Currently, there are countless terrifying experiences that Asian diasporians in the West have experienced in regards to anti-Asian violence and racist rhetoric that ever since the start of this pandemic have been on the alarmingly rapid increase not just in the States, but in Western Europe, and as reported by the U.N. around the world.
Recently, in the States, there has been story after story in the mainstream media about violent attacks against members of the Asian community where the perpetrators shown are predominantly Black. This narrative is an incredibly dangerous one as it negates the reality that the overwhelming majority of attackers are white. It is incredibly dangerous for numerous reasons, one being because it adds fuel to the fire of anti-Black sentiments that are held by some Asian diasporians. Quite bluntly put, it is a tactic used by white supremacy to pit us against each other and for white supremacy to quietly sweep itself under the proverbial rug.
There are numerous articles and pieces addressing this fact, and just doing a simple online search about anti-Blackness in correlation to Asian-American and Asian diasporic communities will give you countless hours of reading material.
Anti-Blackness is never justifiable even from Asian communities that have and continue to experience horrific hate, violence, and vitriolic racist comments every single day from yes, SOME non-white, non-Asian folk, but predominantly white people.
As the Associate Editor of TUA, I am writing this editorial to state very clearly for all of our readers and contributors that we DO seek and proactively work to exist as a safe space for a wide gamut of opinions and views by #hyphenatedAsians and #importedAsians. We do so in order to increase both awareness and representation, and to encourage healthy, robust, and respectful dialogues. However, the voices that we will never provide any kind of space for are ones that express anti-Black sentiments or any kind of homophobic, transphobic, or misogynistic views. The answer to combating racism, and in the case of Asian diasporians—to stopping anti-Asian hate—is not more racism. One of the many steps in combating the current and dramatic increase in anti-Asian hate is to take a stand against and call out all forms of white supremacy, even when it is voiced from within our #hyphenatedAsians and #importedAsians families and communities. Anti-Blackness IS white supremacy, and when an Asian person or community expresses such abhorrent rhetoric they are embodying and empowering white supremacists and white-colonist thinking.
So, for our readers and contributors, whose voices we truly value and hope to provide a platform of amplification to and for, know that your opinions and experiences matter greatly to us. We, at TUA, want to share your stories, projects, art, thoughts, and more, even when we, as individual staff members, may not always agree with every single thing you have to say. This platform exists for you. The only “opinions” we do not exist to amplify or represent are voices that express anti-Black, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic beliefs because TUA does not exist to give power to white supremacy. We exist to do the complete opposite—to reclaim our voices and power as #hyphenatedAsians and #importedAsians that white colonization has sought to stifle.
Kim Thompson
TUA Associate Editor