Guest Article: Kalyssa Chu, Taylor Middle School Student

With the large uprising in the Black Lives Matter movement and the increase of hate crimes against Asian Americans in the past year, many discussions on racism have been held across the country. These conversations on racism have brought up many important topics, one of them being the issue with Black and Asian unity. Although there have been times of solidarity between the communities throughout the years, Black and Asian people in the US have a prolonged history of division with one another. Though many factors contribute to this division, the bias against Black people in the Asian community is one reason why.

Asians were put in a tough spot when it came to race in America back then (and even now). The history of this country is very black and white, literally. With the significant power difference between white and Black people in the US, Asians tended to find themselves stuck in the middle. That was until the model minority myth popped up. 

The model minority myth was said to be created a long time ago by politicians during the rise of Black power movements in attempts to undermine these campaigns. The model minority myth claims that Asians have experienced the exact same racism that Black people have been facing, but that Asian Americans’ hard work has one-hundred percent given them collective success in America. 

The model minority myth is harmful and untrue in many ways. First of all, the myth ignores the fact that Asian people have some privilege in America, especially when compared to Black people. On the other hand, it erases the fact that Asians have and still deal with lots of racism to this day. Since the model minority myth claims that Asians are a “good” minority, it implies that there’s a bad minority, which points to Black people. The myth subtlety implies that Black people are in the position they are in because they aren’t working hard enough to get out of it. The myth uses perceived Asian success to invalidate claims of inequality towards Black people, so when Asian Americans’ very existence is used to put down Black communities, it creates resentment. So not only does the myth form an unsure identity for Asian Americans and erases our struggles, but it also pushes more hatred towards Black people. As you can see, the model minority myth is a tool that pushes racism towards Black people at the expense of Asian Americans.

The model minority myth is not only used as a tool for anti-Blackness in white supremacy, but it’s also the root of anti-Blackness in the Asian American community. When Asian immigrants began to immigrate to the US, many were brainwashed to accept the model minority myth and believe what it implied, as it seemed to paint Asians in a good light. When Asian immigrants were told that they were better than Black people from the moment they have entered the US, many of them embraced it as it gave them privilege and an advantage in this country. Since the myth tells Asians that they’re better than Black people, it portrays being Black as a negative thing. This manifested a desire in Asian immigrants to get closer to whiteness, therefore creating an anti-Black mindset. This is why some older Asians may tend to have anti-Black attitudes and actions, which can get passed down to their children and grandkids.

People may think that anti-Black rhetoric was only being pushed to older Asian generations and that it isn’t happening to the younger generations anymore. However, that’s false. An example of how white supremacy pushes Black and Asian communities apart today would be the current surge in hate crimes against Asian people. When it comes to Asian hate crimes, people seem to want to point blame somewhere. White supremacists and racist politicians are the real roots of the recent xenophobia in America, but with some suspects in anti-Asian attacks being Black men, people are blaming anti-Asian sentiment on the Black community rather than on the people who are really to blame. Not only does blaming Black people for the hate against Asians take the focus off of real white supremacists, but it also generalizes them and pushes an anti-Black agenda in America (specifically in Asian Americans). Yet some still don’t realize that the majority of this blaming is fueled by strictly anti-Blackness and not in an attempt to help Asians. By using Asian Americans as a tool for white supremacy, it uses Asians as scapegoats. The problem is that many Asian Americans don’t realize that they’re only being used and that their actual issues aren’t a priority to the people who are pointing the finger at Black people. This is why some Asian Americans may push racism against Black people because they think it’s helping them in the long run, which it isn’t. So here you can see white supremacy is once again using Asians and our problems as another way to continue putting down Black people instead of focusing on real Asian American issues.

 “Racism and ignorance go hand in hand,” said a speaker from Millbrae’s Anti-Racism Coalition. The division between Asian and Black people is mainly built off of ignorance, as you can see in the examples above. Racism against Black people is rooted in Asian American mindsets, so to my fellow Asian Americans: Let’s support and emphasize for Black people the same way we’d want them to do for us. Instead of pretending that racism towards Black people isn’t prevalent in our community, let’s acknowledge it. Acknowledging subconscious racism in our community is a great way we can unite each other, as recognition is the first step to change. Ideally, we can reach a place where both of our communities can lift each other up and be strong allies to one another. Although we may never fully understand the hardships Black communities endure, we should listen to them and support them in order to create the solidarity that we all need.

Photo Credits: Time Magazine