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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Asian/Indian Americans are indebted to the Black community. We can’t remain as bystanders to the brutality and murders of black men and women, when it was their ancestors who fought and died for our right to live in this country.
I’ll explain: It wasn’t until the Black Civil Rights Movement in the 1950-60s, where hundreds of black activists were beaten, jailed and killed fighting for the right to live equally, that Congress finally passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts.
Their hard-won fight for equality led to the 1965 Immigration Act, allowing Asian Americans, like my own parents, to live freely in the United States and strive for the "American Dream."
In the years to follow, Asian Americans were given the reputation of being a “model minority” - allowed to move into white neighborhoods and classrooms. An unfair advantage to succeed.
Meanwhile descendants of the Civil Rights Movement that we’re indebted to, are still being redlined, profiled and disproportionately jailed and killed by law enforcement.
There's no doubt Asian/Indian Americans face racism and discrimination - but we have our own privileges we need to be aware of. Which means being active participants to end anti-Black racism. By accepting the “model minority” trope, we're encouraging an even greater racial wedge.
In her book “We Too Sing America,” Deepa Iyer writes, “Authentic and sustainable solidarity efforts must be premised on this broader understanding of why Black lives matter, why they have not mattered historically, and why they still do not matter today, as they should.”
I bring this up because a lot of people have been defending the other police officer in the death of George Floyd, stating he was just a bystander. Being complicit in a murder is allowing a murder. As Asian Americans, we can’t defend or justify that - we need to call it out.
It’s our responsibility as non-black POC to raise these conversations in our homes, classrooms and offices. We have to take responsibility for our role in ending anti-black racism.
As the pianist Vijay Iyer says, “Choose to be that kind of American that refuses to accept what America has been, and instead help build a better America even for others, who might not immediately seem to ‘belong’ to us.”
If you want to learn more, I suggest reading @dviyer's book “We Too Sing America” and listening to her podcast Solidarity Is This. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/solidarity-is-this/id1251648447?mt=2
And reading this op-ed by Neil Padukone, which was one of the first times I realized my own history and responsibility to racial equality. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/indians-debt-to-black-ame_b_9418972
