By Louis Chan
Several Asian American groups launched specifically to counter the anti-Asian xenophobia during the coronavirus shifted focus to hold a virtual town hall June 4 to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Detroit Police concluded Adaisha Miller died while dancing with a police officer in 2012. Authorities dismissed the case as an accidental shooting, but her mother Yolanda McNair continues to fight for justice for other families and has launched the group, P.O.S.T. or Protect Our Stolen Treasures. Adaisha Miller- Remember her name.
Delrahn Small died in a police shooting in 2016 that his brother, Victor Dempsey, dubbed the Brooklyn Road Rage incident. Dempsey successfully fought for the passage of New York’s Right to Know Act which holds police accountable for their actions. Delrahn Small-remember his name.
Charleena Lyles died after being shot by police 7 times in Seattle after calling 911 to report a burglary in 2017. Her cousin Katrina Johnson now works with other families who have lost loved ones to the use of lethal force in Washington state and volunteers with the with local nonprofit Not This Time and is employed with the Public Defenders Association. Charleena Lyles-remember her name.
Johnson, Dempsey and Mcnair were all brought together for a virtual conversation by several groups- I am not a virus, Be Cool 2 Asians, Racism is a Virus, Wash the Hate and Hate is not a virus. All these groups were recently formed to tackle anti-Asian racism during the pandemic.
Valerie Chow of Be Cool 2 Asians and reality show executive opened with the question “How can we as Asian Americans support our Black brothers and sisters?” The discussion was raw, emotional and at times painful. It also included an honest dialogue between the Black and Asian community.
“All of our children were killed by somebody with a badge,” said the mother of Adaisha Miller, McNair. She disputes the conclusion the gun went off accidentally while dancing.
“She doesn’t dance. She never did. Sway to the music, yes, but dance? Never. Never has my daughter danced. How it she supposed to get this married man to dance with her? None of it made sense.”
Small died during a road rage incident with an off-duty police officer.
“The officer lied. He said my brother hit him repeatedly 21 times. The first 8 days, my brother’s case was pretty much written off. The public didn’t care about it because they assumed a Black man hit some officer so he deserved what he got. Eight days later, a video surfaced,” said Dempsey. “What the video showed was Wayne Isaac shooting my brother three times almost instantaneously as he approached the vehicle.”
Isaac would be tried for second degree murder and first degree manslaughter. He would be found not guilty.
As with Dempsey and McNair, Johnson remains unsatisfied with the investigation into her cousin’s death.
“Shortly after she had been murdered, I realized I would never receive justice the way I wanted it to come as if some one would go to jail. Three years later, we don’t have any answers.”
At times, the descriptions of the killings were both graphic, difficult and even uncomfortable. It was so uncomfortable, one of the Asian American panelists felt a need to apologize.
“I am absolutely embarrassed, ashamed, that we're forcing you to relive your trauma right now,” said Sam Hyun Exec director of Korean American Citizens League. “This is just wrong and this is not what I signed up for. What I signed up for was to listen and hear your pain. What I signed up for was to acknowledge that the Asian American community has not done enough. That we have been silent for too long. That we need to shut up and listen.”
“I don’t feel slighted in any manner,” responded Dempsey. “I’m not going to say and lie to you and say it’s not painful every time we tell the story. It is. But what you said to me means so much more. The fact that you acknowledge that being an Asian American you have not done enough. This is why we tell our story. I’m not going through the ringer right now. I’m at peace being here.”
The other two Black panelists seemed to agree.
“You know Sam, I just want to say that it was really hard to see those things,” said Johnson. “The reality of the situation is, it’s really not a Black or White thing or an Asian thing, it’s really about evil, pure evil that is happening.
Valerie Chow of Be Cool 2 Asians and reality show executive opened with the question “How can we as Asian Americans support our Black brothers and sisters?” The discussion was raw, emotional and at times painful. It also included an honest dialogue between the Black and Asian community.
“All of our children were killed by somebody with a badge,” said the mother of Adaisha Miller, McNair. She disputes the conclusion the gun went off accidentally while dancing.
“She doesn’t dance. She never did. Sway to the music, yes, but dance? Never. Never has my daughter danced. How it she supposed to get this married man to dance with her? None of it made sense.”
Small died during a road rage incident with an off-duty police officer.
“The officer lied. He said my brother hit him repeatedly 21 times. The first 8 days, my brother’s case was pretty much written off. The public didn’t care about it because they assumed a Black man hit some officer so he deserved what he got. Eight days later, a video surfaced,” said Dempsey. “What the video showed was Wayne Isaac shooting my brother three times almost instantaneously as he approached the vehicle.”
Isaac would be tried for second degree murder and first degree manslaughter. He would be found not guilty.
As with Dempsey and McNair, Johnson remains unsatisfied with the investigation into her cousin’s death.
“Shortly after she had been murdered, I realized I would never receive justice the way I wanted it to come as if some one would go to jail. Three years later, we don’t have any answers.”
At times, the descriptions of the killings were both graphic, difficult and even uncomfortable. It was so uncomfortable, one of the Asian American panelists felt a need to apologize.
“I am absolutely embarrassed, ashamed, that we're forcing you to relive your trauma right now,” said Sam Hyun Exec director of Korean American Citizens League. “This is just wrong and this is not what I signed up for. What I signed up for was to listen and hear your pain. What I signed up for was to acknowledge that the Asian American community has not done enough. That we have been silent for too long. That we need to shut up and listen.”
“I don’t feel slighted in any manner,” responded Dempsey. “I’m not going to say and lie to you and say it’s not painful every time we tell the story. It is. But what you said to me means so much more. The fact that you acknowledge that being an Asian American you have not done enough. This is why we tell our story. I’m not going through the ringer right now. I’m at peace being here.”
The other two Black panelists seemed to agree.
“You know Sam, I just want to say that it was really hard to see those things,” said Johnson. “The reality of the situation is, it’s really not a Black or White thing or an Asian thing, it’s really about evil, pure evil that is happening.
The conversation then focused to what each community could do for each other and the misconceptions that get in the way of Black Asian unity.
Dempsey is 6′ 2″ tall and 280 pounds. He says his size can be intimidating to some.
“There was a group of Asians getting on a train,” he recalled. “This was the first time I felt my blackness was a threat. All five of them women clutched their purses and walked to the end of the train.
“How do we show people it’s okay to not understand, but to be able to ask questions without wanting to offend people. I just want to start a conversation because I’m as lost as everyone else.”
“Anti-black rhetoric happens between people of color all the time,” added Hyun. “We have to dismantle this together. We have to be colored conscious of our history.”
“Make a new friend,” urged Nissa Tzun. “If you never stepped outside your race. Learn their histories.”
The panelists agreed that each community needed to support each other.
“There has been an attack on the Asian community,” said Johnson speaking about the pandemic. “Some of us are guilty into feeding into that. We need to take time out and check ourselves if we want others to be in this with us.”
Dempsey urged everyone to stop trying to compete for which community is the most oppressed. McNair cautioned that everyone needed to avoid common misconceptions about other groups outside their own. Honest conversations are sometimes the key to understanding.
“You cannot fight hate with hate,” said Kenney Tran, a social justice advocate. “You got to fight it with love. Across the globe, we have more in common that we do apart. We have to learn to look at each other with pure eyes. We got to get there and stand in solidarity with each other.”
Johnson called for courage to be uncomfortable, to call out injustice when you see it.
“The feelings we have of being uncomfortable, that’s exactly how we should be feeling,” agreed Hyun. “Understanding the moment, Time and place. My time right now is to be part of the conversations.”
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