Katy Perry isn't British or Asian, why is she the ambassador for The British Asian Trust?
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Katy Perry in her 2018 Witness tour Credit: Giorgio Erriquez/Flickr/Creative Commons
The British Asian Trust is a charity that Prince Charles founded in 2007, with a group of South Asian businessmen to tackle widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in South Asia. Its first event brought together the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams for a friendly match in Scotland, and since then it has launched initiatives for mental health, empowering girls, and education across South Asia.
Currently, there are 33 ambassadors for the British Asian Trust, including Naughty Boy, Konnie Huq and James Caan (CBE), and past ambassadors include stars like Zayn Malik.
Earlier this month, Katy Perry was appointed by Prince Charles as an ambassador for the British Asian Trust. Katy Perry is neither British nor Asian, and has the distinct honour of being the first non-Asian person to be appointed as ambassador to the trust in the 13 years since it was founded.
Prince Charles, is said to have appointed Perry due to her “long-standing commitment to charitable causes around the world” and to work with the trust's Children’s Protection Fund. Presumably, all three million British Asians were busy so Katy Perry, with her Sanskrit tattoo and Vogue India cover, was clearly the next best choice.
A white American woman with no ties to our community has been chosen to represent us and our philanthropic efforts abroad and it’s insulting.
It smacks of a “white saviour” complex, disregarding the work done by British Asians today. It plays into a tired trope that people of colour need white people to save us from ourselves. This is particularly harmful, as it removes the agency and ability of our communities to be able to do the work that needs to be done.
Perrys appointment is just another example of people of colour being overlooked and unable to the get the roles/work we should and can do because of a sense of entitlement and flagrant disregard for cultural awareness.
This whole debacle feeds into the feeling that despite the obstacles and institutionalised racism British Asians have overcome to be at the forefront of arts, entertainment, science and literature, we still cannot compare to our white counterparts, even on issues that relate directly to us.
The British Asian Trust has responded to criticism over her appointment and defended the decision saying:
And perhaps given that the British Asian Trust is a charity, they should be at perfect liberty to appoint whomsoever they choose.
Yes and no.
Firstly, Prince Charles appointed her to the role and that was ostensibly the full extent of the decision making process. To have a member of the British monarchy appoint an American white woman, completely removed from Asian culture or heritage, to be an ambassador for British Asians is a vignette of colonial attitudes perversely rearing its head in modern society.
Secondly, if you go on the British Asian Trust website, it states that they are a ‘diaspora-led’ international development organisation. I must have missed the ceremony that initiated Katy Perry into the Asian diaspora.
No one even sent me a box of mithai to mark the occasion.
Thirdly, if the charity purports to represent British Asians then it stands to reason that they have a responsibility to select a person from that specific community. This could even be taken a step further, with a community-wide consultation that could lead the British Asian community some agency in the decision.
Authentic representation is an important tool in showing minority communities their potential and power, and there has been a distinct lack of thought on what message Perry’s appointment sends to young British Asians.
It would be remiss to ignore the fact that Perry has a disappointing track record when it comes to cultural appropriation. She has perpetuated harmful stereotypes of Asian people in the past and even dressed up an Indian child as french fries to use a prop for her photos. The British Asian Trust surely should have picked a British Asian and not someone who will just cosplay as one.
This is not a critique of Perry’s philanthropic efforts; her commitment to tackling child trafficking is laudable and she should be rightly commended for wanting to make a difference. However, she has co-opted a platform that should not have been intended for her. As a global superstar, there are other avenues she could have taken to shine a light on the issue of child trafficking and exploitation in South Asia.
It is well within her remit to work with a different organisation or even in a different role with the British Asian Trust to support the issues presented, without being culturally insensitive. Furthermore, the furore she has caused in her appointment has taken away attention from the good work the British Asian Trust does and the pressing issue of child trafficking and exploitation.
All publicity is not good publicity.
The Asian diaspora is wonderfully diverse, accomplished and talented with a myriad of role models to choose from, for example Riz Ahmed, Shay Grewal and Sadiq Khan to name but a few. Our communities have so much to offer and we should be elevating and recognising British Asians. The British Asian Trust has a responsibility to give British Asians a platform to represent our community and further our philanthropic efforts abroad. Authentic representation is key in empowering communities and inspiring people. We deserve, and should demand, better.