Art Project on White(-passing) Privilege

As I am interacting with more and more immigrants in the East Coast, some common themes emerge: 1) peer group competition; 2) relative access to white privilege. It is partly due to the fact that we do not have access to many resources in general. Thus, we often appeal to our ethnic communities and are aware of how each person survives in white-supremacist America. But people who can sometimes pass as white also access that form of white privilege or white-passing privilege. This is an art project that has been born out of these themes.

From Wikipedia 

White privilege (or white skin privilege) is the societal privilege that in some countries benefits white people over non-white people, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. 

One person who exercised white privilege while also claiming ethnic membership, for example, is Mahmoud "Al-Astoria". The last name is not his real last name since I have decided to take into account that he was once a friend of my partner Walid. Walid does not want to disclose his last name.

He uses his ethnic resources as well as his ability to pass as white to leverage his road to success in America. Such contradictions have led to many people's cynicism in regards to the label "people of color." I still find this label useful for progressive political mobilization, and hopefully, this project can keep some of the people in this community accountable.

Adrian Qian. "Certificate #1." Digital Media. 2019.

Thus, I have written this certificate to convey my dismay at such survival practices, since I am a person of color who will not pass as white in all visual interactions. (My voice, on the other hand, with its East Coast accent, can pass as white.) I also acknowledge the fluidity of race, and thus I do not invoke any authority on this subject other than my personal name in the certificate.

This is also subject to context because not everyone wants to have the white-passing privilege. In the Arab American context is it especially important to talk about this aspect because 1) some white(-passing) Muslims have dominated discussions on Islam in America and 2) there are some Arab immigrants who use the N-word in conversations. My professor, who is Lebanese American, has also used the N-word in class. One of my classmates voiced her concern with her peers, but I do not think any other steps were taken.

This documentary "Not Quite White" by Jamil Khoury is also useful for understanding the long historical process of Arab American identity formation.

Some personal factors are also involved in making this certificate, and some of you may detect my spite. Simply, Mahmoud decided to invite us over for lunch. We traveled 5 hours from Boston and was 20 minutes late. He ended up ditching us altogether and was spotted eating lunch instead at Walid's old workplace in Astoria, NY.

Retracing the Uyghur Identity in Chinese / East Turkestan

This is a paper I wrote for a graduate history course taught by Prof. Ayesha Jalal at Tufts University in 2017. Prof. Jalal encouraged me to write on this subject and I am grateful for her interest. I have not edited it significantly since I submitted it. All mistakes are my own.

I had my own reservations of sharing my findings then; things in Turkestan have exacerbated significantly since my writing of this paper. As a non-Muslim Han Chinese who is in solidarity with Uyghur aspirations for autonomy, I am feeling increasingly powerless and voiceless. I am drained from feeling sad and angry from news of the concentration camps, such as the recent Vice documentary on how the Chinese communist state systematically separates Uyghur children from their relatives and parents, many who have left East Turkestan for better opportunities.

I am also disappointed at the many nations and international bodies who have not denounced this well-documented atrocity. Some of the protesters of Hong Kong this summer expressed their solidarity with the Uyghurs in concentration camps and are a delightful exception. While the cause for discrimination and torture against Uyghurs in East Turkestan ("Xinjiang") is rooted in some of the racist attitudes and/or ignorance of religious practices, it is important to remember that the current system uses Uyghur men and women to torture Uyghur men and women, just as Han Chinese are used by the system to other police Han Chinese. While the degrees of suffering under the current regime vary, the flagrant denial of human rights can be felt by any person in China (as well as Hong Kong) under the current regime. Still, I think it is appropriate to use the word "cultural genocide" for the present situation of East Turkestan.

from @AbdugheniSabit on Twitter: "More Hong Kong protesters who occupied the Legislative Council spraypainted the below to show who they stand in solidarity with #Uyghurs."
The graffiti text says: "China will pay for its crimes against Uyghur Muslims."

This paper has been written with care and compassion, though I am aware that the findings can upset anyone, as history often does. I have never visited "Xinjiang" or East Turkestan. Still, I am publishing it here in hopes that this paper can create a sense of continuity for whoever is interested in this area's history, regardless of ethnicity or religion. The former title I submitted was "Retracing the Uyghur Identity in Chinese Turkestan" but I have modified it for this blog post.