Wouldn’t it be far worse if white people said “I don’t give a fuck about the individual opinions of POC about race. I’m just going to google ‘race in America’ and read the first few links and call it a day.” Because that seems like it is a far worse approach than asking people for their thoughts.

No, they can’t both be valid. That would meanness that all stories aren’t black and white, and as prior comments illustrated, plenty of people have no room for nuance.

I get your argument and you may well be right, I just don’t think it holds water very well in this specific situation. It is fair to ask to speak to someone who has carved out a role as an expert and who is criticizing you personally. From many people’s perspective Cho wildly mischaracterized her communications with…

Omfg. To get more in-depth on the issue. Knowing an answer is not the same as knowing how you got there. Ask a math teacher.

Exactly, it is such a “lose/lose” situation. I usually stay quiet during these debates because yes, I am a white person, and I know that my input isn’t needed for many discussions surrounding race, but this debate is really bothering me because it seems non-sensical to me. When white people in entertainment ignore…

I don’t have a thought on Tilda and I never said anything pertaining to GB in general so I’m not sure what you’re implying.

I explain Judaism all the time. Even questions about “But don’t you believe in Jesus?” I don’t tell them fuck off and figure it out themselves. My God, don’t you want people to learn? Especially from someone who has positioned herself as a spokesperson? smdh

I’d be with you if Swinton had asked anyone but Margaret Cho. She is so vocal about representing Asians and Koreans specifically. How can one person represent an entire group of people or a culture? I don’t know, ask Margaret! She is the Korean authority!

Cho was publicly criticizing Swinton and Swinton is barred from talking to her about it? That’s some next level bullshit.

This isn’t like running up to a person using a wheelchair and asking “What’s your community’s stance on the ADA?”

Wait, what? Swinton knew and respected Cho’s work, knew that she had a strong opinion on the issue, and asked to be put in touch to understand Cho’s point of view.

It really feels like lose/lose for Tilda here.

Yeah, I mean I would get it if Tilda just picked some random Asian out of a hat but Cho was specifically criticizing Swinton as early as May so it makes the go to person to ask why people are upset with you is the person who is saying people are upset with you.

I think Cho comes off looking worse in this than Tilda. Though my first thought was why on earth would she seek out the opinion of Margaret Cho in the first place? It seems like just such a bizarre out of nowhere email to send to someone. I mean maybe there is some more backstory here that we aren’t getting, but that…

Cho has made herself one of the main voices of this debate and was publicly criticizing the movie and Swinton. If someone does that, they can’t then claim that if someone wants to talk about it with them that they are being turned to as the only Asian in the room. She has set herself up as an expert on this issue for…

Blackwashing? They picked an awesome actor to play an important role that was not defined by race. Move on. The list of actors who are better than Chiwetel Ejiofor is pretty short. It’s not like he wasn’t qualified from a skill, charisma or box office perspective to play the roll.

But it kind of is our job when they have no frame of reference in which to relate. The fact that they’re asking at all shows some self-awareness of that, and the fact that they’ve approached a POC shows they don’t know where to start, so they go to the source. Right or wrong, misguided or not, at least they’re asking t…

Black dude here. I think one of the reasons we say “white person doesn’t get it” it is because unless you have immersed yourself in the culture, the people, and traditions it really is hard to get it. In America white culture is presented as the norm (TV, movies, magazines, politics for the most part) so different…

I’m Asian, and I even wrote about my problem with Dr. Strange’s whitewashedness in The Washington Post. And I find Tilda’s responses to be nuanced and willing to listen. If this is truly the receipts, Swinton has my respect for trying to respectfully navigate this issue.

“Not interested in punishing Tilda. I think she’s amazing. And I think she has a blindspot here. The two things can exist together.”

+1 yes. So often we’re looking for one bad person and one good person at the end of an exchange like this one. Understanding nuance saves us from a lot of misplaced anger.