voguedissent:

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, and in his honor, the Black students’ union sent out an email summing up MLK’s life, politics and legacy, along with a reminder of what we students can do. The email was sent to the Black students’ union email listserv and the Latino students’ union listserv.

But not to the Asian students’ union listserv.

Why the resistance to including Asians as people of color? If it’s because somehow the issues Asians face aren’t as bad, then you’ve bought into the bullshit that the white patriarchy made up. 

The same oppressive forces that made the stereotype of blacks as welfare queens made the stereotype of Asians as the model minority. The same oppressive forces that made it acceptable to call people illegal made it acceptable to view Asian women as trophies superior to other women of color. 

What is with this house slave-field slave mentality? It only does the march towards an anti-racist, equal society a great disservice. Addressing our issues isn’t a zero sum game. Your issues are my issues, and my issues are your issues; the same broad strokes and basic paradigms apply to all of us and oppress all of us. By not including Asians in the conversation and in the movement because somehow our issues aren’t worthy enough and we’re not really people of color—that is oppressing a group based on their race. And you cannot work to solve race-based issues if you are participating in the oppression of another race. 

Seriously, people. What the fuck?

That frustration you’re expressing over not being recognized as someone of color is a result of the classic Model Minority dilemma.
You’re clearly not white and encounter tons of ignorance from that circumstance, but you’re still more socially accepted than black and latino group due to “positive stereotypes” (bullshit IMO) and thus receive better access to resources i.e. health care, education. 

Plus I’m not sure how aware you are of the history of U.S. race relations between various groups of PoC.
Asians and Blacks used to be much closer, especially during the 60’s and 70’s. A really awesome social activist by the name of Yuri Kochiyama held Malcom X as he lay dying, didja know that?

But of course racial solidarity across different minorities is the ultimate nightmare for all those white dudes at the top.

It happens over, and over, and over again in history. Divide and conquer. 

Anyways, you should read this link. Here’s an excerpt. 

During the 70s and 80s, the strength of solidarity movements and activism began to fade. Mass media and policy makers neutralized the energies of the previous decade by creating success stories about hard-working Asian immigrants and accusing African Americans of relying on state entitlements. By pitting racial groups against one another, capitalism replaces cooperation with competition, and different people of color began to view themselves as competing for grades and admissions into exclusive schools.