Since the start of George Floyd protests I've been thinking about what BLM means to me & trying to understand why many members of Han Chinese diaspora in the US balk at throwing their support behind it.

This led to some sobering soul searching. 1/ https://zora.medium.com/a-complicated-history-of-han-chinese-anti-blackness-9866eb75e477

A couple things led to this essay, one is @bobacommie's searing open letter to Chinese Americans on their anti-Blackess & the tsunami of angry backlash it inspired, & the other was reconnecting with an old HS friend over how hard it is to talk to our families about BLM. 2/

The community's reaction to being accused of anti-Blackness has been far stronger than their reaction to the protests themselves, and it didn't surprise me.

Looking back on my upbringing, belief in "Chinese excellence" part and parcel of "Black inferiority". 3/

It was extremely jarring for me to realize that for some, saying "Black lives matter" is the same as saying "Chinese people are unremarkable".

This led me to explore why so many Chinese people, specifically Han Chinese people, feel special, beyond the model minority myth. 4/

Han chauvinism, refers to Han-ethnocentrism, a driving force behind many CCP policies to strengthen its own rule.

A lot of Chinese immigrants, my own parents included, are accepting of the oppression of "troublesome" minorities for the greater good of the ruling majority. 5/

I see Han chauvinism as a parallel ideology alongside the model minority myth that compels Han Chinese diaspora to embrace respectability politics and even see reason in White supremacy.

BLM is seen as a threat to a status quo that works in favor of the Chinese. 6/

The thing I really want to emphasize is that the cultural context that contributes to these beliefs are complex, and I reject simply slapping the community with "political and historical illiteracy" as an explanation for why they believe in "the wrong things". 7/

I see a lot of fear in anti-Blackness of the Han Chinese diaspora in the US, past trauma & memories of political turmoil makes them reluctant to question power, I see the instinct to self-protect.

Understanding these things = key to beginning to undo their anti-Blackness. 8/

Big shout out to my editor @AdrienneWrites for working with me and @rzhongnotes for the much appreciated first read!