‘Chinese’ or ‘Any other Asian’. The boxes that people of vastly varied East and South East Asian heritage have to tick when declaring their ethnicity on many forms in the UK.
This represents a shameful sweeping together of a diverse heritage and experience. East and South East Asian people have lived and worked in the UK for centuries, fought for the British Army in both world wars, have influenced British culture through food, writing, music and art in a multitude of ways. And yet this influence is often overlooked.
People of ESEA heritage experience unique forms of racism. Asian food is mocked as unhealthy and Asian restaurants as dirty. ESEA women are exoticised and sexualised, and assumed to be the nanny of their mixed-race children. The community was scapegoated for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anna Sulan Masing addresses these issues in a comprehensive way. She explores what it means to be East and South East Asian in Britain today, and celebrates the varied experiences that make up ESEA identity. Powerful, moving and illuminating, this will be a must-read for anyone interested in the make-up of our multicultural society.
‘Vital reading, but also vital in the truest sense – real, alive, full of humanity, interrogatory, empathetic, energising’ Claire Kohda, author of WOMAN, EATING
This represents a shameful sweeping together of a diverse heritage and experience. East and South East Asian people have lived and worked in the UK for centuries, fought for the British Army in both world wars, have influenced British culture through food, writing, music and art in a multitude of ways. And yet this influence is often overlooked.
People of ESEA heritage experience unique forms of racism. Asian food is mocked as unhealthy and Asian restaurants as dirty. ESEA women are exoticised and sexualised, and assumed to be the nanny of their mixed-race children. The community was scapegoated for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anna Sulan Masing addresses these issues in a comprehensive way. She explores what it means to be East and South East Asian in Britain today, and celebrates the varied experiences that make up ESEA identity. Powerful, moving and illuminating, this will be a must-read for anyone interested in the make-up of our multicultural society.
‘Vital reading, but also vital in the truest sense – real, alive, full of humanity, interrogatory, empathetic, energising’ Claire Kohda, author of WOMAN, EATING
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Reviews
'Gave me company in some of my feelings that I've felt alone with for years, if not my whole life...vital reading, but also vital in the truest sense - real, alive, full of humanity, interrogatory, empathetic, energising'
An important, vital, and illuminating read. It deserves to be widely shared and read for its incredibly well-researched, personal, and direct exploration of society, racism, culture, food, the hypersexualisation of ESEA women, and gendered violence...made me re-think how I present myself, rewired my brain on the language I use, and inspired me to think beyond myself and how I can uplift my community and those around me. A true must-read.
Rigorous, revelatory and radical, Chinese and Any Other Asian is both a fascinating social history and a timely invitation to have better conversations about culture and ethnicity. Bold and necessary.