Talking about race, Part 1: Ferguson, America is in the Heart

Photo by Anonymous

IN RECENT DAYS, there has been a lot written about how the events in Ferguson impact Asian Americans.

The discussion of race in America has historically been dominated by the black and white dynamics. We all know the reason this is so. However, the emergence of Latinos, Native Americans and Asians have made the conversation more complicated.

While Latinos have centered most of their civil rights efforts around immigration and education, no central issue has galvanized the Asian community into a single cohesive force even though we are subject to the same racial profiling, institutional racism and demeaning stereotypes as African Americans and Latinos.

I don't think we should be talking about Asian, Latino responses to Ferguson as if we are outsiders looking in. Ferguson should be an issue for us -- for all of us -- as Americans. For this, I look back at perhaps the most famous paragraphs from Carlos Bulosan's iconic America is in the Heart:

Fil-Am writer Carlos Bulosan 

"America is also the nameless foreigner, the homeless refugee, the hungry boy begging for a job and the black body dangling on a tree.

"America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him.

"We are all that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrantnt and that lynched black body. All of us, from the first Adams to the last Filipino, native born or alien, educated or illiterate -- We are America."


We are America. Ferguson is an American issue; our issue -- no matter to what ethnic or racial group you belong.

Several commentaries have been written about Ferguson and what it means to Asian Americans. Most widely read is the essay by Jack Linshi of Time Magazine, "Why Ferguson should matter to Asian-Americans."(Most discouraging has been the racist responses to his article.)

Grace Hwang Lynch has an interesting take in her blog. She has more links to other commentaries by Asian Americans so it's not like the Asian American community has been silent on the issue. But shouting from The Edge is often unheard by the white-perspective-dominated mainstream media.

The support for justice in Ferguson is more widely spread among communities of color than mainstream media has thus far reported. Some media outlets, like Faux News, would have its viewers and readers believe that Asian Americans do not support the protestors in Ferguson.

Vincent Pan, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, offered his personal thoughts and said it was important to validate people’s anger about the grand jury decision.

“I think it is imperative to validate the frustrations that millions of Americans across the country are experiencing at this moment,” Pan said.  “Sometimes anger is not only justified, it is morally required. I believe that this is one of those times.

“We have an obligation to be angry because the death of Michael Brown and the failure of the grand jury to indict his killer, Darren Wilson, must be understood in the context of racial discrimination and oppression in the United States.”

“We urgently call upon the White House, the Department of Justice and congressional leaders to review and address the ongoing pattern and practice of racial violence and systemic discriminatory treatment by law enforcement of our communities of color,” warned Gregory Cendana, Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) in a statement. 

In their own statement, Asian Americans Advancing Justice said the death of Michael Brown and other African Americans by police officers, "show us that the racial profiling and violence that African Americans experience run deep and happen because of systemic failures."

We need to remember that the Grand Jury decision to not recommend charges agains Darren Wilson is not the final word. The investigation by the Department of Justice continues to look into Ferguson.

"The reality is that what we see in Ferguson is not restricted to Ferguson." said Attorney General Eric Holder. "There are other communities around this country that have these same issues that have to be dealt with and we at the Justice Department are determined to do all that we can to bridge those divides. 

"We launched in September our Building Communities of Trust initiative to provide training to law enforcement and communities on bias reduction and procedural fairness and we plan to apply evidence-based strategies in the five pilot sites around the country. This is all designed to bridge those divides, bridge those gaps between law enforcement and the communities that they serve. These gaps, these divides exist in other parts of the country beyond Ferguson and our focus will be nationally in its scope to try to deal ultimately with these issues. ... This isn't just about talking. We want to ensure that concrete steps are taken to address these underlying barriers to trust," said Holder.

18 Million Rising - an Asian American progressive website - is urging its readers to join an online petition started by Colorofchange that will be sent to the White House.

The Grand Jury report and recommendation sparked violent protests throughout the country. Yes, it is unfortunate that some of the demonstrators are using the protests to hide their wanton destruction of private and public property. It is also unfortunate that the media chooses to focus on these acts of violence rather than the underlying reasons behind the anger and frustration. 

Pew graphic

There will be differences within the Asian American community and the gamut of opinions on Ferguson is wide.

The rapid rise in Asian immigration has also created a historical gap in the Asian American community. The killing of Vincent Chin, the last event that united the Asian American community, happened in 1982, occurred way before the majority of Asian and Pacific Islanders came to this country. They haven't heard the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the World War II Internment of the Japanese Americans, the Filipino farmworkers' struggle because they've been so immersed with trying to adjust to their new home. They don't identify themselves Asian-American, much less, with other communities of color.

They don't know the history of the civil rights movement nor how Asians, Native Americans, African Americans and Latinos united during the Third World Strike, and they don't know - yet - that we have more in common with each other and the other communities of color than we have with those who would prefer we fight among ourselves.

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