Monday's Opening Thought: March 22, 2021

This week’s opening thought, for my Black folx: I’ve seen some anti-Asian sentiments and a lack of support for the AAPI community from a contingent of Black folx I wish were smaller in size. There’s been a lot of “Where were y’all while police were killing us? Why should we stand with you now?” Let me just say to the Black folx who are saying these things and taking this anti-Asian stance:

1) You’re being racist and perpetuating white supremacy. That’s not a good look. Don’t feed into the white supremacy and white violence of the “culture” we live and work in. Racism is a machine that intersects with class and hierarchy. You’re playing into the whims of that machine.

2)You’re engaging in oppression Olympics and making this an “us vs. them” situation. It’s not “us vs. them”. It’s “us vs. white supremacy.” White supremacy has been harming and killing Black and AAPI U.S. Americans for well over a century. Yes, anti-Blackness is one of this country’s original sins. But please continue your learning and understand the history of internment as well as the concept of the “model minority” and stop making declarations over who is the most mistreated and oppressed. No one wins at the oppression Olympics.

Let’s not be cogs in the hate machine, Black folx. We’ve got to be better than that.