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SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN
Andrew Yang's oped drew flak from Asian Americans. |
Et tu, Brute? Now I know how Caesar felt when his good buddy, Brute, stabbed him in the Senate chambers of ancient Rome.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang's oped is the proverbial knife. And the fact the stabber is prominent in the eyes of mainstream media and general populace, makes the wound even more hurtful.
Yang's Washington Post oped entitled, “We Asian Americans are not the virus, but we can be part of the cure” published Wednesday got a response he probably wasn't expecting.
Yang wrote the piece to address the rise in hate acts against Asians and Asian Americans by racists who blame them for the coronavirus.
The key lines that drew the wrath of AAPI activists, celebrities and and former supporters, apparently, follows:
"We Asian Americans need to embrace and show our American-ness in ways we never have before. We need to step up, help our neighbors, donate geaer, vote, wear red white and blue, volunteer, fund aid organizations and do everything in our power to accelerate the end of this crisis. We should now without a shadow of a doubt that we are Americans wh will do our part for our country in this time of need.
"Demonstrate that we are part of the solution. We are not the virus, but we can be part of the cure."
With this oped, Yang has undone all the hard work he did during his campaign to win the support of Asian Americans and at the same time, drew the approving nods of whites from the white supremacists to those who still harbor the image of an American as a white male backed up by history textbooks largely written by ... white males.
His oped takes the onus off of whites, who created the artificial notion of race in the first place just so they can put themselves on top, and puts it on AAPIs' shoulders to once again, prove that we deserve to be called American. My father, who was in the US Army during WWII, survived the Bataan Death March, fought in Korea then served as a public servant for his home city in California, must be turning over in his grave; along with the thousands of his Filipino American compatriots who paid the ultimate price for their patriotism.
So not only did Yang stab Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders betraying the AAPI support he gained, but for good measure, he had to twist the blade, too. Ouch!
Japanese Americans were particularly critical of Yang's myopic views culled by growing up in upstate New York.
Being American, didn't erase the racism against Japanese Americans even though thousands of their brothers and sons and fathers died during WWII as members of the famous 442nd Regiment.
“During World War II, Japanese Americans volunteered for military duty at the highest possible levels to demonstrate that they were Americans,” Yang wrote in the Washington Post. “Now many in the Asian American community are stepping up, trying to demonstrate that we can be part of the solution.”
Filmmaker and UCLA Asian American studies professor Renee Tajima-Peña took umbrage at Yang's inference by using the 442nd as an example. She tweeted a photo of her uncle in military uniform, flanked by her grandparents. The photo was taken behind the barbed wire of Gila River, where her family was imprisoned. “My family served in US Army & wore red/white/blue. Didn't work out well for them.” the caption reads.
His oped takes the onus off of whites, who created the artificial notion of race in the first place just so they can put themselves on top, and puts it on AAPIs' shoulders to once again, prove that we deserve to be called American. My father, who was in the US Army during WWII, survived the Bataan Death March, fought in Korea then served as a public servant for his home city in California, must be turning over in his grave; along with the thousands of his Filipino American compatriots who paid the ultimate price for their patriotism.
So not only did Yang stab Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders betraying the AAPI support he gained, but for good measure, he had to twist the blade, too. Ouch!
Japanese Americans were particularly critical of Yang's myopic views culled by growing up in upstate New York.
Being American, didn't erase the racism against Japanese Americans even though thousands of their brothers and sons and fathers died during WWII as members of the famous 442nd Regiment.
“During World War II, Japanese Americans volunteered for military duty at the highest possible levels to demonstrate that they were Americans,” Yang wrote in the Washington Post. “Now many in the Asian American community are stepping up, trying to demonstrate that we can be part of the solution.”
Filmmaker and UCLA Asian American studies professor Renee Tajima-Peña took umbrage at Yang's inference by using the 442nd as an example. She tweeted a photo of her uncle in military uniform, flanked by her grandparents. The photo was taken behind the barbed wire of Gila River, where her family was imprisoned. “My family served in US Army & wore red/white/blue. Didn't work out well for them.” the caption reads.
And doesn't Donald Trump's racist dog whistles of the "Chinese virus" have anything to pumping up his white surpemacists have any responsibility in this current wave of race blaming.
Other's took to social media to express their reaction to Yang's opinion piece. Jeff Yang of the Wall Street Journal disagreed, as did others.
Liu had initially weighed in by stating that the Asian community unequivocally rejected the op-ed.
“I know he can and will do better,” Liu added in a second tweet, clarifying that he supports everyone doing their part, but found Yang’s take to be “horribly misguided and tone-deaf.”
Replying to Liu on Friday, Yang tweeted that he’s “just saying we need to do all we can to ease this crisis” and step up in a time of national and global need.
“Lead and serve,” Yang said. “(I’m) very proud of my heritage and know that different people will have different takes.”
“Reading (Yang's oped) gave me a sense of deja vu,” Bruce Embrey, the co-chair of Manzanar Committee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on Japanese American incarceration, told NBC Asian America,
“Andrew Yang may think the solution to racism is to be compliant, but fighting for one’s rights against the dominant narrative has been an integral part of our nation’s development,” Embrey said. “Fighting back is as American as you can get.”
Andrew, you're still missing the point. Those bigots who choose to target Asian Americans are the ones who need to be "more American." Asian Americans have nothing to prove.
ASAM NEWS contributed to this article.
Replying to Liu on Friday, Yang tweeted that he’s “just saying we need to do all we can to ease this crisis” and step up in a time of national and global need.
“Lead and serve,” Yang said. “(I’m) very proud of my heritage and know that different people will have different takes.”
“Reading (Yang's oped) gave me a sense of deja vu,” Bruce Embrey, the co-chair of Manzanar Committee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on Japanese American incarceration, told NBC Asian America,
“Andrew Yang may think the solution to racism is to be compliant, but fighting for one’s rights against the dominant narrative has been an integral part of our nation’s development,” Embrey said. “Fighting back is as American as you can get.”
Andrew, you're still missing the point. Those bigots who choose to target Asian Americans are the ones who need to be "more American." Asian Americans have nothing to prove.
ASAM NEWS contributed to this article.
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