Race Matters: “Can Asian-Americans Get Into This Conversation?” – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

At first, I thought Race Accounts as a classic advice column where I would answer questions related to the race of readers, but it has developed into an organic and free approach that I love (and I hope you do too).

Then my last column, some readers have pointed out that I have largely focused on the relationship between the black and white race. It’s a valuable assessment (and why I love the Cup of Jo comments section and the dynamic conversations that take place in it). Asian Americans, especially some commentators, point out that they are often left out of racial dialogue in this country, in a Black / White binary that can be so entrenched. For example, Michelle wrote, “Please consider Asians and the Asian diaspora when you speak racially. Our experiences are important, too!”

In recent years, with the rise of “diversity” as a progressive language and goal, “minorities” have come together under vague terms: brown people, or colored people, or BIPOC communities, or “diverse people,” which bothers me. periodically. (Note: Individuals cannot be diverse!) These terms do not address the specific concerns of individual minority communities. All of them deserve to focus and understand their experiences, even if it can sometimes be difficult to defend that in a country where other people may be worse off.

But we don’t do anyone any good when we play this useless game: who’s worse? In fact, white domination is a way to hold on to its insidiousness by pitting non-white people against each other in a twisted racial hierarchy, with white on top. After all, in order to decompress and reduce the dominance of whites, we need to address the ways in which this affects them all people who are not white, in different ways, but connected to each other.

Recently, I read it again Small feelings By Cathy Park Hong, a beautiful collection of essays. “If we bow our heads and work hard, he believes that our responsibilities will reward us with our dignity, but our responsibilities will only make us disappear, he writes about Asian Americans who have been intimidated by lies. we perpetuate the myth that countries are causing us, America has only given us a chance, the lie that the Asians are so good, so wicked, that even now, as I write, I am extinguished that I have not been bad compared to others.

For me, this episode, and the book, stand out as we, as people of color, are forced to worry about race and identity and how it shapes our lives almost constantly, big and small. From the so-called “crooked-eyed” bully to the promotion you don’t get because you don’t get “management material”.

It was the other book I turned on The loneliest Americans Author: Jay Caspian Kang. (A terrific episode was published in the New York Times in October.) Jay generously agreed to speak with me, and we had a long and engaging conversation, from childhood in our neighborhood to working in the media world.

The main question for The Loneliest Americans is: What is Asian American identity? Does it exist? Having emigrated from so many countries in very different situations, what makes a group of people consistent?

Jay said: “There is no real unifying image that can capture what Asian American history is that people would feel reflected in their lives. Take it, Japanese penetration, right? It is clear that something that has happened in the past is wrong. And it should be a kind of unification, Hey, we’re an oppressed people. But most Asian Americans were not in the United States at the time. In fact, most Asian Americans in their home countries probably had no particular feelings for Japan, or were ambivalent. So the question is: How do we build that identity? If none of the things that bind people together — from history to shared culture to stories passed down by grandparents — doesn’t the idea of ​​political identity prevail? Or cultural identity, which are the cultural markers? ”

Shared oppression can certainly be a unifying factor. Put a bunch of black people in a room with no white people, and the conversations may have a similar outlook, regardless of class, and that solidarity is easier to exacerbate. It can form a collective primal cry, for example, that reaches out to passionate protests. But a first-generation Korean businessman in LA, a Chinese restaurant in New York, and an Indian surgeon in Bangalore will have very different experiences, making it more difficult to create and advance community political and cultural interests.

Of course, racism itself can be unifying, albeit worrying. Alignment with the anti-Blackness that is the basis of American racial relations can be a way of assimilating it into American culture. Many immigrants feel that when faced with the black-and-white American dichotomy, they need to make a choice: align with the oppressed or the oppressed in order to know your place in society and navigate upward mobility.

This was reminiscent of a conversation I had with a friend who emigrated from Senegal. He and his immigrant friends shared a virulence against Blackness. His attitude was: If immigrant workers are able to do something about themselves, why can’t they? They didn’t know or ignore many of the factors — such as generations of racial trauma and the many laws and systems in place to deliberately prevent success — especially those that hindered the social and economic equality of black Americans. This friend and others bought the (problematic) myth that American meritocracy is the last bootstraps. After all, investing in that belief has brought them here first.

Chasing the American dream itself and climbing the economic ladder can mean separating and aligning it with whiteness. Jay described it: “I think it’s just a matter of making a series of decisions for your family that ensure their comfort, safety, and a lot of things that are distinguishing them from Blackness.”

This is why it is so dangerous for those in power to label the “model minority” as a way to sow dominance and condensation in a community. The subtitle is not so far from the surface: you are better than them. And who wouldn’t want to be better, praised for being an employee and an employee? And yet, nicknames and the assumptions that come with it — Asians are “good” and “successful” and “respectable” – it’s too easy to say, well, they’re not that bad. But “other” and mocked people, women fetishes, horrible individual experiences. a series of violent hate crimes in the last year (no matter what in history), and extreme inequality and poverty rates Tell another story in the Asian community.

It is only fair that the world (including this pillar) should be more aware and more aware of these realities and want alliance and support. And to ask and listen to questions about all kinds of racial experience. I hope this column reminds me that every experience is very different. We can always be more enthusiastic and wise about our struggles and blind spots.

Race Matters is an ongoing journey of growth, awareness and compassion. In this corner of the Cup of Jo, we want to make sure everyone feels safe and heard, and I urge you too to keep those feelings in your heart as you embark on a new year.

Thoughts? Please feel free to email me with any questions or feedback to racematters@cupofjo.com. Thank you!

Christine Pride is a writer, book publisher and content consultant. His first novel, We Are Not Like Them, Written with Jo Piazza, was released in 2021. He lives in Harlem, New York. Find it on Instagram @cpride.

PS More columns that care about race, and I would like to say five things to my white friends.

(Photo Christine Han Go for the cup.)