Image by Monyee Chau via Chinese Born American To my fellow Asians and Asian Americans (and to all who wish to listen), Growing up in the South, I have always been fascinated by the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King and Katherine Johnson (of Hidden Figures fame) have always been among my heroes. This interest even took my family to Birmingham just to visit the Civil Rights Institute. As an Asian-American growing up in America, I felt grateful that the efforts of the black community paved the way for a better life for me. But we need to do better. There is no doubt that there is a thinly-veiled layer of racism in most Asian American communities. As the "model minority," the idea of Asian success is used by many white Americans to avoid addressing or taking respo nsibility for racism against other minorities - and we live into it too. Comparing these minorities in order to erase our guilt also erases the fact that Asian Americans fit into the United States with different backgrounds; minorities such as blacks are often disabled by structures such as the school-to-prison pipeline, structural racism in areas such as healthcare, and more significantly as of now, police brutality. The black community has been supporting Asian Americans for years. It was the struggles of the black community that set up America for the Asian immigrants to follow and their active efforts that allowed for us to get to where we are today. It was a prominent black man who advocated for America to let in Indochinese refugees in the 1960s, saying that "black people must recognize these people for what they are: brothers and sisters, not enemies and competitors." The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act brought in by the African American Civil Rights Movement was quickly followed by 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, abolishing the national origins quota system and allowing modern Asian immigration that let the Asian American community gain the status and privileges it has today. The modern Asian American Movement is shaped and inspired by the movements of black people in the past and today (and you can read more about it here). The struggles of Asian Americans and African Americans, though vastly different, are inextricably linked. When one of us is denied the right to exist, the rest of us are as well. And even more so today, silence isn't a form of neutrality - its a form of violence, allowing issues such as the death of George Floyd to be denied the proper anger it deserves (especially considering that one of the cops who stood by was Asian-American himself. Don't say that you don't claim him - he is a part of this community that needs to teach itself how to do better). Asian Americans often pride themselves on their ability to go beyond what other minority groups do. But the model minority myth is one that creates divides against people of color. We can only succeed if we do so together - just as we have done in the past. We have to not only let go, but start conversations about the anti-black racism that is so common in our communities. Sincerely, Allie Tatoy P.S. I left a list below for you to keep the action and the conversation going. So what can you do?
DO NOT bring your cell phone without turning off automatic systems such as Face/Touch ID, putting it on airplane mode, and disabling data, jewelry, contact lenses, and anything else you don't want to be arrested with. Text/DM/Call/Email/Write:
Explore: Understand that, although you are a person of color, you don't know the black experience. Look into resources you can use such as Black Lives Matter's Ways to Help, Reclaim the Block, Justice for Big Floyd, Justice for Ahmaud, and Justice for Breonna Taylor. Listen: The most important thing we can do right now is listen - and not just listen so that you can say you empathize, but to truly learn - to our black friends and family. As much research as we can do, we cannot truly move forward until we can better learn how to - and that can only be done by actually listening to the people in our lives who are disproportionately affected by matters such as police brutality. Though we can never understand their experience personally, what we can do is learn how to do better.
3 Comments
6/2/2020 08:03:44 am
I love this, Allie!! Keep being awesome girl <3
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Karen
6/2/2020 11:15:48 am
Great article anak! love it❤️
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Lola Edna
6/2/2020 02:31:49 pm
A young lady with a deep sense of social conscience. I can relate to your sentiments Allie. Your home country, the Philippines is also in a deep degradation from her own people. We can only hope for a bright future but hope without action is useless. Anyway, nice article and well written. Congratulations and good luck to whatever career you choose. Your parents and family esp your Lola Ester are very proud of you. All the best, Allie.
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AuthorAlessandra Tatoy knows that the power of words is stronger than anything, coming from a country whose fight for independence was sparked by the works of an author sentenced to death of his words. You can find her articles, poetry, short stories, and other musings here. Archives
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