YouTuber Liza Koshy Apologizes For Perpetuating Racist Asian Stereotypes
After social media blasted her for perpetuating racist Asian stereotypes by mocking accents and pretending to speak Japanese, YouTuber Liza Koshy is now apologizing for her past actions. The apology is in regards to at least one video, posted in 2016, showing Koshy and her then-boyfriend and fellow YouTuber, David Dobrik, pretending to have Asian accents while tasting candy from Japan and Hawaii.
Taking to Instagram, Koshy writes, “While we focus on systemic anti-Black racism in country, I’ve been hesitant to center my voice. My work has been within but now I recognize and take responsibility for the times I was not the ally I am becoming today. Being anti-racist requires a personal reckoning, and I can’t in good faith continue to use my platform for progress without taking accountability myself. I am taking inventory, taking initiative and taking note that my impact and influence will weigh greater than my intention.”
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She continues, “What I one thought of as ‘innocent jokes’ were actually tainted with implicit bias, and what might have been intended as ‘playful’ was actually to some, incredibly painful. And for that, I am so sorry. As a woman of color and a self-defined ‘little brown girl,’ I have experienced the harm of prejudices in my own life. However, this reality does not exempt me from the responsibility of acknowledging the times I’ve unknowingly perpetuated racist ideas.”
Additionally, she writes, “I see now that some of y previous influences and my own past thinking, speaking and storytelling reinforced stereotypes. I created characters of different cultures with the intent of celebrating them, but with the impact of appropriating them. IMPACT outweighs INTENT. I am sorry to the beautiful communities that I have caused hurt within.”
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“It takes a combination of individual and collective reckoning with our past to heal and move forward together. Consider this my resignation from ignorance, and my declaration as an ally in action. I will give grace, make space and break these damn systems in place like my life depends on it…because too many do. Thank you to my guardian angles in life and online who have been gracefully guiding this growth of mine, and I thank God for my continued awakening.”
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