Letters for Black Lives (2016) is a letter written by Asian American and Asian Canadian activists to their families in the wake of the Alton Sterling and Philando Castile killings. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages. There are even versions of it for Latino and African immigrant relatives.
The Asian American English version says in part:
“Even as we hear about the dangers Black Americans face, our instinct is sometimes to point at all the ways we are different from them. To shield ourselves from their reality instead of empathizing. When a policeman shoots a Black person, you might think it’s the victim’s fault because you see so many images of them in the media as thugs and criminals. After all, you might say, we managed to come to America with nothing and build good lives for ourselves despite discrimination, so why can’t they? …
“It’s true that we face discrimination for being Asian in this country. Sometimes people are rude to us about our accents, or withhold promotions because they don’t think of us as “leadership material.” Some of us are told we’re terrorists. But for the most part, nobody thinks “dangerous criminal” when we are walking down the street. The police do not gun down our children and parents for simply existing.
“This is not the case for our Black friends. Many Black people were brought to America as slaves against their will. For centuries, their communities, families, and bodies were ripped apart for profit. Even after slavery, they had to build back their lives by themselves, with no institutional support — not allowed to vote or own homes, and constantly under threat of violence that continues to this day.
“In fighting for their own rights, Black activists have led the movement for opportunities not just for themselves, but for us as well. Black people have been beaten, jailed, even killed fighting for many of the rights that Asian Americans enjoy today. We owe them so much in return. We are all fighting against the same unfair system that prefers we compete against each other.
“When someone is walking home and gets shot by a sworn protector of the peace — even if that officer’s last name is Liang — that is an assault on all of us, and on all of our hopes for equality and fairness under the law.
“For all of these reasons, I support the Black Lives Matter movement. Part of that support means speaking up when I see people in my community — or even my own family — say or do things that diminish the humanity of Black Americans in this country. I am telling you this out of love, because I don’t want this issue to divide us. I’m asking that you try to empathize with the anger and grief of the fathers, mothers, and children who have lost their loved ones to police violence. To empathize with my anger and grief, and support me if I choose to be vocal, to protest.”
– Abagond, 2016.
See also:
- Letters for Black Lives – the website
- Black Lives Matter
- Black/Asian race relations – long promised, not yet written!
- Alton Sterling
- Philando Castile
- Peter Liang
- The word “thug”
- Oppression Olympics
- Bootstrap Myth
536
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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This topic is on NPR’s Code Switch podcast. I listened to it three weeks ago. It gave me a glimmer of hope that there was some Asian activist standing with Black Americans in the struggle for equality and social justice.
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Abagond,
Thanks for posting this.
I have often said it was the black struggle and sacrifice and loss of lives that made it possible for other non-white people (and white women) to enjoy the privileges they now take for granted.
It is nice to hear someone who is not black finally acknowledge this and to acknowledge the almost insurmountable burdens that black people carry that other non-white people do not.
I do not believe any other group – be they white, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, alien, etc — could have our same horrific 500 year plus history and not be severely damaged.
Nor do I believe they would have done as well as we have given those same burdens
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Truly I have no words. That was a moving letter that made me dissolve into tears.
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[…] Letters for Black Lives | Abagond https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/letters-for-black-lives/ […]
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Thank you for this. This is hope. We need more of this. WE need to engage and encourage more discussion that amplify our similarities.
#inspiration
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The sentiment expressed is lofty, but the claim of no institutional support isn’t entirely accurate. The New England schoolmarms who went South after the Civil War, the Whites who financed Black colleges (Spelman), NAACP, the Rosenwald Fund to Black scholars and schools, says otherwise. Granted these things came with strings attached.
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Thank you for sharing this wonderful letter. Black, white, purple or green, we rise and fall together.
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This Asain American journalist talks about the different perceptions Asain Americans have of BLM.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/milwaukee-protests-asian-american-black-lives-matter-214184
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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/milwaukee-protests-asian-american-black-lives-matter-214184
This looks like an article Kiwi should read!
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“I do not believe any other group – be they white, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, alien, etc — could have our same horrific 500 year plus history and not be severely damaged.”
@Trojan Pam
Especially without the benefit of treatment for the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome disease (RACISM) of what 500 years plus horrific international history does to the collective Black psyche. In spite of this lack, we are doing remarkably well,
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@ Fan
I agree, and sometimes, I remind myself as well as other black people–
just look around the world, look at the chaos, greed, wars, cruelty, corruption, and the oppression of women all over the planet
it’s clear black people are not the only ones who are damaged.
There are a lot of issues and a lot of mental illness within the black collective but the people who damaged us are far worse off psychologically as can be seen historically in the long bloody trail of victims worldwide
How can a villain be in better mental health than their victims?
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Kiwi,
In your off-line existence do you have any Black friends? If yes, how do they cope with your attitudes toward Black people in general?
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“…Sarah Silverman thought it was “safer” to say “ch–ks” on public television than it was to say “ni–ers”.”
How would it have been more moral if she had used “ni–ers”?
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Kiwi, how are you going to defend your fellow Chinese from this attack?
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-dont-blame-chinese-billionaires-for-vancouver-housing-prices
Next thing you know, they’ll be blaming you for air pollution!
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That was a beautiful.
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@Trojan Pam
“How can a villain be in better mental health than their victims?”
Excellent question! Yet even the villains receive Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatments for the Holocaust, world wars, the Vietnam war and other wars, domestic abuse, etc than the African American victims and descendants of slavery, Black Codes, lynching, Jim Crow, the KKK and all the other indignities Black Amerikan people have suffered without the benefit of PTSD treatments. It appears that the Grace of God is greater than their best PTSD treatments.
We aren’t just remarkable. We are a unique, special and amazing people.
The question is, will WE ever come close to realizing how special a collective we truly are – despite all the evil nonsense that has been thrown at us to hold us back, keep us down??
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@ Fan
What you describe is accurate. Black youth in violent-ridden cities who have witnessed multiple killings by the time they are 10 or 12 but are NEVER portrayed as the victims of PTSD
but white youth–after witnessing ONE violent incident like a school shooting– can ride that PTSD train well into adulthood.
I learned one thing from this. You must be HUMAN — aka a white person — to be traumatized. Even four-legged animals receive more empathy than black people.
Despite our mistreatment, we are a remarkably resilient people who have overcome obstacles that were DELIBERATELY installed in our paths.
That is why there is an endless WAR being waged against us out of desperation to hold us down. The most successful tactic thus fart has been to divide and conquer the black male and black female and destroy the black family.
Have you noticed that the white supremacist media refuses to show black males and females in loving relationships be it “Scandal” or “Empire” or TV commercials or Hollywood films? And that the vast majority of “blacks” in TV commercials are bi-racial (a better breed of black to encourage us not to procreate with each other?
I have a long, long list of evidence of how blacks are targeted but since it is off-topic.
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correction:
The most successful tactic thus far has been to divide and conquer the black male and black female and destroy the black family.
(lol)
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@ Trojan Pam
“Have you noticed that the white supremacist media refuses to show black males and females in loving relationships be it “Scandal” or “Empire” or TV commercials or Hollywood films? ”
.
The TV commercials in the NYC market are ridiculously obvious. Either the families shown are interracial or bi-racial or obscure. You’re right about how rare obvious BLACK men and women are shown together in a positive light on regular non-cable TV.
The zero sum game must be pretty deep if Black men and women having positive relationships is a direct (or indirect) threat to white genetic survival. I define zero sum as any good thing that happens to/for Black people is viewed as a negative thing by the WHITE collective mind. Like you said, it is about destroying the Black family/community.
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@ Fan
What bothers me is the BLINDNESS of most black folks to this psychological assault. I ask people, don’t you see what is right in front of you? How can you support your own demise financially?
What I hear, especially from black females — whose image is regularly demeaned, marginalized, portrayed as unattractive, lusting after some white male, or just plain invisible in the lives of black males (on TV/movies) and they say, “Chill, it’s just entertainment”
But when the effect, when felt in REAL LIFE, as the numbers of single black females mushroom, now, they’re hurt and angry but that doesn’t stop us from tuning in and buying movie tickets and renting DVDs
I am constantly amazed that we think we can support our degraded images in entertainment, yet be shocked and offended when someone like Trump stereotypes us. Don’t we know he speaks for millions who see us the same way?
Yes, it is a zero sum game. When black people benefit, many whites automatically feel by default that they have lost something.
Even when it comes to us loving each other, that is seen as a threat. The reproductive issues of whites/europeans has reached critical mass. They are dying faster than they are reproducing worldwide.
So, they must find ways (like the Zika virus) to destroy non-white fertility. When it comes to those accursed blacks who keep on keeping on, they must find ways — be it promoting homosexuality, interracial sex, staying single and childless, or attacking the stability of our families–to hold down our reproductive rates.
of course, I know it’s more complex than that) but that is a big part of this war against us.
(hope this isn’t too off topic)
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@ Trojan Pam
“What I hear, especially from black females — whose image is regularly demeaned, marginalized, portrayed as unattractive, lusting after some white male, or just plain invisible in the lives of black males (on TV/movies) and they say, “Chill, it’s just entertainment”
.
That’s interesting, especially in light of how many Black females seem to work in, or are in charge of corporate Human Resource departments across Amerika. One might think that their education and positions in these places might give them a keener understanding/realization of how the “demeaned” game is being played against them and us.
I’ve learned from the recently transitioned elder herbalist/nutritionist, Dr Sebi, how IMPORTANT our food – what we EAT – is to our overall health and negative situation in Amerika.
an analogy:
One can’t transplant a gorilla out of Africa, put him in Antarctica and expect him to eat what a polar bear eats, and thrive. In Africa the gorilla instinctively knew what to eat. His diet was natural. His habitat was NATURAL for him. Placing a gorilla in the icecap regions and food, if any can be found, becomes unnatural.
It’s not like when we were kidnapped from Africa, we were allowed to bring our own AFRICAN foods with us. Or, had access to a lot of great quality natural food during our captivity. We have lost sight of what our African mothers fed us 500 years ago. It certainly wasn’t man-created (hybrid) fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, GMO, inorganic, PROCESSED and artificially infused rice/salt with vitamins and minerals foods that we now consume that’s impossible or difficult to absorb and assimilate.
When we stopped consuming NATURAL alkaline foods (natural plants growing naturally) and began eating their unnatural highly acidic, starched based, toxic mucous producing meats and non-electrical foods it further eroded our natural affinity for one another. It also made us prone to disease. I believe what we put into our bodies matters as much (maybe even more) as who we permit access to our bodies.
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Letters are nice but they seem like an empty gesture to me. In their daily lives most people cower to the pressure of the dominant white supremacist culture. Good intentions or not.
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In regards to this letter – Guys like him are the exception, not the rule.
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In spite of this lack, we are doing remarkably well
Amen Fan! If white people or any other group had been subjected to the deprivations we have, they would crumble very quickly. Just call a white person ‘racist’ and see how they crumble for example.
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@ Fan
You make a great point about the foods that African people in america consume that is not suited for our genetics and you can see it in the high rate of disease among the black population. It is not just about eating too much fat, and sugar and starch, our natural diet was not a meat-based diet.
Add to that all the perverted foods fed to our population like fast food that I believe has an extra dose of hormones and toxins and the GMO foods and dangerous meat products (Germany and most of Europe will not import American beef or chicken. What does that tell us?)
Your first comment,
“That’s interesting, especially in light of how many Black females seem to work in, or are in charge of corporate Human Resource departments across Amerika. One might think that their education and positions in these places might give them a keener understanding/realization of how the “demeaned” game is being played against them and us.”
My view is quite different. Black women are not in charge of anything in a white supremacy system. Sure, we have the titles and salaries and offices but there is always a white person we must answer to who really calls the shots.
The best path to success for a black male or female in a white supremacy system — be it politics, education, business, entertainment — is to be willing to deceive, harm and betray the interests of black people.
And we have seen this happen over and over again.
Those who do not play ball, like the black judge who is being vilified for speaking out against racism — will be stripped of their achievements and success
And often, even those who sell their integrity and self-respect for a cushy job with a fancy title and fat paycheck are often thrown under the bus when they have outlived their usefulness.
Do not be fooled by the illusion of power.
(of course, all the above is my opinion)
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@ Anne
While I appreciate any attempt at empathy, I also caution black people about putting too much faith in such overtures.
Unfortunately, we are often more impressed by people just because they aren’t black. We’re like the child in the playground that nobody likes and are overly grateful for any crumb of attention, which still does NOTHING for that child’s self-esteem or self-respect because he or she is STILL looking to others to validate them.
I always advocate that black people concern ourselves MORE with what we think of ourselves and each other than what any other ethnic group thinks of it.
We should practice not caring at all and focus on SELF and GROUP VALIDATION, building each other up and insulating ourselves against those who use our collective low self esteem to exploit us
and we see this happen every day by a variety of ethnic groups who have no vested interest in seeing their black cash cows start doing for self.
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“One might think that their education and positions in these places might give them a keener understanding/realization of how the “demeaned” game is being played against them and us.”
“My view is quite different. Black women are not in charge of anything in a white supremacy system. Sure, we have the titles and salaries and offices but there is always a white person we must answer to who really calls the shots.”
@ Trojan Pam
I still say that they’re in a unique position (in corporate Human Resources offices) to see up close how the game is being played against us regardless of whether they’re really in charge, or not.
Even though they’re part of the illusion, after some time playing in the theatrics they should be able to see the illusion they’re a part of. Even Condoleezza Rice knew she had to answer to the super-idiot she was 77 orders of intelligence above. Hopefully she recognized the *game* she was a part of. It’s hard for me to imagine that she didn’t!
I share the opinion as you. As far as I know there isn’t a Black person alive today in Amerika who works in the corporate industrial (or political) complex who doesn’t have a white person above them – that they don’t have to answer to.
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@ Fan
What I have found in my experience the white supremacists are pros at identifying the “wrong” type of blacks — those who actually care about their own people and those people
Case in point, a former best friend of mine studying to be a doctor was asked by the white male in charge of the residents what she wanted to do once she finished her residency at a prestigious hospital. Well, she made the mistake of saying she wanted to come back to the black community to help poor people.
From that point on, she was blackballed, harassed, and they did everything they could to make her drop out. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown before the torment ended. Today’s she’s a doctor working in the black community but she’ll never get a prestigious appointment anywhere.
The odds that an integrity driven person of any ethnicity getting the power to effect real positive change in today’s corporate and political world is becoming as rare as the do-do bird.
There are many in the psychiatric community who claim the people most likely to rise up the corporate/political ladder today are sociopaths and psychopaths. Based on what I have seen, I say they are absolutely correct.
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