You know the kind of content creators that make videos being intentionally obnoxious? It’s their brand to show up, do something socially unacceptable, then cower when someone points it out. Naturally, these content creators gravitate towards racism. One such content creator had their boring strategy (and character) dragged through the mud when a Florida YouTuber spotted their content on TikTok, calling it out for only making race more of a problem for people.
YouTuber Amala Ekpunobi shared on TikTok a video she watched of a man walking through an Asian grocery store in an attempt to get people to side-eye him, while suggesting every side-eye from White people he gets is because he’s Asian. Amata argues, “I see a woman who is just trying to do her grocery shopping,” and she’s right. In fact, most of the people in the man’s video don’t seem to pay him much attention, if at all.
On the way out of the grocery store, the guy offers a few phrases in Korean to use while in Korean stores, which is arguably the most helpful part of the video. But at what cost? Racist White people make fools of themselves at nauseum, like what one Black man experienced at Costco in California. There’s no need to make stuff up!
The backlash the man got was mostly negative, with several people being performatively outraged. Some wanted to play victim (mostly White people, too), while others celebrated their love of Asian food.
“Wait. Am i supposed to be side eyeing Asian people at Publix? No one told me,” one commenter joked. Wouldn’t you side-eye anyone being a weirdo recording you? He was being so subtle anyway, no one seemed to notice his presence.
Another bemoaned the Asian man, suggesting “There would be riots” if it were the other way around. Unfortunately, this person probably lives online too much. The guy was getting dragged through the mud just as much as a White person being racist. It’s an unserious opinion.
Another commenter got to the heart of the issue: “Ppl feel too comfortable filming strangers and posting it on the internet.”
So, folks, do yourself a favor and don’t record people in public, without their consent. Also, as one commenter suggested, you should only be side-eyeing White people who “don’t eat Asian food,” which is reasonable enough.
