Only The “Model Minority” Could Have Gotten A Hate Crime Bill In A Year.

President Biden just signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law. This legislation is in response to the rise in violence against AAPI peoples since last year which was stoked by the racism of the previous president and the idiocy of his supporters.

I really want to be happy for my Asian siblings and I am. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t also fighting feelings of frustration. Only the Model Minority could get legislation through that quickly. This wouldn’t have happened for Black or Latinx people in 14 months if at all.

A Model Minority is a group whose members (are perceived) to have achieved more socioeconomic success (proximity to whiteness) than other minority groups and thus should serve as a reference to the rest of us. *eye-roll*

Asian people are America’s Model Minority. It is a stereotype that victimizes all minorities (including Asian people) and in most conversations, I would argue against it, but (maybe just for) today, I believe it.

The closest, social way to whiteness is racism against Black people. The closest economic way to whiteness is capitalism. Asian Americans have plenty of capital (often in stores, nail salons and restaurants in Black neighborhoods) and have mastered unjustified disdain of Black people. The racism I experience from white people often times comes second to what I experience from Asian men, especially.

Furthermore, as someone who is a part of the ultimate minorities and lowest caste, I can’t help but to ask “What about us?” If the people we elect can address 14 months of violence against a specific group of people, why not 403 years of oppression against my people?

To call the fight for racial justice for Black Americans and uphill battle would be an understatement. We (they) aren’t even ready to admit it happened. There is literally a movement against teaching children the true history of this country. Black people are 3 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than their white counterparts. Legislatures have introduced racist restrictive voting measures in 47 states.

The rights of women and LGBTQ people are also traveling up a very steep hill. The (very conservative) Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging Roe V. Wade. 15 States have already or are considering bills to ban treatment to transgender youth.

So, forgive me if I don’t feel like celebrating a law that gives more funding to the police for people who, frankly, don’t fight for me like I fight for them. As I prepare for to fight for the same rights my grandmothers fought for last century, I’m going to allow myself to feel some frustration if only for today.

Oppression Olympics isn’t a sport I make a habit of playing. One of my mantras is ‘None of us are free until we are ALL free.’ Though it is a worthy conversation, I won’t attempt to juxtapose the experience of Asian people and Black people in America. I’m going continue to fight for the rights of ALL of “the least of these”, AAPI peoples included, even in my discontent.

Sometimes the fight for justice can be likened to running on a treadmill, running, but going nowhere. I feel like I saw Asian people run by me today, and that’s frustrating as hell.