We have an opportunity to create an America that lives up to its constitutional ideals. Communities of color know we are all created equal, but for far too long, racial oppression and white supremacy systems have led our nation down the treacherous path we walk today. Those of us in the Black, Latino, and Asian communities can work together against this new set of politicians and bad actors who are fighting to take us backwards when our communities are trying to move us forward.
My organization, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC advocates for an America where all Americans can benefit equally from and contribute to the American dream. Our mission is to advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.
For years, the Black community has struggled to have society recognize the police brutality you face and the tragic loss of life at the hands of those who are sworn to protect and serve. Sadly, the recorded deaths — from George Floyd to Tyre Nichols and many more in between —have starkly shown the world the truth you’ve known all along.
Another truth you’ve known for far too long is the systemic racism within our country that was on full display in the Trump administration is far too prominent in the current halls of Congress.
The history between Black and Asian communities has been complicated, full of learned stereotypes and anti-bias – often wedged apart by the model minority myth, which originated in White supremacists’ attempts to quell the Black Power Movement and other racial justice movements of the 1960s and ’70s. By creating a wedge between communities of color, White supremacists have maintained their power in society.
Though some in our community, unfortunately, embrace the model minority myth and want to turn a blind eye to the xenophobia and anti-Asian hate facing our communities, Advancing Justice – AAJC was among the first to call out the anti-Asian attacks that began after the 2016 election and became more prevalent and deadly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the last seven years, particularly the last three years, Asian Americans have been murdered, beaten, spit on, bullied, and verbally assaulted. The effects on the community have been numerous, but chief among them is a crippling fear.
The Asian American community is no stranger to hate at the hands of White supremacists in this country. From the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, where Asians were banned from coming to the U.S. to the incarceration of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, the Asian American community has been a victim of racism at moments in history where we no longer served a purpose for those in power or for those who irrationally feared us as another community of color.
Even now, as we battle anti-Asian hate attacks and incidents, many want to perpetuate the misinformation that most attacks are perpetrated by members of the Black community. Advancing Justice – AAJC fights against this misinformation and strongly rejects any further attempts to drive a wedge between our Asian and Black communities.
It can be an uphill battle at times to get members of both of our communities to put aside the misconceptions that each of our communities hold. However, we have much more in common than we do in contrast.
The histories of Asian and Black communities have always been intertwined, our struggles connected, and our collective progress tied together in unity. Asian and Black communities have been strongest when we have sought to dismantle White supremacy together.
In the civil rights movement, the work of Grace Lee Boggs and Yuri Kochiyama demonstrates the intersectional nature of civil rights activism and the need for continued solidarity in the years to come. Boggs, a Chinese American activist, emphasized the value of working alongside unions and the Black Power Movement to achieve the collective liberation. She embodied this principle by organizing alongside Black autoworkers in Detroit to denounce World War II. Kochiyama, a Japanese American activist and close friend of Malcolm X, had many moments of solidarity in advocating for the Black community. Among her many actions, she organized campaigns to free activists whom she believed had been imprisoned unjustly, such as former Black Panther and radio journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.
We must stop fighting within our communities and unite against our common enemy – White supremacy. Although it may seem like a cheesy analogy to some of you, I believe America is less like a melting pot and more like a hearty salad. Each ingredient has strength and characteristics all on its own, and when we put them all together under the right conditions, the combination is indescribably powerful.
We do not need to melt and give away our individual identities to conform to some White stereotype.
As xenophobia and White nationalism increase in the U.S., it’s more pressing than ever that communities of color are unified and continue to educate our communities on our shared histories. We must stand up for each other by getting trained in bystander intervention sessions tailored to each of our communities through Advancing Justice – AAJC and our partner, Right To Be. Solidarity in protecting the Black and Asian communities is only one piece of the puzzle.
Our collective fight extends beyond anti-bias violence to our erasure in education. We need to keep the pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the 40-year precedent of affirmative action, which nearly 70% of Asian Americans support; educate each other on the shared histories between the Black and Asian communities; fight together to include Black and Asian histories in public education; and push back against the banning of books by Black and Asian authors.
Advancing Justice – AAJC is up for the task and is ready to work alongside you.
