Over the past week I’ve spent a lot of time listening, reading, and learning, trying to take action to become more actively anti-racist – and I know many of us are trying to do the same. The most apparent thing is that I have a lot to learn, and secondly that it’s on us to educate ourselves. I don’t have many of the answers but there are several people, articles, and resources that I’ve found helpful – as an Asian American, as a mom, and as human being – and want to pass along to try to amplify their strong messages.
Listen & Learn From Powerful Voices
@rachel.cargle
Rachel, a public academic, activist, writer and lecturer has written many helpful articles over the years including her piece “Why You Need to Stop Saying All Lives Matter”. Over the weekend, she shared a Public Address on Revolution: Revolution Now which several of you shared with me.
@ohhappydani
The graphic below is by Danielle of @ohhappydani, who has a talent for using her art (prints can be pre-ordered here) and words to educate and inspire justice in an uplifting and heartfelt way. Over the past few months, several of her pieces also address anti-Asian racism.
Don’t Be Colorblind
I appreciated Kiara Goodwin’s piece What I Hear When Someone Says “I Don’t See Color” and how this common statement may not be the most conducive for acknowledging one another’s full individuality and truly working towards anti racism.
Examine and Work on Your Own Biases
Being an Asian American, this starts with honest, internal evaluation and being more deliberate about the accounts that fill my feed, the brands and stores I partner with and patronize, and the authors I read and thought leaders I follow.
Here’s an article outlining allyship actions for Asians to stand up for the Black community by Michelle Kim.
Thank you to Hitha for re-sharing this article by Kat Chow: ‘Model Minority’ Myth Again Used as a Racial Wedge Between Asians and Blacks. Hitha has been one of my favorite follows on Instagram – she regularly shares insight and readings across a multitude of topics, and I recently started the book Me & White Supremacy after reading her post.
And thank you to several readers for sharing these other older but relevant reads: 6 Ways Asian Americans can Tackle Anti-Black Racism in Their Families by Kim Tran and Dismantling the Barrier Between Asians and African-Americans by Roseanne Liu
Actively Guide Young Minds
I appreciated these words from @denisevasi‘s post about cultivating a library with diverse MAIN characters: “Books that highlight people of color give your child the opportunity to see parts of themselves in someone who looks completely different than they do. AND they give your child the opportunity to see life from someone else’s perspective.”
These are a few of the additional parenting resources I’ve found helpful:
@theconsciouskid
An education, policy and research org, they shared this study visually “Are Your Kids Too Young To Talk About Race” (adapted from work by The Children’s Community School) and also have a few curated lists of children’s book suggestions, like this one celebrating Black boys and this one honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
@children.bookreview
She regularly features titles with diverse main characters, but just published a helpful blog post roundup with book recommendations by age group (toddlers – young adult). I first got to know Allie, who runs this account (a Black owned business), when I was pregnant with Nori, and really admire her passion for promoting literacy and open minded young readers.
@britthawthorne
Britt has a video on how she talked about current events with her 5-year old. She teaches anti-bias and anti-racism workshops for educators, and shares resources for parents and caregivers to navigate conversations about race with children.
@hereweeread
Charnaie, a diversity and inclusion expert, is the founder of 50 States 50 Books which aims to help close the literacy gap in America by providing free diverse books to underfunded and underprivileged organizations. She shares the diverse and inclusive books that she reads with her two children.
The White Family’s Guide to Talking About Racism
Educators and mothers Naomi O’Brien and LaNesha Tabb created the resource to help guide families through the difficult and necessary conversations about racism.
Toys with Diverse Representation by Kids Play Tricks
Diverse Children’s Books for Kindergarteners
One mom shared the list of books she’s read with her kindergartener that touch on a wide variety of diversity and inclusion topics. The article itself isn’t super user friendly as the titles aren’t linked but there are some great recommendations for approaching complex topics with little ones.
Vote For & Support Change
VOTE in your local, state, and national elections. Start conversations (which will sometimes be uncomfortable, especially amongst traditional Asian elders) within your social and family circles. Speak up and call out racism when you witness it in your daily life. Donate to organizations that align with what you believe in.
Vote
As former President Obama shared in his statement this week, “the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.” Of course it’s important to participate in the national elections (particularly this November) but pay attention to and participate in your local and state politics as well. You can check your voter registration status here and find your state’s registration deadlines here.
Donate
There are so many organizations that can benefit from donations – these are just a few that resonated with Nick and I and that we’ve made donations to:
- Campaign Zero – a police reform campaign that has created 10 proposed policies to reduce police violence nationwide. Per their site, “funds donated…support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.”
- Loveland Foundation – Founded by Rachel Cargle (mentioned above) and aims to “bring opportunity and healing to communities of color, particularly Black women and girls, by providing financial assistance to those seeking therapy and through fellowships, residency programs and listening tours.”
- Black Mamas Matter – a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance that“centers Black mamas to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice.”
- Know Your Rights Camp – A non-profit created by NFL player Colin Kaepernick to teach young people (particularly Black youth ages 12 -18) that they have the right to be: free, healthy, brilliant, safe, loved, courageous, alive, trusted, educated and to know their rights (training on exercising their legal rights during encounters with the police).
Maximize your Donation
As a reminder, many employers match employee donations to qualified charitable organizations up to a certain amount annually. Several of you shared with me that your employer is matching 200% employee contributions to certain organizations right now (I can’t confirm this myself, but the double matching was mentioned for Apple, Netflix, Electronic Arts, Sephora, Capital Group, just to name a few).
For fellow Sephora Beauty Insiders with points sitting in your account, during June your points can be redeemed as a donation to benefit the National Black Justice Coalition.
Additional Compiled Resources
While this carousel post on “How to be Actively Antiracist” from Good Good Good Co. has been shared a lot, it’s worth mentioning again. It includes several podcasts, movies, shows, and books that dive into past and present racism and conversations about racial justice, as well as this document of resources.
I learned about many of these through your guys’ recommendations and am grateful for that. Please help keep this important dialogue going by sharing additional resources, organizations, books and suggestions.
Hi Jean, thanks for posting these resources. We need this now more than ever. It’s upon us to educate ourselves and to resolve to be anti-racist. I also have been reading your blog for quite some time, maybe over 8 years? and have very much enjoyed the content and the great fashion tips (despite the fact that I am not petite LOL) but I love your taste and how you’ve styled your wardrobe. I appreciate your perspective as you have shared tales of motherhood, etc, and that is great. Continue to speak about the things that are important to you. I’m glad you are doing so. When I see other bloggers say zilch about the state of the world and continue posting about clothing and jewelry, it really says a lot about who they are. In any case, thanks for speaking up. This Asian American appreciates it!
Hi Jean,
I’ve been a follower for a few years now because I love your petite fashion tips.
I love how the last few years your blog has taken a more motherhood/ life style turn and how it is an honest representation of your life. The fact that this is so personal to you and that you’ve been so open is what has attracted us to you.
I know it is popular now for people to show themselves to be ‘moral’ or ‘ethical’ (though not religious, strangely) but in my experience, highlighting the difference between people is only going to divide us more. We are united in your blog with a shared interest in fashion, motherhood and food but unfortunately one thing that we can not all ever share is skin colour.
Please unite us, and don’t divide us.
Highlighting racism isn’t divisive, it’s calling attention to a real problem in this country and in the world. It’s not “highlighting differences,” it’s acknowledging that we all need to name the problem (racism) before we can solve it. B – your comment is really tone-deaf and racist. We should all be united in the fight against racism.
Hi Jean,
Thanks for this great post. I’ve been an off/on reader and as a fellow Asian-American woman, I appreciate that we – as “white-adjacent” folks – need to do the work to be better allies to our BIPOC friends and colleagues.
Just a few things to add – if this hasn’t been mentioned already, Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” is an excellent and important read.
Yes, we have to vote, but we also have to be aware how voter suppression disproportionately affects communities of color. Would also consider donating to Fair Fight Action (Stacey Abrams’ initiative) and Movement Voter Project (to name a few orgs) that are among groups combatting this.
Equal Justice Initiative is another great organization to consider re donation. Pod Save America also has multiple bail funds to which folks can donate and support protestors.
You and I live in “blue” cities and states with an ugly history of racism. One way we can all fight police brutality is to act locally – get in touch with your mayors and city council. https://8cantwait.org is a good place to start to do that work.
And this may seem radical for you to consider (celebrities and politicians and Twitter folks have done this), but given your large platform, you may consider “handing over the mic” to a Black fashion blogger for a few days or a week to amplify her voice or their voices. For all of us in our respective line of work, the harder work to do is examine how we (whether in fashion, medicine, law, publishing, etc) can start dismantling white supremacy in our professions.
Late to the party, but as the daughter of a historian, I find this paper from a history professor at U.C. Berkeley incredibly thought-out.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/anonymous-berkeley-professor-shreds-blm-injustice-narrative-damning-stats-and-logic?
Ignore the title of the article and just scroll down to read the letter. I think it’ll give all of us something to think about.
Would you be open to a conversation about this? This letter seems very unlikely to be written by a history professor, based on several aspects of the way it is written and some information that is just clearly wrong. For example, ActBlue Charities is a digital platform for progressive fundraising, not a singular fund directed to the DNC. As the daughter of a historian, I trust you are interested in ensuring your references are reliable, and would love to have a discussion about looking to better leverage and share primary sources.
Hi Jean!
Thank you so much for using your platform to spread empathy and understanding. I wanted to share a resource that the Harvard Pan-Asian Coalition for Liberation has put together specifically for Asian-Americans looking to become anti-racist and effective allies:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QQtgdvpxPR55EaOJYuUjwwLxz6YsFO3OutvysJ15tDY/edit?usp=sharing
There is also a lot of very interesting and thoughtful reading there about how we, as Asian Americans, must face the fact that we have often benefited from the systemic anti-Black racism in our society. Definitely a must read for Asian Americans looking to deepen their understanding of the current unjustness and how we have fit into enforcing it.
What a wonderful resource! Jean, your contributions are a springboard for our collective efforts to learn about our history and educate our children.
Marina, it’s been a long time since my college days and your input is providing a great refresher and new insight into APA history. I would offer another resource: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein, that I am planning to read. This is part of my quest to educate myself and my children on institutionalized racism.
Jean, thank you for using your voice and providing resources and ways to help. We all need to take part in becoming anti-racist, and it starts with educating ourselves and our children.
Thank you for all your resources! Your graphics are really educational.
Speaking from my own experience, I learned from listening to the morning shows on R&B stations. The black DJ’s spoke about how the issues affected them and their community.
https://kissfmdetroit.com/shows/wdmk-american-crisis/
Thank you, Jean. Grace Lee Boggs said it well:
It was only after the Black Power movement and the Black rebellions inspired a new pride in all people of color that we repudiated the stereotype of ourselves as the “model minority” and created our new identity as Asian Americans to announce our refusal to accept the “divide and rule” policies of the power structure. The term “Asian American” bristled with the defiance inherent in rebellion.
In solidarity, J
Thanks so much for being vocal about this, Jean. May I recommend for my fellow Asian American readers: Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong. There’s not quite enough literature written for us first-gen children of immigrants, let alone on systemic issues we can’t afford to ignore, and Cathy Hong writes breathtakingly to this degree re: other notable/marginalized Asian Americans + her own experiences.
Thank you Jean for addressing this topic on your blog and I’m so glad to see so many supportive comments. Yes, this is a difficult conversation and topic to write and talk about and we will never find the right words to capture everything. How do I not offend anyone? Am I stating all the right facts? I know I feel the same way. I think we should all be kinder to one another and continue to talk, listen, and learn because only then will things get better. Some people do not speak up because they’re afraid of not saying the right things but silence is much worst.
I do not think the goal of this post is to diminish Asian Americans and our struggles. I am an Asian American and an immigrant myself. These past weeks I’ve found myself angered and sadden about the state of our country and what America stands for. This is not the ideal and magical place my parents brought me to for me and my siblings to have a better future. Then I realized, it’s not about me and my struggles but about the Black men and women who helped build America for centuries only to be continuedly put down by the very same country they built. Everyone has their struggles but in a time like this it is not about who is struggling or struggled the most but it’s about understanding each other by listening and learning. Let’s face it, America is a very racist country. History has shown that this country has marginalized many racial and ethnic groups for centuries. Yes, progress have been made but we also regressed in so many ways. I am hopeful that we are heading toward change and I hope it’s lasting. In order for change to take place, we need to show up at the polls and ask for leadership that will take us in the right direction.
Jean! Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been hoping you would. It takes a lot of bravery and to speak out in a public forum when your business is attached to it, but it’s also 100% the right thing to do. Don’t listen to the haters …. it’s clear they still have a lot of work to do on themselves. The lady who says she’s not racist and that no one she knows is 😂…. sigh.
It will be a long road, but in posting this, I hope you have opened up the hearts and minds of more people. Thank you ❤️
Been a long time follower but never posted. I wanted to quickly echo Sarah’s comments. Thank you for raising awareness of social injustice and expressing your voice!
Here’s a high school/lower-level college link that has a well-researched set of sections that I used to use when I taught intro social work classes at a community college. (I finally remembered its name!)
understandingprejudice.org/
Introductory and easy to understand/
Hi Jean, first time commenting here.
Thank you for these links and reads. They help alot to articulate what I have trouble putting into words. The truth is, while my instagram has exploded in the last week or so, my Chinese friends circle on Wechat has been quiet, This is so typical of the Chinese idiom-if it doesn’t concern you, hang it up real high.
There is definitely a sense of “honorary whiteness” within our community. The daily subtle racism through perceptions and words we project onto blacks is evident. Not just blacks, but also refugees in general who apparently come and “take advantage of our Canadian social benefits”. Yet I know so many Chinese people who are double dipping or cheat the welfare system. Somehow it’s ok when we do it ourselves but not okay when other people do it. Some days I really think to myself, holy moly, we are racist and hypocrites AF!
It’s not good enough to let it go anymore. That’s the worst I can do. I will do more to educate myself and my family and friends on the topic of race and call it out when I see it.
Jean,
I love and follow your blog for fashion.
If you believe you are a racist, then I congratulate you on taking the first step towards correcting this.
But I am not racist and I find this post offensive for its insinuation that I need to take action to not be a racist.
My friends are not racist. No one I know is racist. And the police are not racist (this is a provable fact).
There is not systemic racism in America against minorities. If anything, blacks in this country with the same skills earn more than whites. Please read the book “Please Stop Helping Us” by Jason Riley to learn more.
Any individual in America can make good choices today to be able to achieve a better, more prosperous tomorrow. You of all people should know this as someone who has reinvented yourself many times on this blog.
It is sad that criminals, and you, are using a case of excessive use of force by an officer, where the policeman is swiftly being brought to justice, to spread a dangerous lie about our country.
Jessica, I had to read your post several times to make sure that I was not imaging things. I strongly encourage you to check your facts (with multiple reliable sources), and more importantly, look at yourself in the mirror. Your words are the epitome of someone who is completely unaware/in denial of their privilege.
It is sentiments like yours that make me worried that our country will never progress. I trust that you will take this opportunity to do serious self-reflection, be willing to learn from others, and grow to be a better person.
I love this <3. You hit the nail on the head!
Hi Jean,
I’m a huge fan of your blog and really appreciate you taking the time to post about anti-racism. You have an amazing opportunity to show support for the Black community here and I am so glad you used your platform to do so, be vulnerable about your own journey as an anti-racist, and share resources.
I identify as multiracial & Asian-American, and one resource that I have LOVED recently that helps frame Asian-Americans in the US is the recent PBS documentary on Asian-Americans. There are multiple sections on how the model-minority myth started, how it was used against other minorities, and how Asians have been supported by other POCs & have supported them, as well as when there have been significant racial tensions (in Ep.3, the LA riots in Koreatown after the Rodney King murder). https://www.pbs.org/show/asian-americans/
I have heard about this book on the radio and it had Dr. Eberhardt giving information about her research on racism: ”consequences of the psychological association between race and crime.” ….extent to which racial imagery and judgments suffuse our culture and society, and in particular shape actions and outcomes within the domain of criminal justice.”
She is an African-American professor of psychology at Stanford and a recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Grant according to her professional page on Standford University’s website.
What she had to say was staggering; by adding one question: “Does this stop/individual have to do with a known crime/Do you have information tying this person to a crime?
—-or very similar I cannot remember enough to get an exact quote.
But in Oakland stops went from 32,000 down to 19,000 just by adding that question to police stops.
Her book is
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do
I’ve followed your blog for a while, but this post in particular really means a lot to me (I am both black and asian). I don’t have kids of my own, but I’ve been trying to make sure my nephew can see a diverse range of cultures and people in his books. I will definitely be checking out these resources!
Another resource is Facing History & Ourselves. The organization primarily trains middle and high school teachers how to incorporate lessons on racism, the role of bystanders , how to be an upstander, etc. into any lesson plan. But I find it infinitely useful as a parent too.
Here’s a direct link to Face History’s teaching guide on the https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/reflecting-george-floyds-death-police-violence-towards-black-americans?utm_source=hellobar&utm_medium=topbar-desktop
Your child may have a chance to take a Facing History class at their school. I used to teach high school English. Perhaps the most important lesson imparted was teaching my students to recognize the steps towards a genocide. Pasted those non-linear steps are below.
What steps, if any, should society tolerate?
I. Classification
ii. Symbolization, “otherize” them
iii. Discrimination
iv. Dehumanization
v. Organization
vi. Polarization
vii. Preparation
viii. Persecution, like forced displacement
ix. Extermination
x. Denial
https://www.hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/what-is-genocide/the-ten-stages-of-genocide/
Great write up. Thank you for sharing and I am so happy that some of us are waking up and realizing how silent you’ve been. I’m happy to see so many bloggers and influencers step aside from their regular programming to discuss such an important issue.
I’ve written up a piece about Asian Americans and how to get over Anti-Blackness and do better. I hope you enjoy and learn a few things as well.
https://dogoodlivebetter.com/blog/asian-americans-realizing-your-anti-blackness-amp-do-better
Thanks again for your support in the POC and Asian community!
I am an Asian-American woman, and I, too, visit often, but never comment. This post compelled me to say thank you for using your blog to support social justice.
Hi Jean,
I think the articles you’ve posted on the Asian American experience diminishes the struggles that Asians face and overly simplifies the situation.
This quote from the article “the greatest thing that ever happened to them wasn’t that they studied hard, or that they benefited from tiger moms or Confucian values. It’s that other Americans started treating them with a little more respect.” and “Whites love us because we’re not black” are incredibly insensitive. Is the assumption that Asians were lazy and didn’t focus on studying before they were one day “granted” respect by “whites”? (Did a big group of white people collectively and simultaneously decide this)?
Posting only statistics on police brutality from one method of analysis also hides the more complicated and nuanced issues that we need to spend time discussing if we are to actually make a difference. For instance, if you adjust for the rate of crime committed, police do not kill African Americans at a higher rate than whites. While it may be painful to talk about why African Americans commit a proportionally higher rate of crime to their population, doing so is the only way we can get at the heart of the problem. Please read this: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883
I hope we’re willing to have the tough conversations that require putting emotions aside, in order to actually solve a much deeper problem, instead of what we’re doing now – which is putting a temporary emotional band-aid on much bigger problem.
Raising the injustices of the black community does not diminish the struggles of the Asian American community, it is not a zero sum game. Two truths can exist simultaneously.
Regarding you second point the Asian Model Minority myth has been widely written about. Racist people use the Asian American community to drive a wedge between us and other communities of color while placing ceilings on all our potential. Check the org charts of top organizations in this country.
Your statistic regarding killings for the black community is wrong as it is not weighted for the percentage of the population the community represents. Furthermore, the argument is that the black community is far more likely to be suspected of crimes they did not commit which has be deemed illegal such as the stop and frisk policy implemented in NYC.
Finally, emotion and empathy are different. The ability to reach out and care about the plight of others who are struggling is a critical piece of our humanity. Social change has happened over the years because of allies who have been empathetic such as Justice Kennedy with same sex marriage. I hope you consider these points and wish you safety and wellness.
Hi there Anonymous 1,
I’m an Asian-American woman like Jean who is working towards anti-racism, so that we can live in a society free of discrimination against all races including Asians and Blacks.
Jean’s blog post doesn’t appear to me to be diminishing nor overly simplifying our struggles as Asian-Americans. The Kat Chow article you quote is focused on how white supremacy uses the model minority myth to fuel anti-black racism.
To answer your questions:
1. No, the assumption is not that ‘that Asians were lazy and didn’t focus on studying before they were one day “granted” respect by “whites”.’ Some Asians were/are lazy and some Asians did/do study, and whatever race you were born with does not determine your laziness or diligence.
2. No, a big group of white people did not collectively and simultaneously decide that ‘one day’ they would ‘grant respect’ to Asians. Actually, the model minority myth has roots in the 1950s when Chinatown leaders sought to promote a positive image of the Chinese community who were subject to a long history of racism in the US. As an unintended consequence, this model minority myth started to get used against others, specifically against African-Americans, as seen in The Moynihan Report.
I highly encourage you to read the source article of the partial quote you first reference: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/29/the-real-reason-americans-stopped-spitting-on-asian-americans-and-started-praising-them/
Another painful reason for high crime rates in African-American communities is a 400-year history of oppression in this country.
Here are two articles that address the WSJ article’s argument that police bias does not exist because there are higher rates of crime in African-American communities:
1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/04/another-excuse-police-bias-bites-dust/
2. https://www.splcenter.org/20180614/biggest-lie-white-supremacist-propaganda-playbook-unraveling-truth-about-%E2%80%98black-white-crime
Long story short, racial bias in policing is a real problem that needs to be addressed and the black crime argument is rooted in white supremacist propaganda.
I also hope that Jean is willing to have these tough conversations. I am so happy to see that she is taking steps towards a more equitable and just society by learning more about our country’s history and sharing resources with others. Thank you, Jean!
What the hell? This exemplifies the type of anti-black denialism present in our own Asian American community that we need to be talking about. I suggest you take some time to educate yourself on the VAST body of research out there on police brutality and how – yes – it does, in fact, disproportionately impact black people in America. Here is one place to start: https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/.
To come into a conversation about how to be a better ally to black Americans and center yourself is exactly the type of noise that we don’t need right now. And moreover – regarding your point on “why African Americans commit a proportionally higher rate of crime” – I would highly recommend you educate yourself on what it means for institutions and governments to be *systemically* racist to begin to connect the dots here.
Thank you Jean for elevating the voices that matter and disseminating valuable information as always.
Jean, I just shared this post on Facebook. Thank you so much for taking a stand. I have been struggling on how to respond as a white person, and, while it’s not enough, having shared your post and committed to reading some of the stuff you linked, I feel at least I’m doing *something*. It warms my heart and makes me hopeful to see someone influential USING her influence for something so important.
I can’t remember the anti-bias website I used to use when I taught intro social work at the community college level, but I’ll post it if I track it down. It’s a great read.
As an Asian American woman, I have faced racism all my life, particularly from whites. Why must I educate myself on being anti-racist? Don’t my struggles count?
While what the police did was wrong, George Floyd had a violent criminal record (Robbery with a firearm) and autopsy shows he was high on meth at the death. Why is he being made a martyr?
#AllLivesMatter
Because police are not supposed to be judge, jury, and executioner. Who cares if he was high or had a criminal record? If police can bring mass shooters to justice unharmed then why not a Black man who potentially used a fake $20 bill? And saying Black lives matter doesn’t invalidate your experience as an Asian American. It’s willful ignorance to equate prejudice with extrajudicial killing by the very forces that are supposed to protect you.
These protests do not invalidate your struggle but your struggles haven’t been caused systematic oppression for 400 years. I am also an Asian American woman and I have never feared that cops would kill me because of my skin color. A good example of this is when police rolled up and killed Tamir Rice, a 12 year old boy whose crime was playing with a toy gun.
The black community fought for civil rights that the Asian American community enjoy and the immigration act that enabled many of us to be born here. As recent anti-Asian acts have demonstrated, racism only hurt colors of community including ours. Please consider trying to read some of Jean’s resources.
Thank you for sharing these resources.
I think it’s important to acknowledge that while Asians and Blacks are both minorities in the US and can share *some* similar experiences of racism, being Asian or Black in the US are still vastly different experiences.
History Lesson:
The Chinese were first brought in as coolies to replace slaves in the plantation fields after the Civil War.
They drilled dynamite and laid out the tracks for the transcontinental railroad until they were blown up by dynamite or buried by snowstorms.
Three Chinese laborers died for every two miles of track built to make Manifest Destiny a reality, but when the celebratory photo of the Golden Spike was taken, not a single Chinese man was welcome to pose with the other—white—railway workers.”
With the anti-Chinese campaign after the mid-1800s, Chinese immigrants couldn’t even leave their homes without being spat at, clubbed, or shot in the back, a campaign culminating in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the first immigration law that banned a race from entering the United States, after legislators and media characterized the Chinese as “rats,” “lepers,” but also “machine-like” workers who stole jobs from good white Americans.”
“Another time, in 1871, a mob of nearly five hundred Angelenos infiltrated Chinatown in L.A. over a rumor that some Chinamen had killed a white policeman. They tortured and hanged eighteen Chinese men and boys, which was the largest mass lynching in American history. The street in which they were lynched was called Calles de los Negros.”
Excerpt From: Cathy Park Hong. “Minor Feelings.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/minor-feelings/id1474529290
Annabelle, you’ve highlighted the problem that many Asians in this country face: we have been conditioned to think our second-class citizenry is LOW on the scale of oppression and therefore not worth bringing up, even though every single Asian-American I know has stories of being emasculated, fetishized, humiliated, underpaid, fired or demoted because of our racial identities.
Wait what? As an Asian American I read Annabel’s and others comments and interpreted them as voicing the minority experience between Asians and Blacks in America today and throughout history is not less or more arduous relatively, but DIFFERENT. Some of the comments here are making it seem as if by focusing on one it’s dismissing the other and that is not productive to combating racism against either group.
June, I absolutely think the issues Asians face in this country are worth bringing up. We have the power to speak up on issues we care about as well. If you feel passionate enough to voice these stories you’ve mentioned on a platform, by all means do so. I would definitely support that too.
However, Anonymous’ comment posted on 6.4.20 has got the meaning of my message right. That yes, we are facing issues too, but right now (and for a long time) the Black community is facing issues that the Asian community don’t necessarily face ourselves (i.e. racial profiling by police). On the other hand, I’m not sure Blacks face much issues with emasculation. Therefore, I am reiterating the other comments that bringing up Black issues or how we can address our own biases does not erase our own struggles. In the end, it benefits all of us.
No one is saying your struggles don’t matter or count. Literally no one.
What we are saying is there is an urgent need to address the systemic racism in America (including but not limited to police brutality).
If your neighbors house was on fire, would you yell “all houses matter!” when the fire department arrived?
A great book to start with is The New Jim Crow.
Kudos, Jean. It is very important that good people with powerful influence (like you) speak up for what is right. One more reason to read all of your posts faithfully!
Hi Jean, Thank you for using your platform to help guide others that are also trying to learn and do important anti-racist work within ourselves, our families, and our society.
I just wanted to add a couple of other compiled readings lists:
By Ibram X. Kendi:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/books/review/antiracist-reading-list-ibram-x-kendi.html
By Tasha K:
tinyurl.com/antiracismresourceguide
Thank you for sharing these valuable resources, Jean! It’s so refreshing that you have chosen to use your platform to acknowledge this incredibly complicated, but important topic and the many layers involved. Please know that it is so appreciated!
Way to go Jean! Following your work for 10 years now and so inspired to see these concrete steps you are taking!
Great to see you elevating this in your blog! Here are some more resources, including some for young people– How to Talk to Kids about Racism:
https://www.prettygooddesign.org/…/Blog%20Post%20Title%20On…
31 children’s books to support convos on race racism and resistance
https://www.embracerace.org/…/26-childrens-books-to-support…
26 Ways to Be in Struggle Beyond the Streets:
https://issuu.com/nlc.sf.2014/docs/beyondthestreets_final/1…
Organizations and Funds to Donate to in Defense of Black Lives:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10219759847081037&set=pcb.10219759847641051
Join the Movement for Black Lives Week of Action (starting today!): https://m4bl.org/week-of-action/
Thank you for this post. It gives me hope that so many of the bloggers I follow are standing on the right side of history. I committed years ago to call out racism when I see it and to also commit to self-reflection.
Thank you so much for sharing! In case anybody didn’t know, Amazon has an amazing feature called AmazonSmile where you can choose a charity from their list and Amazon will make a donation out of a percentage of your purchase. You have to use the AmazonSmile website (or turn on that feature on the Amazon shopping app) to take advantage of this though. Anyway, for those of us who may not have extra funds to donate but are still making Amazon purchases, this is an easy way to contribute. One black organization that is near and dear to my heart is Black Girls Smile, which is an organization that helps young girls get the mental health help they need. I noticed that at least one of the charities you have listed on your blog is on the AmazonSmile list.
Jean – Thank you for using your voice to share anti-racism resources with your readers. I am a frequent reader, but this is my first comment. Your post could be the first step for a reader who wants to start learning more and take action toward a better world. Thank you again!
Jean,
Thanks for your post! thanks for beign capable of switching from clothing (which I love!) to food to IVF (that I also went through) to fight against racism.
Yes! Thanks for speaking out on relevant issues that are on the forefront.
Totally agree Maria, well said!
Also glad to see you using your tremendous influence for such an important moment in history.
Ditto! I’m grateful for these resources, and I know your children will be so proud of the anti-racist work you are doing!