Charlottesville: Asian Americans at a turning point

GROWING UP in California, my parents never talked about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. To them, the plight of African Americans and their fight for equality were distant events

To them, the March on Washington was for African Americans. It didn't affect Filipinos or Asian/Americans. (In fact, the term "Asian American" hadn't even been conjured up until the latter half of the 60s.)

I can't remember any of my teachers in my racially diverse high school discuss  what was happening in Little Rock, Selma and other parts of the South. The Vietnam War had yet to reach our living room TV screens.

I'm embarrassed to say, that post-WWII generation immigrants of my parents -- as much as we owe them and love them -- there was an awful saying they repeated from a popular racist ditty: "If you're white, you're right; if you're black, get back; if you're brown, stick around." (Ooo, boy, that was difficult to write.)

Through the decades, that mantra has thankfully and gradually disappeared although it is showing signs of revival among the new immigrants from Asia who have no grasp or background of Asian American history. 

As AAPI people have become more attuned to the realities of America and it's dreams, as a group, we still struggle to find our place in our country -- as individuals and as a political construct  -- and rid ourselves of the "otherness" imposed on us by other people.

The events of Charlottesville, the uprising of white supremacists and the rise of Donald Trump, a leader who has no grasp of history and no empathy for people of color is forcing us to once again, seek a place in this current battle for America's soul because, whether we like or not, it is better at the table discussing these issues rather than retiring to the kitchen letting others duke it out.

The Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a coalition of five legal aid organizations, recently put out a call that perhaps best sums up why Charlottesville affects us why we should prepare ourselves the debates that are going on and the battles that are sure to come over race and what it means to be an American.

Here is the AAAJ's clarion call:

While few Asian Americans trace our roots to the Civil War, our history in this nation is deeply intertwined and impacted by white supremacy and nativism. At the turn of the 20th century, white mobs threatened -- and even lynched -- Chinese, Filipino, and South Asian immigrants, in part for fear they would taint (white) American culture. White supremacist groups helped to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first law to ban an entire ethnic group. And white supremacy birthed “alien land laws”, barring “non-citizens” from owning land at a time when mainly Asians could not become U.S. citizens, and anti-miscegenation laws, prohibiting interracial marriage (a law that in California specifically singled out Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and other Asians). White supremacy also paved the way for the U.S. government to violate due process and incarcerate 120,000 Japanese Americans, many U.S. citizens, during World War II -- an action upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Korematsu vs. United States and never formally overturned.

Given our history, we as Asian Americans cannot stand idly by and watch as white supremacists march through our neighborhoods. Even before this past weekend, hate crimes were surging upwards, including nearly 200 incidents against Asian Americans since January documented through our hate tracker (StandAgainstHatred.org) and the shooting of two South Asian immigrants, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, in Kansas earlier this year.

We as Asian Americans also must not be complicit in the white supremacist agenda of this current administration. White supremacy drives the President’s Muslim bans, seeking to ban entire groups of people based on their national origin and non-Christian religion. It drove last week’s one-two punches from the White House. First, when the President announced his support for the RAISE Act, an immigration bill that would gut the current family-based immigration system, which has brought millions of Asian, African, and Latin American immigrants into the U.S. and remade the racial demographics of the U.S. in the past 50 years. And second, when the White House redirected federal civil rights resources to undo long-standing affirmative action policies. The administration’s purported claim to be fighting discrimination against Asian Americans flies counter to all other evidence that this administration and its allies and supporters seek to advance only the interests of fellow white Americans.

Our nation is at a critical crossroads. White supremacist leaders like David Duke have seized upon Charlottesville as a turning point in moving their hate and nativism mainstream. Without clear and decisive leadership from the President or other administration officials or Congressional leaders, it falls on all of us to resist white supremacy, including efforts to be co-opted by white supremacists who do not and have never had our communities' interests at heart.

We call on all Asian Americans to join us in defending our vision of democracy – one where we protect the vulnerable amongst us, resist efforts to erode our hard-won rights and protections, and fight to advance progress for all marginalized communities. We pledge to challenge rising hate, to fight the President’s Muslim bans, to oppose the RAISE Act and the gutting of affirmative action, to fight deportations and defend DACA, to champion health care for all, and to ensure all voters can cast their ballots. We cannot do this alone, and we will be calling upon you to join us on the streets, in legislative chambers, and on the steps of the courts to stand up for our democracy.

RELATED:

• Trump eases up on white supremacists 
• AAPI politicians condemn white terrorism; Trump's weak response

It is critical for the AAPI community -- especially those recent immigrants who come to the U.S. with its abundance of opportunities available to them -- to know that it was not always this way. Affirmative action, census counts, data disaggregation, employment rights, equal pay, equal access to health care, the right to own land, the ability to marry outside your race, family reunification -- these things had to be fought for. AAPI have bled and died for these rights and opportunities we take for granted. While America was yet a dream in for the recent immigrants, Asian Americans were in the courts, the fields, in the halls of government, on the job and in the streets fighting for these doors to be opened.

White supremacists would like to use us as a wedge against other communities of color. They would like to separate us from others who share our struggle. They would like to divide us from each other. We must not let this happen.

Filipino American author Carlos Bulosan wrote in America Is In the Heart words that still ring true: "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 are closed to him. We are all that nameless foreigner, that homeless refugee, that hungry boy, that illiterate immigrant 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!"


The violence that occurred in Charlottesville was violence against the AAPI community. It was as much an attack against the AAPI as it was against the African/American, Native American and Latino communities. When Heather Heyer was killed, a sister was struck down.

America is at a crossroads. We are at that crossroads. In the weeks and months to come, we will determine which America will emerge: one where one group reigns over all; or an America that welcomes that refugee, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked.

The history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is an ongoing struggle to know our role in American history and how we have arrived to Charlottesville last week; how we have come to this America of 2017. 
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Freedom Summer: The 1964 Battle For Civil Rights In Mississippi

IN THE SUMMER of 1964 I was looking forward to my senior year in high school. I had a job at the World's Fair in New York, working in a hot kitchen providing chicken adobo and marinated pork on a stick for the customers of the San Miguel Beer pavilion/beer hall.

The German pavilion across the alley provided a good, steady source of beer-loving customers.

One of my co-workers in the kitchen was a guy from Tahiti. He was 21 and after work we'd hang out in the fairgrounds taking advantage of the free or really inexpensive entertainment venues. During one of these outings, he bought me my first mixed drink - rum and coke. The bars on the fairgrounds were pretty lax about asking for ID's.

Like a dork, I wore my letterman's sweater a couple of times thinking it would be impressive. When asked what the block letter "P" stood for, I'd proudly respond, "Pittsburg." Everybody thought I was talking about Pittsburgh, ( you know, Pittsburg with the "h") and assumed that I went to the University of Pittsburgh. I didn't say otherwise, just pass me the rum and coke.

One of the highlights of that summer was a quick bus ride to Washington D.C. with by brother-in-law's younger brother and another co-worker, a Puerto Rican who had a whisper of a mustache and had that New Yawk accent and what I saw as "street smarts." We had one day in the nation's capitol and all we saw was the mall and some of the nearby monuments.

We were too young to appreciate the history and significance of all that was around us.

We sat in the back of the Greyhound bus and sang songs of the day, like "Up On The Roof" and "Under the Boardwalk." We sounded terrible but we thought we were good. It was a wonder nobody else on the bus complained.

I had no inkling what else was happening the world. I didn't know about the other buses carrying college students to the Deep South to register African Americans to vote.

I didn't know about the lynchings and the deaths of some of those Freedom Riders. I am embarrassed to say how oblivious I was. I lived in California, far from the segregated lunch counters, the separate entrances for blacks and whites, and the Jim Crow laws that prevented blacks from exercising their right to vote. 

To learn more about Freedom Summer, there's an app for that: 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/freedom-summer-civil-rights/id893679666?mt=8

For young people today, 50 years ago is ancient history. It may be difficult to imagine how different it was then. You have to picture the civil rights actions that took place in a hostile environment. Back then, local government was the enemy. The figures of authority - including the police - were openly against voter registration for blacks. 

The courage of those young people - black and white - who traveled to the Deep South and went against the bigotry and racism that was the way of life down there. To the good ol' boys, these northerners were breaking the law and upending practices that were rooted in centuries of tradition.

Unfortunately today, we are still fighting against the deeply ingrained values based on racism, remnants of that "tradition." People and monied-special interests are trying to turn back the clock with the anti-government rhetoric; the ultra conservatives are still trying to discredit the President and block any of his initiatives; the GOP continue their Southern Strategy by continuing to appeal to the baseline racists with their xenophobic rantings under the guise of "taking back our country;" and their numerous attempts to limit voting under the guise of preventing so-called voter fraud. (NOTE: the number of voting fraud incidents are so few - even rare - and don't warrant the fear and legislation that has emerged to prevent voting by "certain people."} 

It's all a last gasp effort to maintain the status quo, to remain in power, to stay on top of the heap, to keep unspoken entitlements.

To the young people - including my nieces, nephews and their children in high school and college - go ahead and enjoy your summer: go to the beach, hike in the mountains, laugh with your friends and enjoy your time off from studies. Remember though, much of our world today was shaped by the events that occurred in the summer of 1964. The equal rights won for African Americans, was extended to all minorities and inspired other battles: for farmworkers, for Filipinos, for Latinos, for gays and for women.

The victories won in the 60's are being challenged today. The battles continue in the halls of Congress, in the courts, in the polling booth, schools, business and the streets; in Washington D.C., Sacramento, Los Angeles, Detroit, in Texas and Arizona border towns, in Sanford, Florida and in Ferguson, Missouri -- wherever ignorance and hate raises its head.

The rights we enjoy now cannot be taken for granted. With all that is happening in today's world, if you care about democracy, if you care about our country, if you care about the future for you and your family - you can't afford to be as oblivious as I was in 1964.

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Random thoughts on July 4, 2014

This Independence Day I'm worried about the future of America. Watch the video above and watch the pain and awkwardness of the Republican's holding hands with Democrats and singing the anthem of the civil rights movement. What an awkward moment for an event that was supposed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act on July 2 it symbolizes much of what's wrong with out country today.

One of the most significant pieces of legislation, the law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It ended discrimination in schools, at work and at public facilities. The Civil Rights Act barred placing barriers to voting that would impact certain groups of people.

Sadly, if introduced today, the landmark legislation might not even pass. The split between lawmakers and the Republican radicals' unwillingness to meet the opposition half-way, the traditional definition of politics, has made Congress ineffective. Rachel Maddow wrote about this interesting premise at http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/john-lewis-civil-rights-act-would-not-pass-today

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Then there's the Hobby Lobby decision by five members of the U.S. Supreme Court. I thought the court couldn't make a worst decision to undermine our democracy than Citizens United but this decision issued last week comes in pretty close.
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Take away all the noise and alarm over the birth control issue, what makes the decision by five male members of the court is it opens the doors to business owners imposing their religious beliefs on their employees. Even though the majority tried to narrow its ruling, the court expanded its Citizens United decision that corporations are people and money is a form of free speech, by saying corporations can hold religious beliefs and they can ignore laws that might impinge on those beliefs.

The Washington Post had a pretty good analysis: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/07/after_hobby_lobby_there_is_only_rfra_and_that_s_all_you_need.html

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At a recent meeting, the facilitator opened up with an ice-breaker, She wanted all of to introduce ourselves and answer the question, "What do you look forward to tho summer." I had the misfortune to be sitting right next to her and then she turned to me. With no time to think, I blurted out, "The seventh inning stretch."

The guy sitting on the other side asked, "Is that it?" I think he was stalling for time trying to think up an answer. At any rate, I said, "Yes. Its one of the few times you can get 40,000 people - all races, creeds. Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers and Libertarians and fans ob both opposing teams - to stand up and sing that sappy song, 'Take Me Out To Ballgame." and for a brief moment in time, we are united, That's America."

I was saying that tongue in cheek but around the table I saw a bunch of people nodding in agreement.

I do enjoy baseball (Go Giants! Go A's) and its relaxing pace on a languid summer day, hot dogs, cold beer and the 7th inning stretch. Well, that's good enough for me ... considering all the other craziness going on.

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Trying to end on a positive note, here's the Coke commercial that debuted during last year's Super Bowl. The singing of "America, the Beautiful" raised a storm of controversy from xenophobes who thought that it was unAmerican.

The Filipinos in it are from the Basco family who used to live next to us when I was growing up on Carolyn Drive.

Below is the Tagalog version. The comments of the little girl who sings it demonstrates more wisdom than most of our Congress members. Her words express the hope of a youngster who hasn't been made cynical with all the crazy unAmerican stuff going on. Ahh ... she is the hope I've been looking for today, July 4, 2014.