The racism that produced Black enslavement and subsequent inequities is the same racism that drove the war in Viet Nam is the same racism that sent Japanese Americans to internment camps is the same racism that fuels the anti-Asian hate and violence we are seeing today.
The construction and development of race and racialization are historically linked to the imperialist projects of enslavement and colonization. This notion of innately superior and inferior people provides an (im)moral justification for the domination of Indigenous people and people of color, their lands, labor, and other resources by white people.
Anti-Black Racism is the specific prejudice plus power that is centered on the persistent cruel and unjust treatment and control of Black people. It is the organizing of our societal structures that produces inequality based on race with Blacks most often at the bottom, doing the worst, and whites benefiting the most.
The dysfunctional race relationship posits "whiteness" as analogous to order and reason, and ''Blackness" as linked to chaos and irrationality. The characteristics attributed to Asians through the process of racialization certainly differ from the characteristics attributed to racialized Black people, but the process of racialization is similar.
Many articulations of Asian American identity often illustrate the similarities between the problems faced by Black and Asian people, hence there remain powerful and strategic opportunities to collaborate. Although a large-scale strategic coalition has yet to be formed, Black people and Asian people continue to enact strategic ways to liberate themselves, and resist racism.
Some of the strategies in collective Black liberation throughout the Black Power and even the Black Lives Matter movements can continue to be a source of inspiration to construct a discourse of identity that stresses the continuing salience of race and racism and the importance of self-determination.
There is no place for racism of any kind in a just society. We must continue to build multi-racial coalitions between Asian, Black, Brown, and Indigenous people who are working towards securing a future where we all thrive.
https://kerrymitchellbrown.com/
Dr. Kerry Mitchell Brown is the Founder/Principal of KMB, but most of all, she is an Equity Strategist and Cultural Architect. Her background in organizational development and social justice advocacy is the foundation for her work with individuals, organizations, and corporations. Dr. Kerry Mitchell Brown has specialized expertise in evaluating and executing holistic cultural change in organizations focused on realizing sustainable transformation through strategic interventions.