Your Asian Activism Should Not Become Anti-Blackness

By: Holly Ji

Illustrated by Holly Ji

With recent hate crimes against Asian-Americans due to COVID-19 pushing forward more xenophobia and sinophobia, the Asian community not only faces the horrible truth of how we are perceived in America, bordering the line of model minority and disease-carrying aliens, but also the raging anti-Blackness in our community. Yes, some of the crimes were perpetrated by Black individuals. However, we must remember how we have members of our community with racist, anti-Black ideologies, yet the Black community never disregarded our issues or turned to racist slurs and stereotypes the moment those events arose. If your first response to a Black person harming an Asian is to slander Black Lives Matter and hurl racial slurs, you are the weakest link of this community. POC unity is difficult with many communities having racist ideas against other POC embedded within them, but these racist ideas are the product of white supremacy and colonialism, not POC. 

How can we fight against anti-Blackness in the Asian community? Instead of piggyback riding off of the historically-significant name “Black Lives Matter” and saying “Asian Lives Matter,” use “Asians Are Humans” to create our own space for our own issues. Instead of seeing paleness as beauty, acknowledge that there is a massive population of dark-skinned Asians who experience colorism and need their voices to be heard. Instead of staying silent when a friend or family member makes racist “jokes,” says the N-word, perpetuates stereotypes, or expresses any sign of racism or colorism, talk to them and explain the harm those actions are causing. Instead of staying silent on Black issues and being active for Asian issues, uplift Black voices and take action. White supremacy wants POC to turn against each other. Stop preserving white supremacy. Stop preserving anti-Blackness. Your Asian activism should not become anti-Blackness.