OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
May 15, 2017
Volume 27 Number 10
May 15, 2017
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
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rom the late ’60s to this day, a mythology
referred to as the “model minority” has been
prevalent in the Asian-American commu-
nity. It emerged from stereotypical beliefs that
Asians are hard working, quick to assimilate, and
able to succeed in the pursuit of the American
Dream. The myth quickly became a way to pit Asian
Americans against other minority groups, particu-
larly African Americans. It came into play most
dramatically during the 1992 Los Angeles riots,
known as Sa-I-Gu — literally April 29 in the Korean
language — when Korean businesses were looted
and burned following the acquittal of police officers
in the Rodney King beating. That riot was a
precursor to current police-involved shootings and
the rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
For more than a year, I’ve been working on a radio
documentary called Relations for the celebration of
the 10th anniversary of the Crossing East series.
The documentary focuses on the historic relation-
ship between Asian Pacific Islanders (APIs) and
African Americans. I’ve spoken with community
scholars and activists locally and around the
country about black and Asian tensions and how
both communities can better support each other.
Portland activist and writer Scot Nakagawa, a
senior partner at Change Lab, has written exten-
sively about the model-minority myth. Nakagawa
explained that the characteristics lauded are those
that make a group of people “perfectly exploitable,”
discouraging complaints or protests. In effect, the
model-minority myth labels Asian Americans as
“good team players with technical skills and
proficiency.” APIs are encouraged to be quiet and
cooperative, allowing their identities to be
“subsumed within the goals of the group.” He says
this perception has been used against blacks as a
way to show how they too should be a model
minority.
While there are many times African Americans
and Asian Americans have worked together to fight
discrimination and injustice, Nakagawa says they
are exceptions. He believes there are people
challenging the model-minority myth, “particularly
a new generation of Asian-American activists [who
are] rising into leadership.” He says the focus of the
new activists is to show that kind of stereotyping
contributes to racial inequality and the dehumani-
zation of Asian Americans.
I talked with Anirvan Chatterjee, the co-creator
of <www.blackdesisecrethistory.org>. The website
traces the early history of South-Asian and
African-American solidarity dating back to the 17th
and 18th centuries during the time of slavery,
F
through the civil-rights movement when Martin
Luther King Jr. travelled to India in 1959 to learn
about non-violent protest from Ghandi, to
present-day actions by South Asians For Black
Lives.
Chatterjee explained that for more than a
century, South Asians and African Americans have
stood with one another. He said the “cultures of
resistance” that emerged are the “very best of our
tradition” and something that should be taught and
shared. He is hopeful that for younger generations
of South Asian Americans, it’s a tradition they too
can step into.
I also interviewed Bay Area activist Malkia Cyril,
a member of the Black Lives Matter network and
founder and executive director of The Center for
Media Justice. Cyril, the daughter of a Black
Panther activist mom, remembers when her
“auntie” Yuri Kochiyama came to meetings at her
mother’s house in Harlem. She said Kochiyama
“understood very deeply” that the model-minority
stereotype was “built on the back of a criminal
[African-American] stereotype and the two stereo-
types can only exist in relationship to one another.”
Cyril has nothing but praise for the Asians For
Black Lives (A4BL) groups who have put their
“freedom on the line” for Blacks Lives Matter
actions.
Ellen Choy is one of those A4BL activists in the
Bay Area. She told me A4BL “purposely” puts their
bodies on the frontline as shields against police for
BLM demonstrations and protests. She doesn’t
believe “it’s just the responsibility or the obligation
of black folks to defend their communities and their
lives.” Choy said the group also works to counter
“anti-blackness by Asian folks” at events in the
Asian community.
Also recorded were people participating in Asian
Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)
workshops. It was inspiring how young APIs fully
embraced the idea of African-American and API
unity. Lexa Machinski, a student at Wilson High
School who attended APANO’s “Rolling Tides”
convention, said younger generations are trying to
find solutions collectively. “I personally think I have
a big understanding of the importance of Black
Lives Matter … I do believe that we, that all the
communities, all minorities, have the capability to
get together and just fight …. One at a time. Baby
steps. But yes, I do believe.”
These stories are just a few included in Crossing
East: Relations. The one-hour documentary airs
Tuesday, May 30 from 11:00am and noon on KBOO
Community Radio (90.7 FM). I hope you can tune in!
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.