Recently, Selena Gomez has been finding herself in quite some trouble. And no, this time it’s not concerning Justin Beiber. Her performance for her hit single “Come and Get It” is questioned for its Bollywood style outfits and the usage of a Bindi.

After her performance at the MTV Movie Awards,  The Universal Society of Hinduism demanded an apology for the performance claiming that it was insensitive. They pointed out that the Bindi is an ancient tradition in Hinduism and has religious significance which Selena has no actual correlation to. Twitter users have also been voicing their opinion that Selena’s cultural appropriation is not cute.

This didn’t seem to phase Gomez, however, since she continued with the get-up yesterday at the Billboard Music Awards. This raises the question- is this performance racist? In previous posts, we have found fault in those who use yellowface and blackface and is this not the same thing? Others argue that Selena’s performance does nothing to insult the culture. They point out that she is actually embracing and celebrating Hinduism and indeed- Gomez shows no sign of placing a negative light on Hinduism.

But is it right to celebrate a culture when you don’t know the struggle behind it? Is it right to only use what you think is pretty (the outfits, the dancing, the bindi etc.) without understanding the deeper meaning behind the traditions? Is it fair to dress up in a certain culture to “celebrate” it, but have the option to take off the outfit/the identity whenever you please? Check out the performance below and let us know what you think.

Here at Audrey, we’ve come across quite a handful of racist videos. We’ve seen these videos come  from fraternities, angry college students, and even people who simply want to share their dislike of a culture. Every single time, we wonder why they never stop and think that what they’re about to publish is controversial. Obviously, this thought doesn’t seem to stop them because racist videos continue to pop up on the web. Just as we had come to the conclusion that nothing would surprise us- something did.  We definitely didn’t expect to see a racist video coming from the LA Department Of Public Works.

Using taxpayers money, the LA Department of Public Works put together a video showing a non-Asian man dressed as a geisha girl and sporting a mock Japanese accent. They claim that the video aimed to teach viewers about recycled water at the video’s location- the Japanese Garden at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. Though they claim that the short had good intentions, it was difficult to focus on anything they were trying to say. Instead, our attention was grabbed by the poorly done mockery of Japanese culture.

Greg Kimura, the head of the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, voiced his anger towards the film. “It brings back all the worst stereotypes. The accents, the whiteface. I’m embarrassed for everybody who is involved in this. If there’s a remedy to this, it would be something like an apology and taking it down immediately.” says Kimura.

And that’s exactly what they did. The youtube video was removed and Cora Jackson-Fossett, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works, released a public apology. “We apologize profusely that we missed the mark totally. We made a mistake. We’re extremely sorry. It was an attempt at humor that failed,” she said.

Watch the CBS News Report here.

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Well, in another episode of When the Racist Receipt Strikes, the latest comes from a CVS in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, where a worker identified Hyun Lee as “Ching Chong Lee” on a ticket as she was picking up photos on February 7. Following the incident, Lee filed a complaint to CVS customer relations and was told that the worker would be “counseled and trained.” You know, the standard response for complaints similar to this situation.

Of course, that wasn’t enough. On April 16, a federal discrimination suit was filed, seeking $1 million from CVS. Lee’s attorney, Susan Chana Lask stated “Store counseling cannot correct intolerable discrimination” and also demanded the worker be fired.

In response, Mike DeAngelis, a representative for the CVS Caremark Corporation, did not comment on the suit, but stated the company has a non-discrimination policy: “CVS/pharmacy is committed to treating all of our customers with dignity and respect.” Well, that’s nice that you want to re-state that, buddy. 

A press conference is expected to take place today.

What do you think, readers?

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Its no secret that we still face racism today. Every time I start to believe that I live in my ideal/equal world, acts like this bring me back to the reality that we still have a long way to go. From men making videos discussing why they hate Asians to teenagers making instagrams titled  Asiansareugly, racism continues to use social media for its brutality.

Recently, tons of  Twitter users have spoken against the Asian community after watching the film Olympus Has Fallen. Now I understand anger towards an antagonist of a film, but this is no excuse for attacking an entire community. Why on earth are you going to perpetuate hate for all Asians just because you see a film where the villains happen to be Asian? If you see an antagonist that is Caucasian,  do all Caucasians suddenly deserve your hatred as well?

We’ve witnessed this too many times in real life to simply take this as a joke. You may say we’re overreacting and being sensitive, but trust me- if you were told that someone wants to physically harm and/or kill you simply because of the way you looked, you’d be angry too.

Click on to see more of the racist comments.
DISCLAIMER: The following twitter comments and images contain profanity/vulgar language.
(SOURCE) 

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This was brought to my attention recently by a friend – the Instagram account ‘Asiansareugly’. Yes, readers – the account is basically what you think it is. Two users (and both Caucasian girls) who go by ‘Cass’ and ‘Zoe’ point out various Asian IG users and spew out a bunch of distasteful comments about their features, all accompanied by heinous amounts of profanity and vulgar language. I’m less than inclined to post their commentary (I see no point in spreading the hate) – but I’ll give you some warning if you decide to check it out. The number of followers are growing pretty quickly, as the account is only about two days old.

I’m more intrigued by the idea of these IG accounts (with outrageous usernames and purposes) for the sake of gaining popularity (in this case, it’s attracting a lot of negative feedback) by younger women. Whether these accounts are real or fake – nevertheless, they’re still spreading some sort of hate. Clearly, with the internet age – we’re not living in post-racial society as people would like to believe.

You would think that after Alexandra Wallace’s  ”Asians in the Library” stunt, people would know better than to insult the strong Asian community. Wallace was met with such angry and passionate reactions that it simply doesn’t seem logical for anyone else to follow in her footsteps.

Well this guy doesn’t seem to get it. Already getting the attention of many, this fellow has been dubbed the “Male Alexandra Wallace” for his racist comments about Asians. Some people are suggesting that this is a joke, but let’s be real- joke or not, this is just another example of ignorance.  Watch the video below and tell us what you think: