Black Lives Matter movement reveals divides among Asian-American community
- Amid harassment directed at Asian-Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, many in the community are compelled to speak out about racial discrimination
- But the movement has shown that there are a range of views among Asian-Americans
The spread of Black Lives Matter protests throughout the US reflects a widespread societal reckoning, with sustained demonstrations in hundreds of towns – from New York City to Farmington, Missouri – showing outrage over racism against black Americans.
Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic that has sparked violence and harassment directed at Asian-Americans, as well as a rapid unravelling of US-China relations over trade and national security issues, many in the community were either primed or compelled to speak out about racial discrimination when Americans began taking to the streets.
“This is your perfect storm,” said Frank Wu, president of City University of New York’s Queens College. “There is a black-white racial divide. On top of that, you have a trade war, cultural war, Cold War and some people predict – some people who aren’t crazy predict – a possible shooting war.”
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Asian-Americans in New York among those joining US protests after George Floyd’s death
“Asian-Americans are in the debate whether they want to be or not”, said Wu, a former president of the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American advocacy group founded by late architect I.M. Pei that includes Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
“There is no middle ground because if you say that you’re not going to take sides, people will interpret that as taking a side,” he added.