THE CHELSIE COATES MANIFESTO

1. Chineseness should not flippantly be referred to as Oriental.
   
2. White privilege is appropriate to anyone. It is a varying degree, like a scale.  
   
3. The Self and the Other are constructs created by a power imbalance lead by the West. The Self must take ownership for the privilege and help to rebalance order.
   
4. Those who pass as white are higher on the level of white privilege, and should use this privilege to help those of their minority brothers and sisters to regain balance.
   
5. No-one should be wearing sexualised versions of the cheongsam. Being an ethnic minority that is non Chinese should not excuse behaviour that should be classed as racism.
   
6. The idea of not ‘seeing colour’ is inherently problematic as it washes away millennia of prejudice and wrongdoing. We should see colour, not care about the differences, but remember the years of institutionalised immorality that must be rectified.
   
7. Racism is not just aggressive and in your face. It presents far more delicately in micro-aggressions, and stereotyping. Those who only see racism as the former are just as bad as those who ‘do not see race’.
   
8. The wearing and parading of ‘Oriental’ fashion, (not just clothing but beauty, culture and histories) or any minority at that, create a place for the Self to capitalise on ideals that the Other would be looked down upon for embracing.
   
9. Palatability is a huge effect on the way that traditions and looks are seen on any minority. Passing as white creates an intersection of a possibility for abuse of privilege vs. using ones pass-ability for helping those who do not pass.