Anti-Asian Discrimination isn’t New in the United States

This post about anti-Asian discrimination was initially published in 2021 after the brutal murders of the six Asian women in Atlanta. Sadly, I’m posting it again after yet another violent hate crime against an Asian woman in the United States. This latest attack is just one incident in an upward trend of racial violence against Asian people in the United States.

Rightfully so, many people are preoccupied with the war in the Ukraine, where innocent people are being attacked in their own homes, but we can’t turn a blind eye to the same thing happening to the citizens in our own country. 

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Asian-American discrimination isn’t new in the United States. Wait a minute, I do know who needs to hear this, damn near everybody who is walking around with their hands on their heart in shock, saying things like “This violence against Asian Americans is just so unbelievable.” And by violence, I am referring to the recent murder of six Asian women in Atlanta, but also the uptick in racial violence since the start of the Covid pandemic. But I’m over here scratching my head wondering why people are so surprised by these despicable current hate crimes.

Anti-Asian Discrimination in the United States is Part of our (Shameful) Heritage

Don’t let the term model minority fool you. The United States is the country where the term “Yellow Peril” has been en vogue since the 19th century, where racist policies were enacted to prohibit immigration from China, and where Japanese-American citizens were forced into internment camps for doing nothing more than existing while Asian.

This country has a long, shameful and violent history of racism against Asian people.

A history that includes lynching, Jim Crow laws that prohibited Asian people from mixing with white people, and red lining that kept Asian people from buying homes in certain neighborhoods. Sound familiar?

The Model-Minority Becomes the Invisible Minority

The term model minority, in my opinion, has been another form of oppression for Asian Americans. By bestowing this “positive” title on Asian people, the American government bought their silence. By elevating Asian immigrants above Black people and Latinos as well, Asians were hoodwinked into too often remaining silent in the face of blatant racism and discrimination. Moreover, that silence made it easy for the mainstream media to ignore or overlook the Asian community in times of progress or pain. So, today, when people are “just shocked” by what’s happening to the Asian community, there is a reason for it. Because all of the other run-of-the mill racist acts endured by Asian people on a regular basis simply aren’t given the deserved media coverage and active responses from politicians and policy makers. Also, because, like all things pertaining to racism in America, people turn a blind eye to the things that happen to “other” people and worry not until it happens to them.

White Supremacy Doesn’t Discriminate

So, why is this happening? Why are Asian Americans being targeted now more than ever? We can definitely point nine fingers at the man who formerly inhabited the white house for his constant stoking of racial flames around COVID, always referring to it as the “China virus.” He also insinuated that the Chinese created the virus and somehow weaponized it and were therefore responsible for the global pandemic.  It also didn’t help that the orange menace spent his entire presidency giving racist individuals permission to be their worst selves. But here’s another newsflash. The racists who are committing these crimes against Asian Americans have been here for more than four years.

Racists don’t only hate Asian people. They hate Black people, Latino people, Indigenous people, Muslim people and multiracial people too. They also hate people based on their religion, gender identity and whether or not they went to college. Hate doesn’t discriminate. And if we’re going to be honest, the people who attack Asian Americans aren’t only white people.Hate crimes can be and are perpetuated by people of color on other people of color.

This is How We Fight

The answer to this problem is pretty simple. It’s a two-pronged approach that needs to happen. First, people of color need to join forces like Superman and Batman to defeat this evil menace. Black people can’t do it alone. Latinos can’t do it alone. Asian Americans can’t do it alone. But if we work together, you know the old saying, united we stand, divided we fall. In my humble opinion, we POCs keep falling because we haven’t figured out how to properly join forces. We’re too invested in staying in our tribes and jockeying for second place. Not going to win that way. Second place looks like the emperor with no clothes. It’s a mirage and a fool’s prize.

The second thing that needs to happen while POCs are busy coalition building, is that white people have to work on their racism problem. Racism is a tool of the ruling power structure and it must be dismantled by those who built it.

Anti-Asian Discrimination in the United States Isn’t New, but It’s Time to End

If you are horrified but not shocked by the growing numbers of Asian Americans who are the victims of racial violence, then you understand the world we’re living in. If you are shocked, then start reviewing American history from a decolonized lens. Be kind to your Asian-American friends as they are probably hurting extra hard in these dark days, but also figure out what your role is in making the United States a safe place for all of her citizens.