Asian American Accountability

"I'm grateful to intelligent people. That doesn't mean educated. That doesn't mean intellectual. I mean really intelligent. What black old people used to call "mother wit" means intelligence you had in your mother's womb. That's what you rely on. You know what's right to do." -Maya Angelou 

 I loved when the article below points out that not being White doesn't negate the fact that people of color who are not black, ARE NOT BLACK. We straddle with some privilege in the middle. We have some responsibility and we do some, or... a lot of oppressing against Black men and women. Those of us, who are not perceived to be Black, still receive messages from society, and because we aren't Black, we're able to use those messages to strengthen ourselves and weaken others.

I'll give a seemingly shallow example:

I don't particularly like curves on myself. I like my lack of hips. I like that my breasts are smallish thanks to my running. I like that my bottom has a little bit of shape but it isn't something that would  often evoke comments. Overall, I'm not tiny, but I'm compact, and I like that. After college, I also haven't tended to dress provocatively or in a way that highlights shape. People might think that that kind of statement suggests that I don't love my body, on the contrary, it's because I own my body, I love it, and therefore, I work to control its narrative.

A lot of times, Black and Latina women, don't get to control the narrative of their bodies. If you watch any television, listen to any music, they're objectified into body parts and nothing more. The old cliched narrative of tiny waist, big ass, thick hips as if Black and Latina women were ONLY those limited things. Even when an hour-glass shaped Black women loves her hourglass shaped body, for what it does, for how it looks, for how it feels, for the vehicle it provides her mind and spirit, that pride can feel oversexualized to "society," that pride can be cheapened, her pride can feel threatening.

To compare the realities of stereotypes, Asian American women are smaller, less shapely, less overly sexualized by society... and I would venture to guess that we like "it," that we like that our bodies more easily align to white standards of beauty and acceptability. Asian women often don't want to be in the Nicki Minaj category. When I dress down, when I'm a little thinner, I feel like that presents me with more opportunities to speak my voice and get it heard, without the breasts and the ass being gawked at and getting in the way...in a sense, that's antifeminist, in a sense it's conformity, in a sense it's Southeast Asian/South American/Mayan/Caribbean/whatever people think I am BESIDES Black privilege.

It's not White, because white women can be whatever shape they want, dress however they want, be as sexual as they want (often much more provocative and sexual than women of color TO both white men AND men of color), on the dance floor, in the dating scene, in general life, and still get the benefit of the doubt that they are multi-faceted, respectable women who are just having fun. I certainly don't have THAT privilege. But I certainly have more than my Black sisters who are judged because society has implied that their body PARTS are sexualized products for consumption because they don't conform to these white based standards. They don't have as much freedom to do what these white girls do without consequence. (I am NOT arguing for consequence in female sexual expression for one mini second, but I am pointing of the hypocrisy). Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johansson are considered the most gorgeous humans in the world because of their curves, yet every day Black women who are the same shape don't get that seem treatment, don't get that same respect, don't get represented the same way in the media...
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A more serious example:

The idea that Black men aren't present in their children's lives because more black children are born out of wedlock than other children. Besides the societal circumstances that may lead to some of these single parent households, the fact that people aren't married doesn't mean both parents aren't involved. Marriage is not the be-all-end-all of parenting. While some Asian parents don't like one another, they stay married because of the stigma of divorce, is that healthier for children? When Asian fathers work long hours and aren't able to see their children, does that imply neglect, does it imply that mothers are single parents? I would argue that this kind of hard work and perseverance is praised in the media, in society; while Black fathers, who are equally if not MORE involved in their children's lives, are seen as neglectful, irresponsible and "bad fathers" simply because they didn't get married. It's a narrative society never challenges. 
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These are just two of many examples where "people of color" align more closely with white norms for white privileges and consequently reinforce what's "bad" about Black men and women in this country.

From jobs, to schools, we forget that just because we are not the most powerful "white man," that we're also not Black. We don't have the right to chastise Black people for their "shortcomings" and "lifestyle choices" simply because we too, are people of color. I've told my family, international students, and other Asian folks a million times, it's not the same. The global robbery of Black resources (lives, families, currency, governments, natural resources, language), silencing of Black voices, and inaccurate recreation of Black stories is incomparable. While Asian Americans experienced a great trauma, there is one greater, and I think it would serve us well to recognize that, and support those efforts of Black Lives Matter rather than tearing it down, and comprising it "all lives matter." That's not the message here, the message here is that there is a huge inequality pummeling down on one group more than any other.

Usually I don't like this BlackGirlDanger because, in my opinion, it lacks nuance but Alex-Quan Pham stole the thoughts I've been thinking all my damn life out of my mouth and hit the nail right on the head with this one:This article about Asian-American accountability means everything.

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Jhene Aiko and Luke James are doing their thing musically right now.

And a few throw-backs from Missy and Busta.