Our Black Asses for Asian Lives
Welcome to the 86th installment of This Black-Ass Life! This week, we’re writing about how anti-Asian American racism and xenophobia is on the rise and about the complicated relationship and solidarity between Asian Americans and Black-Ass people.
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I. The Facts
The term Asian American is fraught AF. It encompasses a population with origins in East Asia, South Asia, or Southeast Asia. This community representing countless cultures makes up over 5% of the population in the U.S., which has a long history of scapegoating Asian citizens.
The choice to call COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus” was extremely intentional and it’s not new. Remember the Chinese Exclusion Act? Japanese Internment? Fears over MSG? The scapegoating of the Muslim and Sikh community post 9/11? America is not new to anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, it’s true to it.
Things don’t seem to be getting better. In March 2020, Rep. Judy Chu estimated at least 100 anti-Asian American attacks were taking place per day.
This year alone, there’ve been a string of attacks against Asian elders:
An 84-year-old man from Thailand died in late January after being attacked on his morning walk in San Francisco. Days later, a 91-year-old Asian man was violently shoved to the ground in Oakland's Chinatown. Last week, a 64-year-old woman was robbed outside a Vietnamese market in San Jose, California. And a 61-year-old Filipino man was slashed in the face last week on the New York City subway.
The Asian American Bar Association of New York noted that from Jan 1 - Nov 1, 2020, there was an 8-fold increase in anti-Asian hate crimes compared to the same period in 2019.
Why does it matter?
The whites are out of control yet again (see above and history of humanity) and are hurting people they perceive as less than.
That said, we are two Black women who write from the perspective of Black women and therefore would be remiss to not mention the complicated relationship between Black people and Asian American people. From the minstrel show that is (was?) Awkwafina and Lily Singh, to the deep-entrenched anti-Blackness in some communities, it is important to note ways we have hurt each other doing the bidding of white supremacy.
The insidiousness of white supremacy is that white people don’t even have to be present for the dichotomy they created to cause intra- and inter- discord within marginalized communities.
Ultimately, standing in solidarity against the malignant cancer that is white supremacy is our only choice. Good news is that we have a long, rich history of Black-Asian solidarity.
For example, did you know Bayard Rustin, through his work with FOR, led efforts to protect the homes of over 120,000 Japanese-American citizens who were returning from internment camps?
What can my Black ass do?
Join organizations that escort elderly Asian Americans to keep them safe.
Here is a list of places where you can donate, volunteer, get bystander intervention training and report incidents.
Here is a list of mutual aid funds you can donate to.
ll. Other Things
Love.
Namaste Wahala is the Bollywood/Nollywood collab romance film you didn’t think you wanted, but trust us, you need to watch it. Is Jollof Briyani a thing we can actually make happen?
Speaking of love, pick up Helen Hoang’s Kiss Quotient, a romance written from the perspective of an austistic woman.
We haven’t seen it, and Eddie Huang deserves several side-eyes, but we love a love story that doesn’t center whiteness.
One of the saddest things that's happened to me this year is that I finished Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown. It’s only February and I can tell you it’s one of the best books I (Jumoke) will read this year.
Happy Chinese New Year! I’m (Jumoke) a fire rabbit. I don’t really know what that means but I like the visual. Mitu is a metal goat! Again, an amazing visual.
Our Black-Ass song(s) of the week (Mitu):
Y’all, D’Angelo went on Instagram LIVE to tell us he will do a Verzuz with TBD friends on February 27 at the Apollo. Until then, check out This is D’Angelo playlist on Spotify.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
I (Jumoke) look forward to spring. I am very over COVID winter.
I (Mitu) look forward to the next season of Buried by the Bernards, the funniest, most entertaining reality show I have seen in many years.
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Parent
My mama (Jumoke) quit her job because she was tired. I’m so proud of her for doing the un-African woman thing of taking respite and resting. Great Feelings!
Stay Black, thrive and rest! We’ll hit your inbox next on March 1.