In a recent interview with Texas State Representative Gene Wu, the politician talked about the strained relationship between Asian and Black Americans. Amidst his commentary, he made a weighty remark about how Asian Americans have gained from the backs of Black Americans.
Y’all know not just Black people benefited from the Civil Rights Movement, right? You should considering the way Black people mobilized with people of all colors (yes, white folks too) for protests, demonstrations and legislative lobbying. However, the movement was particularly impactful to Asian Americans.
Reporter Jose Antonio Vargas sat down with Rep. Wu to discuss this fact further, arguing that without the Civil Rights Movement, “there would be no 22 million Asian Americans in this country.”
The Myth of The “Model Minority”
However, tensions between both communities have kept this from receiving proper recognition.
“Between Asian Americans and African Americans, we probably have one of the worst relationships between any community,” said Wu to Vargas. “What I have been trying to teach the Asian community is like, ‘Friends, do you understand that your success, your prosperity, your civil rights that you enjoy right now was paid for with Black blood?’”
He ain’t lying neither. The “model minority myth,” or ideal which set Asian Americans above Black people in favor of white supremacy, pit the communities against one another, per NPR. The term also gaslight the Black community into thinking racism and systemic inequity wasn’t as devastating to our progress as it truly was.
Black and Asian American Activism
Before the beef, there were many examples of how both sides rode for each other during the 60s. Activist Yuri Kochiyama befriended Malcolm X, adopting his radical ideals to further support Black people but also address Asian issues, per Diane Carol Fujino’s documentation of the activist’s life. Then, there were the students at UC Berkley who coined the term “Asian American” who were said to be inspired by the Black Power Movement, per TIME Magazine.
The formation of multicultural groups such as the Third World Liberation Front and Rainbow Coalition, the joint effort between Black and Japanese Americans to repeal the Emergency Detention Act and the protest of the Vietnam War are even more examples of how both groups wove themselves together in activism.
“The solidarity shown by Black civil rights leaders for Asian Americans demonstrated the success of intersectional/collective activism in civil rights movements. Even as Asian Americans have grown to represent 7% of the population, the 1964 Civil Rights Act serves as a reminder of progress made and the distance we have yet to travel to achieve true equity,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, in a statement.
We rarely hear anyone who isn’t Black detail about how the folks on the frontline of the Civil Rights Movement helped every marginalized group win the war for social equality. Wu finally brought that point to the forefront and also argued it should be a point for creating unity once again.
“The day the Latino, African American, Asian and other communities realize they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning,” Wu said.