Week 9: Kelin Tham-Graul A03

Kelin Tham-Graul

ASA 2 A03

Week 9

In “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans” and “Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice,” Soya Jung and Santos F. Ramos address the role of non-black communities as allies in the Black Lives Matter movement and similar movements for African American equality. These articles reminded me of Mark Tseng-Putterman’s thoughts on Asian American allyship towards other groups, which similarly illustrated the importance of Asian Americans and other non-black individuals standing in solidarity with African Americans. Although some Asian Americans might feel inclined to focus solely on issues affecting Asian Americans directly, it is beneficial to both African American and Asian American communities to work in solidarity. I found Jung’s description of Asian American identity interesting, especially its historical ties to the “black liberation struggle, and… demands to end imperialism and war” (Jung, 2014, p. 4). Ramos also brought up good points about the difference between appropriating and supporting a movement, in this case with regards to social media hashtags such as “#AsianLivesMatter” as opposed to “#APIs4BlackLives.” I agree that excluding African Americans from the movement that they created by engaging in the former is harmful and often ignorant. Responses to the Black Lives Matter movement such as “All Lives Matter” are also harmful, further silencing black struggles. Additionally, I found it important to note that even people of color are capable of anti-blackness, and all non-black individuals should keep this in mind and work to deconstruct anti-black sentiment within their communities. Overall, I believe that it is necessary for non-black individuals to both recognize the importance of supporting solidarity movements and recognize that they do not necessarily face the same struggles.

Question: What are some additional ways in which non-black Asian Americans can support and help to further the Black Lives Matter movement?

References:

Jung, Soya. (2014, August 20). “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans.” Race Files. Retrieved November 19, 2017.

Ramos, S. F. (2016, April 20). Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://enculturation.net/building-a-culture-of-solidarity

Mwsmovement. (2015, September 02). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkRiBA-vAXs