I have been watching in despairing solidarity as Asian Americans protest (non-violently) against the spike in violence that is menacing their community.
Since the start of the pandemic last spring, Asian Americans have faced racist violence at a much higher rate than previous years. …
The violence has continued into 2021, and President Joe Biden signed an executive order denouncing anti-Asian discrimination shortly after taking office in January. …
Many attribute the 2020 uptick to the xenophobic rhetoric of Biden’s predecessor; former President Trump repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as ‘the China virus,’ blaming the country for the pandemic.
(TIME, February 18, 2021)
Vichar Ratanapakdee is arguably the Asian George Floyd. Granted, his death has not gotten similar media attention, not least because his killer was not a white cop. But his killing was no less heartrending and racially motivated.
The now-viral video shows this 84-year-old Thai immigrant on his daily morning walk. When, suddenly, a 19-year-old Black kid bum rushes and knocks him to the pavement, causing injuries that killed him. Senseless!
Many non-Blacks participated in BLM protests for racial justice for Blacks as a matter of civic pride. This is why I am so dismay that few non-Asians are participating in ALM protests for racial injustice for Asians.
Mind you, the dirty little secret is that Blacks are the ones committing far too many of these hate crimes against our Asian brothers and sisters. And, as with Black on Black crime, it seems Black on Asian crime is the kind of dirty laundry no self-respecting minority is supposed to air in public.
Well, color me apostate. Or, to be more politically correct, color me MLK. Because my title duly alludes to his famous aphorism that
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. … Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
— Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail
That said, I would be remiss not to acknowledge the insidious dynamic inherent in racist Trump hurling racist stereotypes to incite Blacks to perpetrate racist crimes against Asians. Even George Orwell could not have imagine such dystopian madness.
In any event, I urge non-Asians, especially Black activists like Reverend Al Sharpton and Black influencers like LeBron James, to join ALM protests. Because failure to do so will undermine the moral authority that fueled years of BLM protests.
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