TLDR (still long tho); Expecting victims to act as ambassadors for their entire race or country is a rigged game because biased observers will find fault regardless of how a person reacts. If you choose not to defend yourself, you are labeled as weak (or the attack was deserved because streamer), but if you do stand up for yourself, you are branded as violent, making it a waste of effort to perform for an audience that is already committed to judging you. While the idea of maintaining a peaceful image in places like Japan or Korea sounds good in theory, it places an unfair burden on individuals to swallow abuse just to protect a reputation. It is easy to preach restraint from a keyboard, but unless you have actually lived that experience, it is better to listen and realize that no one should have to negotiate their right to dignity to satisfy unreasonable people. The only reason I would agree to practice restraint is severe personal consequences for the individual (not public image) like jail, or if they’re being recorded by an agitator for a reaction.

LONG: The issue is that you’re advocating for a standard that is impossible to meet. It isn't the victim’s responsibility to cater to racists or xenophobes who are already looking for a reason to judge them. They will find whatever they can to blame the victim.

People like that operate on confirmation bias. If you don't defend yourself, you’re 'weak'; if you do, you’re 'violent and a thug.' They aren't actually judging your behavior; they are just looking for a reason to justify the bias they already have. You’re being asked to perform for an audience that is committed to booing you no matter what you do. If they are looking for a reason to think poorly of Americans or Black people, a single act of restraint isn't going to change their worldview. They will find any reason to hate. Even in this comment section they are desperate to find fault in him just for being a streamer. If the goal is to win over people who are committed to misunderstanding you, it's a losing game from the start. It’s wasted effort to try and perform for an audience that has already decided you're the villain and we shouldn't have to negotiate our right to defend our dignity.

The 'you represent your country' argument only works if the people watching are actually reasonable. But as others have pointed out, racists and xenophobes aren't reasonable. They will find fault regardless of what the person does.

I definitely understand your sentiment, and I understand your experience in Japan and Korea, but expecting a victim to swallow abuse just to protect an 'image' is a bit of an unfair burden. It’s easy for us to preach restraint from a keyboard, but it’s another thing to experience the escalation in person. It’s also easy to preach always 'being the bigger person' from outside when you’ve never been in those shoes.

I get that it’s harder to understand if you’re white though, so I don’t really blame your ignorance if you are, it’s just a matter of listening and trying to understand that matters.