Antiblackness in Asian Communities

I stand here today not only out of solidarity with my Black peers, but because as an Asian woman I have a special responsibility.

My parents come from Vietnam. I am part of the Asian Community and I love it, but I also see that it has a problem. And that problem is called Anti-Blackness and Colorism.

We love Black people! We love Street Wear, Hip Hop, we love Black Slang, Black Culture. We love Barack Obama, Michelle and Meghan Markle. Beyoncé is an icon. We love getting the N-word pass from Black people. We love to see what heights Black people can reach in this world.

But in everyday life it looks different. We absorb with our mother's milk that Black is bad. The darker you are, the uglier. Beauty standards are tied to how white you look.

When we see a Black person, we distrust them. Because Black people are criminal. Stay away from them, you can't trust them. And we shouldn't dare bring a Black friend home!

And when we see racism against Black people or police violence, we say: "They deserved it. They didn't follow the rules".

We Asians LOVE following rules. We have absolutely internalised the Model Minority Myth, that we are the good foreigners, that as long as we follow rules and work hard, we will make it in this world. We would rather ingratiate ourselves to our white oppressor than fight together with other BIPoC for justice.

We have been exploited by the white majority since time immemorial to justify their racism. We were pointed to when they wanted to prove that Arab or African migrants couldn't integrate, but we could. 

But we have lulled ourselves through our proximity to Whiteness. Instead of naming racism when we see it, whether against us or other BIPoC, we looked away. 

Many East and Southeast Asians even see themselves as white. But we are not. We will never be white, will never benefit from White Privilege. What we do benefit from is White Adjacent Privilege. We think we are accepted, but we are only used as a weapon against our fellow BIPoC in the struggle for justice.

We must finally address Anti-Blackness and Colorism in our non-Black communities. Not only is White Silence Violence. Asian Silence is also Violence. 

The cop who murdered George Floyd was white. But one of the cops who was there was Hmong-American. The shop where George Floyd was before his death, whose employee called the cops, was Arab American. George Floyd was murdered in cold blood and we stood by doing nothing. 

Racism and police violence are not just a matter between Black and white. They concern us all! And we as the Asian Community must finally wake up. We are not your Model Minority. We are not the good foreigners!

We must finally unlearn our own racism.

We must be loud and in solidarity with other BIPoC.

It is the responsibility of every non-Black person that when we see police violence and racism, we do something about it.
The Asian Community has watched long enough, this must stop now.

We are not the ones who killed George Floyd, but we must be the ones who pull the cop off his neck.

An Phan