Relationships are hard — especially when the public is fascinated by your every move. Such is the case with gymnast Sunisa Lee, an Olympic gold medalist and a freshman at Auburn University, who recently announced her new relationship status with Jaylin Smith, who is Black and plays football at USC. But an image of the couple on Instagram was met with so many hateful messages that Lee, who is Hmong American, had to turn off comments on the post.
Backlash to interracial relationships isn’t a new thing, nor is it a uniquely Hmong, or Asian thing. The criticism of Suni Lee was complicated, reflecting the multi-faceted stereotypes and sometimes contradictory concerns of the broader Asian American community. But at least some of her critics came from a particularly toxic movement in the Asian community. And the kind of racially tinged sexism they perpetuate is gaining visibly online as part of a vocal minority of Asian men who feel ownership of Asian women specifically.