Not Your Model Minority

[Music]

60 days

24 states 20 activists

one asian american in the summer of 2018

i was a member of march for our lives

nationwide youth civic engagement tour

road to change i hopped on a bus from

houston texas

went all the way to oakland california

speaking with survivors of gun violence

and youth doing amazing work within

their own communities

as well as speaking on panels about gun

violence prevention

and youth civic engagement it was one of

the

most transformative and life-changing

moments of my life

yet it was also one of the most

difficult

not only was it difficult because i was

talking about gun violence

every single day in nearly every single

one of my conversations

but being the only asian american

identifying person on that tour

also proved to be a challenge this

challenge culminated in one night i was

in a hotel room

with all of my friends and at this point

we got to know each other pretty well

we’re hanging out having a good time

until two of my friends started making

fun of another guy’s feet

they were joking around saying stuff

like why do they look like that

until he got angry and suddenly wasn’t a

joke

he looked at them and yelled

while i’m sorry the qing chong lady

messed up my feet

the room went silent and i was to say

the least

shocked this was supposed to be

a safe space meaning this was supposed

to be a space

where something like that should not

have been said but it was

and i am lucky enough to be in places

where young people are doing incredible

things

places where change is happening

but i learned to stop being grateful for

simply having the opportunity to gain a

platform

and to start getting comfortable with

critiquing the spaces

i am in as a member of a movement and as

an asian american

through this i hope to prevent things

like what happened to me

from happening in other organizing

experiences

as well as to encourage people in my

community to show up

and be active members of change

looking back at my experiences and at

the microaggressions i encountered

on that tour and in other progressive

spaces

i realized that the core issue was less

about representation and more about the

overall lack of education

and a need to make fundamental changes

within society

in short there are several reasons as to

why i was the only asian american on

that tour

and many of them were years in the

making

i am a big believer in learning from the

past

but we need to make a point at learning

history that

isn’t eurocentric or whitewashed

how many of you remember learning about

a significant asian-american figure

in your textbook or about the

lived experiences of japanese attorneys

i wouldn’t be surprised if nothing came

to mind

not many countries like to disseminate

information about the atrocities they’ve

committed to other groups of people

for example when i was a junior in high

school learning about world war ii

i remember learning a lot about the

triumphs

of the allied powers and the horrors

committed by the access powers

we then spent maybe one or two slides

not days slides on the internment of

japanese people

sugar coating history is not a novel

thing

especially in texas history classes

did you know that the texas essential

knowledge and skills

also known as peaks requires zero

percent of its content

to include asian americans

i didn’t learn the story of vincent chin

a chinese-american man who was brutally

murdered by two white men

over their frustrations of the success

of the japanese auto industry

or about yuri kochiyama a japanese

american internee

and civil rights activist i didn’t learn

that the term

asian american came from radical roots

to fight racism

imperialism and degrading politics

i didn’t learn any of this until i came

to ut and took an intro to asian

american studies course

this past spring but these stories

the stories of asian american people

places and events matters

telling them helps break monolithic

stereotypes

and barriers put up internally and

externally

to prevent asian americans from being

civically engaged

like being a part of nonprofits which

are traditionally white spaces

it took a while for march for our lives

to get where it is now

and the organization is still evolving

learning

and growing through this process

i got to see the impact of relearning

history

firsthand in april i led a virtual march

for our lives workshop about xenophobia

and explained how anti-asian sentiment

did not begin with coping 19.

after talking about the perpetual

foreigner stereotype

as well as the model minority racial

project and the story of vincent chen

all the participants were put into

breakout rooms to process

and divulge the content

many of them expressed how this was

their first time learning

any of this and one person even cried

feeling guilty as to how little she knew

about asian american history

before my short seminar now i’m not here

to make anyone feel guilty

i frankly don’t want your guilt but i do

think it’s okay to make people feel

uncomfortable facing that discomfort

and trying to understand why something

makes you uncomfortable

is how we start to unlearn and dismantle

the sugar-coated version of this world

we were taught in schools

this process of unlearning and learning

is an important facet of becoming more

involved with

organizing and civic engagement and it’s

something that asian americans must do

with ourselves within our communities

and we’re discussing our place in this

country

many of you may have heard that asian

people don’t vote

because we don’t have to we don’t have

to be civically engaged since we are the

model minority

we are successful driven

crazy rich these stereotypes could not

be more wrong

asia is comprised of 48 different

countries

but in the united states those 48

countries are compressed into one label

called

asian american

grouping the asian american experience

as one model minority

trivializes and undermines the

individual struggles

and experiences that each asian american

has to go through

in the united states southeast asian

americans

have the lowest high school graduation

and bachelor degree rates

furthermore 13 of asian americans this

includes

east asian south asian southeast asian

live in poverty

the white house initiative on asian

americans and pacific islanders

also did a study that showed that this

demographic

is the least likely to get healthcare

so reducing the asian american

experience allows for complacency

by lawmakers when they write education

or health care policy

and hurts the community as a whole

are there successful asian americans of

course there are many in

fact who benefit from and lean into the

model minority myth

to gain proximity to whiteness

but asian americans especially those

with lighter complexions

must remember that we will never be

white

and we will never attain white privilege

in turn we must recognize how we can

perpetuate anti-blackness

and white supremacy so that we can

achieve our collective liberation

a part of the reason why it seems like

asian people aren’t civically engaged

or part of large movements is because

this work

requires community and partnership

but there is a valid distrust of the

asian american community

the story of richard aoki is a good

example

richard aoki is an asian american who

has garnered intention

and recognition for his work with the

black panther party

he became a figure of solidarity of

black and asian co-organizing efforts

but in 2012 it was revealed that he was

actually tasked to be an fbi informant

and was giving critical information

about the black panther party

to the fbi this

is appalling the only asian american

with a leadership position in the black

panther party

was actually actively working to

dismantle it

and this president has presented itself

today at the beginning of the

coronavirus outbreak

it seemed like assaults against east

asian people were rising more than the

illicit itself in the u.s

but when i saw asian americans post

about

these attacks and condemning them they

would end their comments with things

like

why don’t you all rally for asian

americans the same way you do other

people of color

but we need to stop doing this and stop

playing oppression olympics

other minorities don’t owe us anything

in fact other black indigenous people of

color have shown up for us

time and time again through the

anti-vietnam war protest

helping increase access to immigration

and more

so this is my reminder that asian

americans we must not

only rally to our own causes

i would see tweets from asian american

youth talking about

the coronavirus doesn’t give you an

excuse to be racist to asian people

but two tweets before that would have

the n word in it

we are stronger together than we are

apart so asian americans must not be

afraid to hold each other accountable

and to be in solidarity with others

there are people who did this and did

this well like yuri kochiyama who i

mentioned earlier

who was a prominent civil rights

activist and what if malcolm x’s closest

confidants

or grace lee boggs who worked her entire

life to alleviate poverty in detroit’s

communities

with methods like mutual aid

their activism was beyond themselves and

this is something i had to learn as well

by learning from and working with

non-asian organizers

i became a better organizer and person

going back to that night i heard the

words ching chong lady

ring through the hotel room i didn’t

think i had

this voice i didn’t know how to critique

someone

in a powerful and progressive space

because i assumed everyone knew

better so that night i opened my mouth

expecting the best comeback in the world

to come out

but nothing but people aren’t perfect

and we grew up in a racist and

prejudiced country

that doesn’t easily give us the tools to

dismantle this thinking

so i left the room and i thought a lot

about the reason

i was there i joined march for our lives

because of the cause

because of the issue of gun violence and

the passion i have to end it

and even though i was the only asian

american on that tour

i wasn’t alone those two friends from

earlier had my back

and helped me hold that person

accountable

the conversation wasn’t easy but it was

one of the first times

that i had to confront the idea that no

place is perfect

and it’s okay to continue relearning and

learning

moving forward i will not be the token

agent

i cannot represent 48 different

countries as a korean american

but i will continue to critique the

spaces i am in and be a critical thinker

and ask myself what does a safe space

look like

what does that mean for the youth

organizing community

the asian american community for bypass

and for our collective liberation

but i will continue to reimagine spaces

i am

in and i encourage and challenge you to

do the same

thank you

[Music]

you