Asians in the Library Song

I also reflected further on the YouTube videos shown in class, specifically the response video to the UCLA student’s racist rant. I approve of his use of humor and music, but the content of the song was sexist and did not address the root of her racist comments, it simply made fun of her racism and her gender. This does not provide the viewer with an effective way to combat racism, other than to demean and laugh at the person making racist comments, which is usually ineffective. I believe his methods would have been more beneficial to UCLA students, and other viewers, if he had given a historical context of the racist beliefs heard in her video and demonstrated ways in which UCLA’s Asian American students are effected today, as well as how to fight them. This type of video could inform and empower many people, instead of demeaning the single person responsible for this specific act of racism through hyper-sexualization. While I do commend him for his creative action, this could have been much more effective in combating racism if he had presented more information instead of relying solely on humor that relied heavily on another form of oppression. This could have also demonstrated a positive way in which activists can use YouTube’s easily accessibility and popularity among university students.