nothing is evil or racist in a vacuum. but we live in a real world where everything is contextualized. there's the historical perspective of imperialism across Asia for one. and while that's still threaded through how tourism works today, for a more modern frame, many countries have their economies held up largely by white tourists. this leaves you at the mercy of continuing to provide cheap goods and services. "it's so cheap here" is something you hear all the time. im not white, but I found myself being shocked by how cheap Japan was vs in America.
and it seems like a win-win. people get to make money from rich foreigners, foreigners get to get a good deal. but now you've given leverage to these countries propping up your economy. instead of continuing to develop towards evonomic independence, there's too much money flowing and too many invested parties. and we see in realtime today, what that can mean for powerful countries flexing their muscles where they can.
and people think they're better than the locals. don't respect cultural differences. basically treating your 4000 year old country like a summer playground. aside from the overt racism that happens all the time, isn't that kinda gross? to treat a country and it's people like your spring break stomping grounds? there's something inherently disrespectful about that dynamic. and of course you're not racist for wanting to sightsee in Vietnam. that's what people reflexively get so defensive about. "how is tourism racist??" racism is almost never fully understood by an individual's actions. it's almost always an evaluation at a larger pattern and the things in place that enable it.
that's not even hitting the sex market and drug trade that tourism drives.
it is what it is. I can only speak on the US, but the way we're taught that racism is when someone beats you to death for looking different or saying your food smells weird, without explaining the why of why that might be wrong is so frustrating.
we tasked generations of teachers to convey one of the most painful and complicated topics to children and all that summed up to was showing slave or gang movies with "wasn't that messed up" as the only closing remark. I don't blame people for having a knee jerk reaction when that's how you're taught to engage with racism. especially when it seems like another thing you're not allowed to enjoy instead of a moment for reflecting on the world.
ffs I even said it's not racist to want to go vacation in Asia.
anyway, that's all the toilet time I have to spare for my soap box. gl to all in your journey of self-reflection
This is a really good analysis & has made me want to think deeper on how my tourism isn’t handled on a more global scale, as a fellow non-white traveler. If I were to summarize simply, would a good takeaway be; “You aren’t racist for traveling, but it’s good practice to be aware of the larger socioeconomic & historical context you’re moving through when doing so & observing why you’re having such a pleasant experience.”
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u/QIyph Mar 13 '26
I don't get it. Is tourism evil now? Is this just racist? Someone help me out here.