I must be hallucinating, I thought I already replied. I hear you about Chakotay, I think I went through similar phases of opinion on the character. Yeah, Beltran did appear to perform in good faith, so I can’t fault him either. It’s awful that it even happened, though.
I grew up watching TOS reruns and was exposed to pretty good representation via Sulu. There was a noticeable difference between Sulu and all other Asian roles on TV and in the movies when I was growing up (80s), and it sure sucked seeing all the gross stereotypes and blatant racism played off as jokes. I’d imagine you can probably relate. Representation matters, especially when you’re a kid!