By: Animesh, Connor, and Ondrea prefaceThe following blog is a representation of our own understanding, as Asian American students in Iowa, of Asian involvement in the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter Movement. The views and opinions expressed in this blog by no means capture those of all Asian-Americans. Moreover, we do not intend to discount the amazing work of Asian American activists who are making a difference. Rather, we hope to educate those who have chosen so far to remain indifferent and silent. Introduction: On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died shortly after being violently pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer. His death sent shockwaves throughout the nation, inspiring communities globally to speak, rally, and protest against the violence Floyd and the Black community have faced. Eventually, we came to learn that Tou Thao, an Asian American police officer, remained a bystander to his fellow officer’s brutal treatment towards Floyd. For many, this discovery came as a shock, a surprise that one of our own had allowed such an atrocity to take place. Although Asian American’s being involved with police violence is certainly not new, Peter Liang and Akai Gurley come to mind, the graphic nature of Floyd’s recorded death brought back this issue to the fore. After reexamining our own communities, we believe that Thao’s decision to remain a bystander is almost symbolic of the apathy many Asian Americans feel towards the Black Lives Matter movement. In the days following Floyd’s death, civil uprisings took place all across the country. It seemed as if everyone had something to add to the growing conversation against racial injustice. Yet, in our lives, there was a disproportionately smaller Asian presence in these conversations, especially among adults. This realization led us to reexamine our own communities in hopes of understanding why many Asian members simply don’t engage in similar movements. The Problem:For many, the very premise of the Black Lives Matter Movement is antithetical to the beliefs of some first-generation Asian-Americans adopted when immigrating to the United States. (Later, we’ll see how this is an incomplete reading of history.) They came to the United States, not with power or money, but with ideals of hard work and self-reliance. Many Asian immigrants, especially refugees who were overcoming great hardship themselves, became proud of their successes in their new homeland. Seeing their own accomplishments, they believed other minorities could do the same. However, these first-generation immigrants failed to realize the difference between the institutional challenges Asian-Americans faced and the ones African-Americans faced. Even with nothing, Asian-Americans didn’t need to fear being gunned down by police officers for an incident where a white person might only receive a ticket. They didn’t fear being viewed as criminal for nothing more than the color of their skin. Moreover, these immigrants were reaping the benefits of more than a century’s work by African-Americans fighting systemic racism in the United States. By universalizing their own success stories against the failures of others, Asian-Americans were co-opting the work of their predecessors against them. By internalizing the Model Minority Myth, they were re-entrenching societal stereotypes on both sides and pitting minorities against one another. An important consideration when discussing the Model Minority Myth is the existence of whiteness. As Asian-Americans learned to persevere and achieve, they were learning to exist within the system. A well-paying job, a nice neighborhood, and a good school district – each a key component to the “American Dream.” Striving towards the American Dream became a means of securing Asian-Americans securities and benefits guaranteed by whiteness. A key piece of history often overlooked when analyzing anti-blackness in Asian communities is the lived experience of colonization – and of transgenerational trauma from this colonization. There are a lot of obvious things we take away from colonization: it’s bad, it created economies that benefited the colonizers and their local sympathizers, subjugated colonized bodies, etc. But what often gets ignored are the more insidious effects of the colonizer carving out racial hierarchies to entrench colonialism and imperialism. In both overt and covert ways, colonization replicates anti-black logic. Take India, for example. For decades it has promoted the use of skin-lightening creams, such as a product called Fair and Lovely. As the name suggests, there is a strong positive association with lighter skin. Although it obviously can’t be proved, there is a likelihood this colorism stems from trying to be like the Western colonizers of India. (There is a historiographic debate about whether this has existed before Western colonization, but that’s something you’ll have to research on your own time.) In trying to be as close to the Westerner, colonized people often distance themselves from other oppressed groups – characterizing them as of a lower station. A similar construct inherited from colonization is an obsession with “correct” English (just like the British) – which is in direct tension with something like ebonics. There are numerous other examples, and while we can’t just pin all of our internalized racism on colonization – accountability is key – keeping our history in mind is crucial. Speaking of history, inside the United States, there’s a lot more to look at. A great example are the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. Sparked by the brutal beating of Rodney King, thousands of people took to the streets and mass rioting ensued – the most of which occurred in Koreatown where a black teenager was shot by a Korean store owner 13 days after the beating. Tons of small businesses were looted and destroyed, deeply hurting the relationship between African and Korean Americans. Fast forward to modern riots, and some Korean-Americans continue to reference them as a justification for protests being bad (even if they have a greater goal). Another relevant phenomenon is affirmative action. Asian Americans often disagree with the policy (we, at Monsoon, support affirmative action – a topic for discussion at another time) and use it as an excuse to justify oppressive comments and actions. All of this came to a boil a few days after Floyd’s death in a set of screenshots from New York University where an Asian-American fraternity accused African-Americans of not ever doing anything for “us". There was a lot more said, but the frat members showcased an aspect of anti-blackness often on display in Asian communities: a view where Asians are “oppressed” because of policies such as affirmative action and African-Americans do nothing for Asian rights, tearing them down instead. However, this one-sided view of history is simply incorrect and ignores the various ways the Black community has supported Asians. For example, the Civil Rights movement, and resulting Civil Rights Act, paved the way for Asian immigration through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that repealed racist quotas. In fact, a lot of the rights that Asian-Americans enjoy today can be traced back to Black-led movements. Claiming another minority community has not done anything for “us” is ignorant and oppressive.
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