Rayhan Asat is one of the most vocal advocates today for the Uyghur people, her people, whose homeland in northwestern China is the scene of the Communist Party’s ongoing commission of what the United Nations says may be “crimes against humanity,” and what U.S. President Joseph Biden called a “genocide.” Among the roughly 1 million Turkic peoples detained, imprisoned, and forced into labor there — most of them Muslims — is Asat’s younger brother.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        It’s not whataboutism when the article literally talks about Joe Biden, the god damn president of the US, calling it a genocide. The same genocide denier in chief that is casting doubt on the actual death toll in Gaza and playing defense for the genocidal Zionist regime.

        Is there not a genocide against Black people happening in the US right now? If not, what exactly is the difference?

        It’s a pretty obvious double standard.

        • 0x815@feddit.deOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          what exactly is the difference?

          There is no difference. Both are crimes against humanity. But what you are doing is whataboutism nevertheless.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            1 year ago

            Whataboutism is when you bring up totally unrelated atrocities in to distract from the topic at hand.

            This directly relates to the exact same topic. That’s not whataboutism. That’s just pointing out hypocrisy.

            Also, to clarify, are you saying the US is committing genocide against its Black population?

            • 0x815@feddit.deOP
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              If someone posts an article about black people in the U.S. (and there are many), would you write a comment asking sonething like, “How about the genicide in Xinjiang or Tibet”?

              I guess you wouldn’t. But you do it here. And this is what we understand by whataboutism and double standards.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                5
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                I guarantee if there was an article about president Xi talking about Black people in the US the comments section would be full of comments about Xinjiang, but it’s only “whataboutism” when someone contrasts something against America. That should strike you as strange.

                Also, answer my question: are you saying the US is committing genocide against its Black population?

                • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  guarantee if there was an article about president Xi talking about Black people in the US the comments section would be full of comments about Xinjiang, but it’s only “whataboutism”

                  That is also a whataboutism, just because it’s more widely accepted in the west doesn’t make it right.

                  Also, answer my question: are you saying the US is committing genocide against its Black population?

                  Lol you get called out for a whataboutism, give an example of why it’s wrong to utilize, and then double down on your whataboutism?

                  are you saying the US is committing genocide against its Black population?

                  It honestly depends on your definition of genocide. I can confidently say that America has participated in genocide against black Americans up until recent history, but academically I’m not sure if the current level of repression counts as an active genocide.

                  That being said, it doesn’t detract from the crimes against humanity currently being committed in xinjiang. Two nations can commit crimes against humanity, both should be condemned accordingly.

                  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    arrow-down
                    6
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    1 year ago

                    lol you get called out for a whataboutism, give an example of why it’s wrong to utilize, and then double down on your whataboutism?

                    Jesus fuck I’m responding to the quote from Joe Biden in your fucking article.

                    Pointing out hypocrisy of someone quoted in the article is not whataboutism. Otherwise, what, am I just supposed to take the US president’s words at face value? As if he doesn’t have political motives and interests behind everything he says?

                    It honestly depends on your definition of genocide.

                    That’s my point. There’s no definition of genocide that would include the Uyghurs without also including Black people in America, yet here is Joe fucking Biden pointing out the mote in his neighbor’s eye while there’s a beam in his (or however that saying goes).

                    So since we’ve confirmed you won’t call America’s contemporary treatment of Black people genocide, do you think China is committing genocide?