A Note to My Fellow Asian Americans: Political power is the only path to true security

Originally published by John Kim, Executive Director of Advancement Project California.

I knew this day would come.

I knew that one day my two children, third-generation Californians born and raised, would be made to feel unsafe in their skin because of their Asian heritage.

I assumed it would be from a schoolyard bully or the neighborhood racist yelling epithets from across the street.

I should have known that the danger would come from the highest office in the land — the White House itself.

In the context of this all-encompassing crisis where we see record levels of unemployment, anxiety, and fear — these words are like Molotov cocktails thrown at gas stations across this country.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how deeply connected we all are and inspired incredible acts of courage and generosity by health care professionals, grocery store workers, sanitation workers, public servants, and many others who persevere despite the danger the virus poses.

This President, however, would instead intentionally put my family and the entire Asian American community in direct physical danger to save his own political skin.

He is running a “Yellow Peril” scapegoating playbook that has well-worn tracks in American politics. This blame game begins by diverting attention from political incompetence, corruption, or as in this instance, both. And often, it ends in a wave of deadly violence. Even here in the “liberal light” of California, the inevitable product of morally corrupt and weak-willed political leaders looking for scapegoats has led to Asian American lives lost: from the Chinese Massacre of 1871 in Los Angeles to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II to the murders of postal worker Joseph Ileto and Rohnert Park resident Kuan Chung Kao. And of course, our Sikh American and Muslim American brothers and sisters were attacked continuously after 9/11.

This latest cycle of violence has already started with the verbal parroting of this President, like in San Francisco, a man shouted expletives at Yuanyuan Zhu, screamed at a passing bus to “run them over” and spat on her as the two waited at a crosswalk. In San Diego, Julie Kang was told by a woman to “go back to China, or I’ll shoot you myself!”

And we have already seen the inevitable escalation to physical violence. With reports of a Los Angeles middle school boy being attacked and sent to the emergency room or a family of three, including a 2-year-old and 6-year-old, was stabbed by a suspect who admitted he stabbed them because he thought the family was Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus. Yes, the blood of a 2-year-old toddler had to be cleaned up off a store floor in Midland, Texas because of this cycle of violence. And I fear this will only be the beginning.

As the death toll and economic impacts of this global pandemic continue to mount, we can only assume that these attacks will become deadlier and more widespread. Oddly enough, that’s why I breathed a sigh of relief when we were all mandated to shelter at home here in California. Because in my mind, this would flatten not only the curve of the virus’s impact on our medical institutions but also hopefully flatten the curve of violence against Asian Americans.

But unlike a typical virus, the virus of violence against Asian Americans will only be amplified through the heat of the summer as the massive economic impacts of this pandemic will inevitably deepen. Thanks to this President, my family now faces the dual threat of COVID-19 and the threat of physical violence.

Yes, we need to monitor the scope and scale of where the violence is happening like our friends at A3PCON have begun to do. And we need to call out whenever this President or any other elected official or media personality starts to play fast and loose with the safety of our parents and children.

But we also need to understand that our lives have often been exploited for political gain as a sort of “buffer” by which racist and incompetent politicians have maintained control of this country. And that in America, merely focusing on economic success and keeping our head down will never, ever equate to real security or real ownership of this society for us, our children, or our children’s children.

Power is the only guarantee of our place in this country — real political power to hold the worst impulses in American politics to account.

The good news is that there is a path for our community to gain such power. But it will require us to step out of the shadows, to stand up for ourselves and our allies, and to engage in this democracy like never before because the future of this democracy depends on it.

First, we need to be clear-eyed about who our allies are in a time like this. Just look around — who else has experienced similar scapegoating and threats of imminent physical danger as cover for the failed policies of the President? It is our Latino neighbors who have been labeled rapists and drug dealers by this President while he’s caged their children at the borders. Or Black folks who have been called “bastards” for having the courage to protest countless acts of violence and murder at the hands of an overwrought and broken criminal justice system. It is our LGBTQ allies who are attacked for being who they are and loving whom they love. It’s time for us to understand that when we see who our real allies are and when we are ready to stand up for their safety and their rights, they will have our backs, as well. And this will make us all safer.

Secondly, we need to protect our parents, our aunties, and uncles, and our friends from this additional layer of danger we now all face by publicly standing up and calling out all statements that endanger the lives and safety of Asian Americans. This President’s statements are the reason I’ve asked my mom to limit her daily walks to streets where neighbors will recognize her. This President’s statements are the reason why we don’t ever let my kids out of our sights when we go for a walk. Such statements must be condemned and must stop.

Finally, as we get through this public health crisis (and we will), we must also take the steps necessary to achieve the democracy we deserve. Our voices must be heard and our lives counted. Therefore, our participation in the Census — being conducted at this very moment — is one critical thing we can do to protect the future of our communities. And we must step up our efforts to register all of our friends and family members to vote. Now.

Only by standing up to be counted — in this Census, by building alliances, by condemning racist statements, and through political empowerment– will we ensure that whatever challenges we face, we face them together, undivided, and as part of one nation.”