Week 8 – Isabel Fajardo

Isabel Fajardo

Week 8

AO3

I think it’s easy for us Asian Americans to feel like we have no place in American society. We have little-to-no representation in the media, and whenever social justice comes into discussion, it is often White vs. Black. I think, however, we should also think about how the Black Lives Matter movement and the act of protecting Latinxs from our racist president is not to detract away from other people of color, but empower other marginalized groups. I think it’s pretty easy to say stuff like “Asian people have gone through so much suffering too, where’s our movement?!” but words like that detracts from other suffering communities.

It’s important for POC to stick together, instead of trivializing movements into contests of who’s suffering more, or who is experiencing the most oppression at the time. Like in Mark Tseng Putterman’s article “What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice,” when other Asian Americans banded together to help the Black empowerment movements at the campuses, those leaders also helped when Asian American movements needed help. It’s important to know when to help, when to give support, and to draw the line when you feel like you’re invading their spaces or speaking over people’s voices. We should have more faith in other POCs and provide our support when needed.

Question: What more can we do to prove that Asian Americans do belong in social justice movements?

References:

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

            Traci Ishigo (holding sign) participates in a protest of the Ferguson decision in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 26. [Digital image]. (2014, December 24). Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.rafu.com/2014/12/do-black-lives-matter-to-asian-americans/