This is going to be an example of looking at individual parts of the greater problem, as well as keeping an eye on the news.
There has been increasing violence directed against people of Asian descent. It may be most noticeable in the Oakland and San Francisco Bay area, but it happens in Oregon too. In the last week of January, at least 13 businesses in Portland were targeted, including rocks thrown through windows.
You can report an incident, find reports, and look at ways to help at https://stopaapihate.org/.
AAPI refers to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. I will primarily use that term for the rest of this post, though it is important to remember that it covers many groups of people with their own stories.
One thing at looking at the overall picture is knowing that it never goes away, even if other areas are a primary focus. A really good example might involve some studying of antisemitism, which is often not talked about, but then will rise up surprisingly quickly.
You will definitely see that while there are commonalities among the various bigotries, they have their differences too. Looking at intersectionality can be a way of gaining more understanding there.
It seems pretty clear that this most recent increase in violence directed against AAPI people started last spring, rising with association of the Coronavirus outbreak with Asia. That included the president at the time persistently calling it the "China virus" as well as other nicknames used by conservative radio hosts and the like.
Words do matter, it turns out.
That president's initial campaign had largely focused on vilifying Mexicans, as well as tapping into anti-Blackness. That is perfectly normal for Republican candidates, but usually there's more of a veneer of pretending that it's not about racism.
Note: I said "Mexicans" specifically there -- instead of Latinx or something more general -- because a lot of it was targeted specifically as that country that needed to be walled off. However, once the bigotry is out there, it will affect people from other countries further South, and islands that are a United State commonwealth, and people with Spanish language names who have been United States citizens since the Gadsden purchase.
There is of course that idea that if they are not clearly of English or German or Irish, or maybe it's just white descent (mostly the white part) that they aren't "really" American.
That has also been a factor with AAPI, even though we forced the Pacific Islanders to be part of our country - they had their own - and building the railroads relied on immigrants from Asia, despite many efforts to keep them from staying after the work was done.
It's not surprising that the racism is always there; it will take a lot of work to root it out.
However, we had gotten distracted. After the death of George Floyd on May 25th, people who cared about racism were largely focusing on police violence against Black people. That was not unreasonable, and it was not completely new, either, but it is also not the only issue that needs addressing.
It will probably not be addressed best by more police presence.
The recent violence has also been largely focused on older people. I say that with a pretty wide range of older -- victims in some of the more publicized attacks have ranged from 64 to 91 years of age -- but I haven't seen an explanation for why it is breaking down like that.
I am including two articles with some good background and additional links. I especially appreciate how the CNBC article talks about supporting coworkers in a way that doesn't put the burden on them for teaching you and helping you solve it. Having to be aware that because of the color of your skin, people may harm you, or your parents, is enough to deal with; they should not have to carry our guilt, discomfort, and ignorance as well.
It is on white people to solve white supremacy. We have the resources.
But also, we have to do it by listening. Does that sound like a contradiction of the earlier paragraph?
There are groups working together and putting statements out and planning actions. See what they want and need. I read about a (well-meaning white people) group who planned a protest, but it was against the wishes of the local community. Not cool. Meaning well will not make up for bringing negative attention or disease exposure or a larger police presence that makes things more dangerous for other residents.
Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done.
Further reading:
https://time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2017/11/dangerously-white.html
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