Thao-Nhi Vu

Section A02

Week 8: Student Activism

I thought that this week’s article What Asian Americans are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice was a very valuable read in that it truly went through all the nuances and problems of the Asian American community. It is rare to find pieces centered on Asian-American activism that also mention our complicity in antiblackness and how we often try to co-opt movements created by black people. I also appreciated that it covered the struggles we face in trying to be in solidarity while boosting our own issues. This article really struck out to me because it took such a thorough approach to the Asian American social justice movement; I believe it is important to examine our flaws as well as what we offer when it comes to progression and social change. I especially appreciate that it approaches the uncomfortable topic of antiblackness in the Asian American community. For me, it brought to mind our misguided efforts to defend Peter Liang in the wake of Akai Gurley’s death; we called him a scapegoat and tried to deflect the blame onto white supremacy, even though it was our fault. I was also reminded of the rallying behind the rhetoric of the struggling immigrant business when faced with antiblackness from Asian beauty store owners. Even more recently, I think of Alex Tizon’s The Atlantic article My Family’s Slave, and how we tried to use the excuse of cultural relativism to silence black people who were rightfully angry at Tizon’s romanticization of slavery. Asian Americans have a long way to go with dealing with antiblack attitudes, and I admire that this article recognized it.

Additionally, I was very happy to see that this article acknowledged as well the different “types” and ethnicities within the Asian community. In American, a rich, college-educated Chinese man has a vastly different experience than a poor, ESL Cambodian woman! We must understand that Asian American is a huge label; learning unique experiences and how we all suffer anti-Asian racism is key in providing a solidarity movement.

I think the Asian American community has a long way to go in solidarity within and across communities. However, I know this generation is willing to make changes; I see it in “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” and #API4BlackLives. I have a lot of hope in what the future brings for us, and I know we can work to dismantle white supremacy and work towards racial equality.

QUESTION: How do we prioritize issues in the AsAm community when we are so diverse? Would it be better to let different ethnicity groups focus on their own issues, or should we make an effort to bring groups together and cooperate?

Stemming from the "Free Huey" movement in the 1960s, the phrase "Yellow Peril supports Black Power" has been used repeatedly since to demonstrate solidarity between Asian-Americans and black Americans. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-truong/yellow-peril-supports-bla_b_7781586.html

Resources

Putterman, M. T. (2016). What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. Race files.

Tizon, A. (2017). My Family's Slave. The Atlantic.