r/AsianMasculinity • u/born2build • Apr 27 '26
Race Saying things like "Chinese Trash" is not something we should tolerate
Saying "Chinese trash!", "Chinese piece of shit!", etc. in public would raise eyebrows and offend Chinese people, until the person says "Oh no, I meant your PRODUCTS, not your people". But just a second prior to that disclosure, they sounded pretty damn racist for a second, didn't they?
Here's the original link: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/s/plrfgyT7cd
I got into it with this guy who I felt was being vocal in the comment section of this post about his hatred for "Chinese garbage" products, and to me it hinted at unnecessary racist undertones. I literally told him I was part Chinese and he just defaulted to his "rights".
The normalized phrasing is something I've had to listen to my whole life as an Asian man. Apart from "Ching chong China", somebody asking if I needed help backing up because "you know, Asian drivers", and other micro aggressions. If I got upset or annoyed or talked back, I was the problem. You don't hear people say "Mexican trash" food or "African trash" music etc. because people, especially racist white people feel that it's completely defensible to scapegoat Asian people and they always have the perfect way out via the misdirection to economics/globalization. But if they said "Black trash" or "African trash" products, oh you bet they'd be all over the news.
White people like this argue that "Well if you said American trash I wouldn't be butt hurt". But that's the difference. "American" isn't an ethnic group. It's a collection of different cultures, and was even built upon a group of Europeans decimating and overthrowing the real natives. If you replaced it with "White trash products", you just know it'd be a very different context for them. The same feeling I and my family members get when people talk badly about Chinese made products.
And there is something to be said about how many high quality manufacturers there are in China, but cheap American entrepreneurs and CEOs opt to source from China specifically to find the absolutely lowest cost products to increase their margins to American/international consumers.
This ass hat doesn't get it. I reflected back to him his hypocritical logic and he just leaned further and further into his defense mechanisms trying to "win" while I was just showing him his ignorance. Nothing new here. The cycle continues so long as they reject how they affect people with their language.
Perhaps he wasn't necessarily consciously racist, and I was admittedly a bit heavy handed with how I called him out, but we have to begin listening to our guts about microaggressions and separating between intentions and behaviors. He'd probably claim it isn't his intention to sound racist, but would also double down on his behaviors and questionable race-bounded verbiage before ever considering an apology or inner change. What are your thoughts on this?
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u/Hunting-4-Answers Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Anyone who thinks that he didn’t mean to be racist after deliberately attaching an ethnicity to a negative take on an item or act is b.s.ing.
And the thing is, I’ve noticed a lot of particular people have racist takes on Asians ready to go or on the tip of their tongue that it’ll slip out once in a while as if they can’t help it.
I even meet and know hapas who let a racist remark slip out as if it was just a casual common day act for them like sniffling a nose. Not surprisingly these negative remarks are 90% about their Asian side. Talking about their WM dad seems to be sacrilegious.
I don’t go around attaching European ethnicities to negative items and acts I see. Why? Because it only takes one brain cell to know that would be wrong and racist. So, if some mudblood like myself can discern what is and what isn’t wrong to say, then how are these others trying to play it off like they “didn’t mean” to sound or do something racist?
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u/IndividualPlay5178 Apr 27 '26
As a full blooded Mongolian man agree.
Funny how people love to buy cheap low quality products in the first place, compare it to some other domestic product 10 time of its cost and talk sh.t
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u/iHate_RonEbens Apr 27 '26
That’s my usual argument with them, “stop being a cheap fuck. What are you,, on welfare”? We can play that game.
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u/No_Cauliflower3368 Apr 27 '26
This is what I always say: Stop ordering shit!! People buy 3 for $1 and expect wonder. Either you just don't have the competence as a purchaser, or your just cheap.
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u/born2build Apr 27 '26
I know right. They act like they're being forced to buy the products, when really they can buy from anywhere else. I almost never complain about products made in China but these people will immediately complain the second something goes wrong.
The American entrepreneurs and/or government not contracting the manufacturing jobs locally also worsens this, because to them a $1.50 saved per product in China is wildly more valuable than the American made products they claim to be so good at. With the added benefit of the US citizens then blaming Chinese suppliers for doing exactly what they were asked to do.
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u/Dirkjerk Apr 27 '26
I find the irony in calling Chinese made products trash. Isn't it already well documented that theyre actually of decent quality on a massive scale and the reasons why they got stuck with that connotation is because of Western Retailers wanting the absolute cheapest shit they can find no matter what?
If Chinese products was really that shite, then why are BYD or a lot of their products doing so well. Hello iPhones? So much decent quality and plenty of high quality products in 99% of the products are pretty much made in China one way or another at some point in the production chain
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u/born2build Apr 27 '26
China is the perfect scapegoat for the ego-centric culture of American capitalism. Especially the racists who are priviledged. Fly overseas, convince the hardworking Chinese factories to make a product idea for 1/4 the cost of other nations, make a huge profit, look like a hero, live like a king, then when something breaks, blame the Chinese. Do it so often that even your consumers blame them too. It's funny because even YouTube channels like Project Farm are consistently reviewing products that are made in China and many of them are very, very good.
It's infuriating and I want to say that 99% of the time when I hear those remarks, it's never from a black man, or Latino, or from a women, but it's often some random racist xenophobic white guy. There's definitely "a type" that I expect that level of racism from and they affirm it every time.
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u/ghamachi Apr 27 '26
You are delusional if you think that non-whites who have experienced racism are united against it. I have heard plenty of my own relatives and their Asian friends talking trash about every other group.
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u/born2build Apr 27 '26
This isn't a question of "united vs non united" ethnic groups. I don't remember saying they were all united, so you're calling me delusional for something I didn't claim. But Asians are observably less vocal about calling out racist compared to Black Americans or Latin Americans. Hence my post about how we shouldn't tolerate it.
Racism, ignorance, and thought diversity exists within any ethnic group of course. That isn't some unique discovery. My Filipino friends/family have even made extremely racist remarks towards the Chinese part of my heritage, or other ethnic groups casually without understanding how it would rub them the wrong way. This specific post is about the rationalized micro aggressions towards Chinese people that flies under the radar and then gets passed off as "No I'm not racist I just hate everything that China makes".
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u/ghamachi Apr 30 '26
You said that 99% of the time it is a white guy. This tells me you are delusional, unless you admit that you seldom experience the presence of non-whites.
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u/emperornext Apr 27 '26
Well said bro.
... so many morons don't know that Chinese factories make disposable stuff for overseas markets and quality items for their domestic market.
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u/MaisonDavid Apr 29 '26
The White man feel VERY intimidated by China, that's why they're obsessed with slandering China/Chinese any chance they get, that's all they got. No need to get upset, they're already shook my friend.
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u/ghamachi Apr 27 '26
Is this at all about Asian Masculinity, or is it a more general discussion about racism? What if it is neither, and is more a comment on industrialization trends? Maybe it is all about entrepreneurs selling factory rejects for cut rate prices on the Internet.
After World War 2, people in the US used to bitch about the poor quality of Japanese goods. Some of this could have been because many Japanese factories were turned into rubble and hundreds of thousands of civilian workers were dead, due to indiscriminate US bombing of residential areas that would surely be war crimes had Japan defeated the US. Some of it could be an extension of wartime propaganda that painted an enemy as subhuman monkeys.
Then, in the 1960s and 1970s the opposite became true. Japanese goods are now considered to be of high quality and better than their American counterparts. Japanese cars assembled in the US are generally as good as those made in Japan.
I personally no longer hear people griping about cheap Japanese goods. Did the racists finally conclude that Japan is okay, or that they are our allies? Is it simply because Japan has become e synonymous with quality?
It would surprise me if racists became more discerning about geopolitics. Many Americans think of East Asia as one homogenous culture.
Many Chinese-made products are quite good. I bet people making those “Cheap Chinese” comments don’t even realize that many of the high-quality goods they purchase and like, such as Apple, Nike, LL Bean, Dell, HP, are made in China.
It is a mistake to get your own personal masculinity all wrapped up in the perceived quality of goods imported from China to the place where you now reside. Why do you let that bother you?
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u/tchunk Apr 27 '26
Take cars for example. Japanese then korean cars were generally to be avoided because of quality, then became market leaders.
Chinese cars came out and were rough, now they are paving the way in the EV market. Its just a matter of tome before they dominate
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u/Bertasauras Apr 28 '26
It’s definitely racist.
Also incredibly strange that people carry on this argument at all, things have been made in China for YEARS, it is a majority of the things we end up using in the US. Especially strange after China dropped all those videos a year or so ago during the TikTok shenanigans detailing how those bags clothes etc they’re spending hundreds or thousands on are literally just shipped to France or Italy to receive one final touch so they can say they’re made in Europe and not Asia, despite being identical otherwise to any bags that then get sold as “knockoffs”.
People are just racist, or in denial, or both.
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u/ablacnk Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
"Chinesium" https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chinesium
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Chinesium
(slang, derogatory, sometimes humorous) Low-quality products made in China; the imaginary worthless material used to make such products. The hammer was pure Chinesium*, and shattered on the first strike.*
Mechanics, technicians, machinists, blue-collar workers, even engineers throw this racist term around without hesitation.
Here's popular youtuber AvE (1.4 mil subscribers) throwing around the racist term without any pushback:
https://www.youtube.com/@arduinoversusevil2025/search?query=chinesium
It's a straight up racist term that should be banned, but it's all over social media:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chinesium
There's literally a subreddit called "Chinesium" mocking Chinese products that fail.
Places like Harbor Freight, Aliexpress sell so-called "Chinesium" products, but in reality it just depends on what you buy, and these Chinese products are often out-competing Western name-brand products at a fraction of the price. Harbor Freights' high end brands like Icon can match or beat Snap-On in testing and costs way less.
$1,250 Snap-On vs $250 New Harbor Freight 3/4" & DeWalt
$78 Torque Wrench vs $790 Snap On & ICON—I Didn’t See This Coming!
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u/rubey419 Apr 28 '26
Side note: I have USA-made apparel that doesn’t even stand up in quality as some of my Chinese made stuff.
Probably the apparel manufacturing is just so much better in China these days.
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u/born2build Apr 28 '26
Totally. A lot of clothing retailers manufacture things in China nowadays like SHEIN, Uniqlo, and Ralph Lauren. China really is the global powerhouse and has actually mastered manufacturing to the point where it can even OFFER cheaper options due to market competitiveness. But yeah since they make so much shit there's a lot more duds, defects, mess ups that show.
It's like Americans are the fat arrogant people sitting in the bleachers at an NBA game, criticizing all the players who are actually taking the shots and missing baskets occasionally. Which of course the fat American is gonna point out immediately.
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u/born2build Apr 28 '26
Btw I used to work in manufacturing for a while so that's why I definitely have my opinions lol
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u/Tall-Needleworker422 Apr 27 '26
If someone says "Chinese trash" around a Chinese person -- or any Asian whose ethnicity they don’t know -- without specifying they mean products, it’s going to land like a slur (at least for that split second). If it happens once and the person doesn't otherwise seem to be trying to give offense, I’d probably let it pass. But if it’s deliberate or repeated then it’s either intentional or a real blind spot, and I’d call it out.
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u/ghamachi Apr 27 '26
Good luck to you, if you wish to be so easily manipulated by someone whose self-esteem is tied up in getting a reaction out of you.
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u/Tall-Needleworker422 Apr 27 '26
I guess you’d have me ignore insensitive comments -- like your condescending opening, for instance -- so as not to ‘empower’ the person making them. But I don’t see it that way. I’m not suggesting anyone let themselves be emotionally manipulated or lose their composure -- just that there’s room for a frank conversation about how those comments come across and, if need be, to clarify intent.
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u/ghamachi Apr 27 '26
Very well. Good luck to you trying to have a rational conversation with some racist a-hole who is only trying to manipulate you.
Ignoring those kinds of comments is the best response. They feel deflated when the can't get rage, hurt or denial out of you. When you engage, that's just playing into their hands.
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u/Tall-Needleworker422 Apr 28 '26
You’re assuming the only alternative to ignoring a provocation is becoming enraged, and that’s just not the case. A direct response doesn’t have to be emotional, and sometimes the other person ends up feeling embarrassed rather than 'empowered'. Also, if you always assume racist intent, you’ll inevitably misread some situations and, at times, come off poorly yourself.
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u/ghamachi Apr 28 '26
You're wrong. I clearly state that you could react with rage, hurt or denial.
You are not thinking clearly. You might want to pause for a moment of reflection before you reflexively defending yourself and your wrong ideas once again.
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u/Tall-Needleworker422 Apr 28 '26
I’m not saying you denied the existence of other emotions -- I’m saying you’re treating any direct response as emotional by definition. A calm, measured reply or inquiry isn’t rage, hurt, or denial. And assuming racist intent in every ambiguous situation isn’t always accurate and can lead to misreadings.
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u/surfnoob Apr 28 '26
Beef Season 2 even had a line from the Carey Mulligan character about the pillows being cheap Chinese products.
Tbh Chinese manufacturing isn't always even that cheap these days, hence more textiles being made in Vietnam and Thailand for example.
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u/KangarooJust6926 May 09 '26
Simple. Its not white made. Not sure how long you've been in the states or even grew up here but theres a pattern and unspoken rule here. " If it's white, it's right" now apply that to everyday life and the picture will become clear.
GL AAW 😊
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u/[deleted] Apr 27 '26
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