A Reality TV Contestant Casually Dropped A Racist Term And Was Fired Because Of It. But A Lot Of People Don't Even Realize How Offensive The Term Is.

What’s been most upsetting to Asian American viewers of Love Island USA is how disregarded their experience with the word has been by other viewers. While some are taking it as a teachable moment, others are ranking the slur as one that’s “not that bad.”

“I have a theory that the people trying to justify Cierra saying a slur against Asian people that I’ve been called many times growing up, absolutely used it many times and are trying to make themselves feel better and seek assurance from others that it’s OK. It’s not and it’s disappointing,” wrote Korean beauty influencer Kim Horne on Threads.

Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, thinks some are comfortable using the term because they don’t know any Asian Americans. A study conducted by the Asian American Foundation this year found that 1 in 4 Americans report having no primary relationship with an Asian American, highlighting the invisibility of the community.

Jeung also thinks people may be more comfortable using racist language now that President Donald Trump has normalized mocking and deriding people of color and immigrants.

“Research has shown that his use of the term ‘Chinese virus’ exacerbated anti-Asian hate during the pandemic,” Jeung told HuffPost.

In spite of the ugliness the Love Island USA controversy exposed ― sending a reality TV star’s family death threats for a years-old Instagram post is beyond the pale ― Kim is glad people are at least talking about the wrongness of words like “chink.”

“As someone who grew up hearing these slurs without anyone acknowledging they were wrong, I find it significant that Ortega and Escobar are being held accountable,” she said. “The more we educate ourselves and one another, the better equipped we are to unlearn the racist language we’ve inherited.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.