approach to culture and heritage (and I am certain there would be a way to do that while still talking about more local, US relevent issues), or restrict events only to US interests. Which is what Tapas is going for, but one has to expect an international public to not be too enthralled..
This is pretty much my issue with all amarican “issues” their are Asians suffering and dealing with discrimination across the globe. Free Hong Kong was a huge thing for the rest of the world, but not amarica. In fact many companies tried to ignore it.
Meanwhile the moment anything happens in amarica we have to signal it to the entire world and make ourselves look good for doing so.
It never actually feels like they actually care about these people and always feels more like a “me me me me” experience or worse, simple virtue signaling for clicks.
I saw lots of people I know in my social circles support Hong Kong and on social media too. But since it happened during the last presidency, I'm sure Trump, along with many corporations, wanted to stay on China's good side by not addressing it.
Straight up your memory must be bad because everyone was talking about Free Hong Kong.
We could do nothing, that's a thing we could do. But if they want to do a tiny bit of charity--we shouldn't get on their ass for that--otherwise you'll just get nothing. Why not let a good thing happen, especially following some very terrifying mass shootings?
I'm not saying virtue signaling isn't real--but part of the problem is people don't think racism is real. So taking it down would only further the belief that the racism shouldn't be regarded as racism.
@joannekwan @rajillustration
I didn't even consider that as a reason they're doing this, how ignorant of me and thank you for reminding me. I'm fully aware of what's been going on but I was just under the impression than Tapas was promoting AAPI because the month was coming up. I know they did Black history month promotions this year, but I don't recall them doing that last year. And in parallel to what you've both mentioned, when the BLM protests started in May/June of last year, they had their 'Voice s of color' section on the front page, but the same can't be said for the multiple recent and noteworthy attacks on Asian americans within the last month or so, so I didn't even consider it. If that is the goal, propping up Asian american voices in the shadow of the recent attacks (and the general rise in violence against Asian americans in the past year) then I'm fully in support of that. I was just trying to be considerate to other Asian people that may not live in the U.S.
Nani? I never said it should be taken down? I just want it to be clear of who can join in. And I don’t think they should Ignore non amarican Asians just because they don’t realize people outside of America suffer?
Wait, AAPI month is the USA event; thus it's not about Anti-Asian hate crime victims living in other non-Asian regions?
I have friends and distant relatives living in Australia and Germany saying that they've been yelled at, pushed and threatened in the streets way more than before pandemic.
AAPI month is mainly celebrated in the USA, yes. Still, if it's about a national event.. well, I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I'm Asian-Asian so I don't belong in either case and not gonna steal their moment anyway. It's just, idk, disappointing.
We are concerned about the well being of Asian Americans, we know about the discrimination they have been through and how they are still villianised, especially since the rise of Covid. No one wants to steal their thunder. Especially when the USA have been presenting themselves as a place where you can come and start fresh, the land of dreams, where everyone is equal and you can be whatever you want, while they criticise the rest of the world, ignoring the things in their society that they could better.
All we asked is why isn't a site that knows of its international audience more inclusive? We don't ask for a whole month.
Or maybe it should be us to take the first step?
Exactly this. Rather than the overabundance of America-centric events, can't we have more globally inclusive ones? Or expand the America-centric ones to include global creators? It'd be super easy to do this for AAPI; just let people living in the Asia-Pacific take part, along with the Asia-Pacific diaspora in Western nations outside America. (Britain, Australia, NZ, etc.) Don't exclude them.
International Women's Day was good. St Patrick's Day was a huge missed opportunity - it could have been a fantastic spotlight for Irish creators, and potentially inclusive for those of Irish descent living abroad. (Who were still being treated abysmally just a century ago; that stuff leaves ripples into current generations. Sadly, my extended family are great examples of that.) If there is a global day celebrating indigenous heritage, that'd be an amazing one to do as well. Don't just focus on North American indigenous peoples, allow indigenous peoples globally to take part.
Obviously, Tapas can't accommodate the celebrations of every country. I'm not shouting for an Australia Day spotlight or anything. Just try to make the overall focus of events and spotlights more global.
I follow and participate in games, videos, etc that are made or created in other countries. If those people decided to celebrate/recognize a heritage, event, etc that is only for their country, then I would think that is pretty awesome and would support them 100%, even if their player/viewer base were majority in a different country.
Like if Tapas were based in Canada and they did some sort of Canadian-Asian celebration/recognition, that would not bother me. Would that also bother other people? Or is it just the fact that it's America? If it's just cause 'Merica, then there's probably another issue going on... Just a bit of food for thought.
If it were not Covid19, I'd agree with you, but this year is.. you know, different. It’s been awful for all Asians living in non-Asian nations.
I believe that the discussion itself is productive whether this month's celebration should be limited to Americans or not. It’s not diminishing the importance of it; it's showing more possibilities to respect people.
Bong Joon ho, the director of Parasite called Oscar “a local event”. AAPI month in Tapas looks like, yeh.. a local event. If Tapas wants to keep it that way, then well it is.
The main thing that turns this problematic, is the reason behind the event.
if it was just to celebrate the american exclusive event, that's cool.
but since they are doing this because of the increase of asian hate, something that isn't an exclusively american problem, it makes it look like they only care abou the American asian hate. aka, if asian hate happens outside of america, it doesn't concern them.
This surely isn't their intention!!
it's just what this approach implies when they are holding the event not to celebrate the american-asian culture (which is unarguably a unique experience to, idk, brazil, or italy, or south africa. seperating that would totally be fair) but, as they have stated, to do something in light of the asian hate.
because it says "we care about Asian hate, but only when it concerns asian-americans"
in the end they are a bussiness, so even charity or awareness campaigns, do boil down to business desicions and shouldn't be taken too much as a symbol of how much the company cares about its audience and users.
I believe they chose AAPI because May is dedicated to celebrating the AAPI community as it's been determined in the US.
If Tapas wants to do any other event to celebrate all Asian creators to stand against Asian hate, then they could very well choose any month.
It just so happens that May, AAPI month, is coming up and the AAPI community has been suffering as of late, so they thought why not give them a boost during the month that was dedicated for them.
I don't think it's that deep really.
Well, didn’t think I’ll see people envying other people for their struggles just to get free promotion. Tapas really needs to do something about circling more community comics on the front page or next 4th of July is gonna be about celebrating all countries independencies.
Hey, it's insensitive to call a minority group envies the other. They are both victims of hate crime in the first place. No one wants to be discriminated just to be featured on Tapas.
I'll only chime in once coz i have no desire to get in some back in forth but if there's truly such an issue then why not make your own asian heritage month threads?
Black creators made their own threads after the creators of color and black history month threads/banners (even before iirc) so if you'd really truly like to see promo threads for general asian diaspora creators then there's no harm just making one of your own and maybe asking mods to pin it alongside the main one they have officially
like i don't think anyone's trying to make accusations of oppression olympics but it's the way we're making complaints because they're highlighting just one specific region although that's where the company is based. Like there's no harm raising concerns but like someone else said its not that deep and like i'd said if your going to be so pressed then make the effort to do some boosting on your own than badgering a company that will make their own decisions (in some cases regardless of community opinion)
Absolutely agree!! Reducing this issue to " jealous people who wish they had promotion too" is very insensitive and doesn't seem be considering the point of views of the people that share the same ethnicity/heritage/race that is being discussed. As if nobody was talking to them and they shouldn't be voicing what they think.
We can enrich conversations when we consider the fact that not all creators come from the same country. Hopefully heritage recognition could be more than a "month of exposure" if we can learn listen to each other and truly recognize the diversity around the world.
I'm hopping in here from the other thread. Looks like I missed it.
I think everyone here understands the point about Tapas being an American Company, and I don't mean to speak for everyone as well, so I'll just add that this is my opinion. But it's hard to call Tapas a localized American Company, yes? I spend ink on a lot of novels/comics I read on the site, as a non-American resident. I'm sure they have a spectacularly global audience. And likewise, they have a spectacularly global creator base as well. In many ways, this makes Tapas a global community/company. Don't get me wrong. I don't think it's feasible to keep track of all the holidays/celebrations across the world, but in moments like these, there is a unique opportunity to make this a global phenomenon. More than a localized phenomenon.
What about Asians in other non-Asian countries, and even Asians in Asian countries? I've been featured twice on Tapas in my one year here, and it's still hard to explain that it's a win/success to my family. There's always this unyielding pressure to do something stable, to avoid creative pursuits, to avoid art as a passion, and much more along those lines. I have a job, but I do toy around with the idea of maybe doing this full-time someday.
A few of us (and recently many more) do overcome these pressures to dare, to dream. It's not comparable to racism and hate, but it's a kind of suffering in its own way. I know someone personally, who had to quit the saxophone to become an engineer, or risk being removed from his family. I'm talking about urban, cultured family people.
It's not about exposure. But more about an acknowledgement for some people. We're fighting different battles, and being acknowledged for your story (personal and created) means different things for different people. It doesn't always have to tie into the worst possible thing, in my opinion. It can be to help an Asian in Vietnam, or India believe that they can create stories on par with the West, on par with countries like Japan, South Korea, and China with their light novels. I absolutely loved Black History Month being a global event for Tapas. I know multiple countries observe the month, but still. It became this amazing that united people from across the world. AAPI can be that, too.
We live in that kind of world. We live in a digital world. We can form opinions, and we can be influenced depending on stories we read on Twitter/Facebook now. Access to information is so much more powerful. And with Tapas being in such an influential position, isn't this a modern, cool way to push through for their Asian creators/audience in a global level? To connect and celebrate together? 
It's more a, "Why not?" question. I don't know. It's a thought.