Speaker 1: Hey, fam I'm Jada Pinkett Smith and this is the
Speaker 1: Red Table Pop podcast, all your favorite episodes from the
Speaker 1: Facebook watch show in audio, produced by Westbrook Audio and
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Please don't forget to rate and review
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts. I've been feeling very stressed, very stressed.
Speaker 1: You've been feeling stressed by just thinking about this conversation today,
Speaker 1: being so concerned about choosing the right words, saying the
Speaker 1: right thing, but still being able to speak authentically, authentically.
Speaker 1: I get it. This is a really tough subject. Here's
Speaker 1: the hard truth. There's real animosity between blacks and Asians,
Speaker 1: and that has really talked about brazen attacks against Asian Americans.
Speaker 1: The man walked up and started hitting her in the face.
Speaker 1: We want to warn you the videos are graphic. The
Speaker 1: recent surge of hay crumbs against Asian Americans. I've seen
Speaker 1: my grandma get yelled at your Asians. So you're a
Speaker 1: virus has illuminate needed a painful divide between the black
Speaker 1: and Asian American communities. You're seeing my skin as dirty.
Speaker 1: Asian people just want to hang out with Asian people only.
Speaker 1: Anti blackness is rooted in our culture. That's very subtle.
Speaker 1: But is very deeply rooted. Reports of Blacks attacking Asians
Speaker 1: have fed the tension that goes back decades. In Black
Speaker 1: fifteen year old name Latasha Harlans was shot and killed
Speaker 1: by Korean grocer during an argument over a bottle of
Speaker 1: orange juice. The store owner was convicted of voluntary manslaughter
Speaker 1: but got no jail time. When justice wasn't served, outrage exploded,
Speaker 1: fueling the LA riots. The recent increase in social injustices
Speaker 1: has called for a racial reckoning for Black and Asian Americans.
Speaker 1: My perspective is the fact that we're both minorities. I
Speaker 1: feel like, obviously we come from very different cultures, but
Speaker 1: it's hard for me to believe that other things could
Speaker 1: get in the way of us having a common ground.
Speaker 1: I guess what I need to understand is where does
Speaker 1: their animosity for us come from? Because that's what it
Speaker 1: feels like. It feels like that they have come into
Speaker 1: our communities, taken over our stores, taken over the hair
Speaker 1: and nail industry, and really blocked us from being able
Speaker 1: to thrive in that industry because we're coming into those stores,
Speaker 1: you know, we're getting our hair and nails done, and
Speaker 1: what are they giving back to the community, and when
Speaker 1: we come into those environments and patronize their businesses, we're
Speaker 1: not even treated with respect and kindness. I've had some
Speaker 1: very volatile and um passionate discussions with family members and friends,
Speaker 1: and most of my friends feel like I don't care.
Speaker 1: I don't care. I don't have the bandwidth or the
Speaker 1: interests because they don't care about about us and they
Speaker 1: don't treat us with respect. So I don't care about
Speaker 1: anything that they're talking about. I'm worried about what's happening
Speaker 1: with my people, you know, because we you know, we
Speaker 1: have our own struggle. Yeah, and that's the majority. That
Speaker 1: is the majority, You're right, So it's very difficult for
Speaker 1: there to be any any real concerned I don't even
Speaker 1: feel like they want our help. Now. I may hear
Speaker 1: something different from the scholars, but from the average person,
Speaker 1: do they care? Are they interested in a relationship with me?
Speaker 1: I just had an experience in the airport where I'm
Speaker 1: standing in line waiting for coffee, and I had a
Speaker 1: whole conversation going A white man my age came behind
Speaker 1: me stud in line. We started having a conversation. A
Speaker 1: young couple in front of me, white had a conversation.
Speaker 1: I've never had an Asian person come up to me
Speaker 1: that I didn't know to start a conversation, to speak
Speaker 1: to me, to give me eye contact, and anyway, that's
Speaker 1: also a cultural things. Well, it is cultural. But when
Speaker 1: I go on vacation and I go to a foreign country,
Speaker 1: I make it my business to try to be conscious
Speaker 1: of the culture there so that I can act accordingly. Right,
Speaker 1: So I think that we're owed some of that when
Speaker 1: you come to our country and you start businesses, that's
Speaker 1: just even good business practice to treat your patrons with
Speaker 1: respect and care, like that's just common sense, right, But
Speaker 1: we don't feel like we we get that. And I
Speaker 1: also recognize that it's a very limited exposure that we
Speaker 1: have with the community. They're so separate, that's the only
Speaker 1: interaction that we really have, and the cultures are so
Speaker 1: crastically different. Yeah, that's what I've come to understand. But
Speaker 1: I hear you. I think there's a lot of misunderstandings culturally.
Speaker 1: The biggest misconception is that Asian is just Asian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino,
Speaker 1: like you just throw them all in one. But they're
Speaker 1: also different, so different but various cultures, right, it's difficult
Speaker 1: to distinguish one from the other sometimes too not if
Speaker 1: you pay attention. You pay attention. For me, it's the
Speaker 1: feeling of or the lack of reciprocity, right, And it's
Speaker 1: a feeling that like, I'm not going to go out
Speaker 1: of my way to support and help someone if I
Speaker 1: don't even have the feeling that they even want my support.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, and I hear you, and I think
Speaker 1: one of the biggest misconceptions that we have in this
Speaker 1: fight as a whole is that it's about this reciprocity situation, right,
Speaker 1: And I get that. I totally understand that, and of
Speaker 1: course we want to feel as though there's some exchange,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, what we can
Speaker 1: allow is hate of any kind to exist. I hear
Speaker 1: this conversation endlessly. They didn't do that, so why should
Speaker 1: I have to do this? And they didn't do that,
Speaker 1: so I did this. And it's really hard because we
Speaker 1: do feel hurt, and we feel neglected, may exactly overlooked,
Speaker 1: and we feel not seen. I get all of that,
Speaker 1: and that's what makes it so difficult because I understand,
Speaker 1: but I also know there's nothing in the world that
Speaker 1: makes a woman sixty five years old in New York
Speaker 1: City from the Philippines getting beat up by a man
Speaker 1: and nobody helps. That makes no sense whatsoever. Hate his hate.
Speaker 1: I agree, and I think I think people feel terrible
Speaker 1: about that. But I just don't feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: there's no real um, there's nothing in us that makes
Speaker 1: us stand up and feel like we really want to
Speaker 1: come to Well, here's the thing. Then why should we
Speaker 1: expect that from white people? Because that's how white people feel.
Speaker 1: White people feel like, that's not my problem, that's your problem. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: so we brought you guys over here. Okay, whatever, blah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah, you figure it out. That's on you.
Speaker 1: That's exactly how white people feel about our struggles, you know.
Speaker 1: And so that's what I'm saying. The cycle. It's the cycle,
Speaker 1: and I get it. Listen, It's like we're asking you
Speaker 1: to care because we're committing we have out of compassion
Speaker 1: for humanity. I understand in the community. What makes it
Speaker 1: so difficult that we are tired. We're tired always having
Speaker 1: to put it aside, take the hot road all that.
Speaker 1: So when we decided to bring this intense topic to
Speaker 1: the table. There were two people we wanted to have here.
Speaker 1: Both have devoted their careers to taking on tough subjects.
Speaker 1: Award winning journalists Lisa Laying is fighting on the front
Speaker 1: lines to stop Asian hate. Lisa and her family have
Speaker 1: received numerous death threats since the increase of hate crimes
Speaker 1: on the A A p I community. One of the
Speaker 1: smartest people I know, Dr Michael Eric Dyson, is a
Speaker 1: leading voice on black history and culture. This ordained preacher, professor,
Speaker 1: and author of seven New York Times bestsellers, is known
Speaker 1: for breaking down difficult topics. Let's get to let's get
Speaker 1: to it. This is a really tough subject and attend time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so we just wanted to get some education just
Speaker 1: around the tensions between blacks and Asians. How did they
Speaker 1: get this way? One of the first things any immigrant
Speaker 1: group learns when they come to America who the bottom
Speaker 1: of the totem pole is. I don't care who you are,
Speaker 1: black people, right, the darker people are at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the totem pole when immigrants come over here and
Speaker 1: they do they recognize this structure, right, or Whites are
Speaker 1: at the top and blacks are at the bottom. So
Speaker 1: often when immigrants from Asia come to this country with nothing,
Speaker 1: they have this aspiration of being able to achieve some
Speaker 1: semblance of the American dream. And what does that look like?
Speaker 1: It looks white, right, But everyone is being dehumanized, right
Speaker 1: because everyone is trying to rise up that ladder where
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, And we think about Latasha Harlan's right,
Speaker 1: that was a touch stone, like see, that's what they
Speaker 1: do to us, the history of anti blackness within Asian communities, that,
Speaker 1: along with the Rodney King, this was a signal moment.
Speaker 1: I don't know a single Asian person who isn't horrified
Speaker 1: still to this day about that case. I truly don't.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing to understand that the people it
Speaker 1: horrified are not just black, and the people it horrified
Speaker 1: are many Asian brothers and sisters who saw that, who
Speaker 1: felt that it was a horrible misrepresentation of who they
Speaker 1: are as a people. And here's the thing. The so
Speaker 1: called negative thing that any particular group does is seen
Speaker 1: as representative of that group. Black people have a right
Speaker 1: to feel hurt and injured by the fact that everywhere
Speaker 1: in this world, to be darker is to be the humanized,
Speaker 1: and there's no question about that, which means that we
Speaker 1: should be especially careful not to reproduce that same herb
Speaker 1: to other groups when that tension starts to to brew.
Speaker 1: No one, our communities aren't the ones that are benefiting
Speaker 1: from it, not at all. For black people to be
Speaker 1: demonizing Asian brothers and sisters. What the Wuhan flu? The
Speaker 1: Chinese flu? Who wins white supremacists? So it hits us
Speaker 1: against each other. And that exact idea of pitting minorities
Speaker 1: against each other is the most perfect path towards domination.
Speaker 1: I mean, white supremacy is what we're not talking about
Speaker 1: individual white brothers and sisters. We're talking about the conscious
Speaker 1: or unconscious belief in the inherent inferiority of some and
Speaker 1: the superiority above. And I think that's the thing. I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot of people in our community specifically,
Speaker 1: who don't recognize the white supremacy construct that we're falling into.
Speaker 1: You know, that's the thing, like how you just broke
Speaker 1: that down, but you've been breaking it down. It's like
Speaker 1: I didn't really have the words. You know, you're come
Speaker 1: into red table. I got to bring my a game.
Speaker 1: That's exactly it. But it's got power. But that's what's
Speaker 1: ruining and ruling it. And it also is stoking fear
Speaker 1: amongst people whose livelihood and lives and the way they've
Speaker 1: always known things feels threatened. And that's the thing about
Speaker 1: this period right now, and white people are starting to recognize, well,
Speaker 1: I really had no idea. What's interesting, though, the ingenuity
Speaker 1: of white supremacy is it don't matter who's in control
Speaker 1: as long as the system is operating. So you could
Speaker 1: have a black head of Department of Housing under the
Speaker 1: Trump administration and you still gonna have white supremacist ideology
Speaker 1: being pumped through that black mouth and body. The ingenuity
Speaker 1: of white supremacy is it doesn't demand a white body
Speaker 1: to be efficacious and effect. That's a very important point. Basic.
Speaker 1: Have you personally felt the surge of animosity that is happening.
Speaker 1: I have been teased and been on the receiving end
Speaker 1: of the aggressions my whole life. But over the last year,
Speaker 1: the level of vitriol and just the hatred that is
Speaker 1: expressed has been really unnerving. I mean, even people wishing
Speaker 1: harm on my own children because we brought the coronavirus
Speaker 1: to this country, so absolutely, but it kills me that
Speaker 1: so many of our Asian elders and mothers and children
Speaker 1: are being attacked so senselessly for no reason. At this table,
Speaker 1: we always want to hear from you, so check this out.
Speaker 1: Recently Stop Asian Hate posts on our Red Table Talk,
Speaker 1: Instagram and Facebook page confirmed this steep divide. We received
Speaker 1: so many comments and responses like these that relaid frustration, anger,
Speaker 1: and pain. I'm supposed to care about stop Asian hate.
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to care about what's happening to Asian people.
Speaker 1: They're rude, did you respectful in their racist if you
Speaker 1: ask me? Rushing us out their stores, following us around,
Speaker 1: watching us every move like we're gonna rob the whole store,
Speaker 1: but they don't mind taking them black dollars, and they
Speaker 1: didn't mind opening up these businesses in our neighborhoods. They
Speaker 1: have never helped me in mind do anything, So why
Speaker 1: would I jump on some stop Asian hate bandway? That
Speaker 1: was the Jara te And it was so deep that
Speaker 1: there were lots of posts that had to be pulled,
Speaker 1: that's how offensive they were. How would you address that?
Speaker 1: You know, I think it's really easy to say things
Speaker 1: like well, this black person did something to me, and
Speaker 1: this nail songer or this Asian person disrespected me. Those
Speaker 1: are individual experiences and that can't categorize who. That's not
Speaker 1: the totality. They are so diverse. I mean, there are
Speaker 1: over twenty different Asian cultures living in this country, with
Speaker 1: different languages, different traditions, and frankly, not only do I
Speaker 1: know very little about being Thai or Laotian, or Cambodian
Speaker 1: or Vietnamese, I don't even know the first thing about
Speaker 1: being Chinese because I'm not from China. I'm from America.
Speaker 1: And this sister, bless her heart, I don't doubt her hard.
Speaker 1: I don't doubt the fact that this is her experience.
Speaker 1: I don't want to dis black people who have been mistreated.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying there are no rude Asian people in
Speaker 1: stores that have done exactly what this woman said. But
Speaker 1: here's the question. I would say this to black people
Speaker 1: when we say this, and God bless this woman right
Speaker 1: wife have been saying that forever about us. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't mind. But these black people they're just rude,
Speaker 1: They're loud, you can't get them to work on time.
Speaker 1: They never come prepared, they always got excuses, on and
Speaker 1: on and on. Is that a large enough sample size
Speaker 1: for you to determined this is the fundamental characteristic of
Speaker 1: Asian brothers and sisters. Or if we're gonna get real
Speaker 1: ugly about it, how many black people have stolen from them?
Speaker 1: That their attitudes have been misshapen by the behavior of
Speaker 1: certain black people, And you're gonna go, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: most black people ain't ripping you off. Most black people right,
Speaker 1: So I would ask them, I understand your pain, but
Speaker 1: don't draw conclusions based on your limited sample side because
Speaker 1: white folks have been doing that forever. Jim was based
Speaker 1: on that. White supremacy is based on that. You don't
Speaker 1: want all black people being judged by your knuckle head cousin.
Speaker 1: How do you get beyond that when that is the
Speaker 1: only experience that you have, when your experience is so limited,
Speaker 1: because that's too experience interacting with the Asian community is
Speaker 1: so freaking limited. White focusing the same thing. We don't
Speaker 1: know no negroes, They don't live next door to us.
Speaker 1: All I see is what I see on a rap video.
Speaker 1: But I tell people read a book, Uh, go Google,
Speaker 1: but look at some darned YouTube. It ain't that hard.
Speaker 1: So you are ignorant, but you're responsible for your ignorance.
Speaker 1: So when we say we don't have any experience with
Speaker 1: you know, hey, the only Asian person I know is
Speaker 1: the person you know in the nails a line of light,
Speaker 1: Well then we don't want black people judge by what
Speaker 1: we think happens with the black person at McDonald's and wife, folk, girl,
Speaker 1: do you want them? We ain't got no fried If
Speaker 1: so called pooky and so called is the litmus test
Speaker 1: for how people judge. Now, my point is stereotype as
Speaker 1: a lazy person's way of engaging the other. So have
Speaker 1: a more complicated, nuanced perspective. We gently encourage her, ma'am,
Speaker 1: just like I do with white folks when I challenged
Speaker 1: them with humor or acerbic, intense rhetoric aimed at their
Speaker 1: colossal indignity, that you've got to just say, open up
Speaker 1: a little bit, open your heart. Do you want to
Speaker 1: be judged by the worst things you've done? Do you
Speaker 1: want to be judged about how black people have been
Speaker 1: said to treat white folks? Cause I get letters every
Speaker 1: day and they're going, you up here talking about this,
Speaker 1: and I don't deny that these white people have had
Speaker 1: this experience that they've seen black people do X, Y
Speaker 1: and Z right there saying I saw this, this is
Speaker 1: in my store. I hired this many black people. Every
Speaker 1: black person I hired acted like this. So they got
Speaker 1: a sample too. It ain't scientific, but they got a
Speaker 1: pole too. So we're gonna put their bigoted pole against
Speaker 1: your biggoted pole. Let's do something different. Let's draw back
Speaker 1: and see that there's our different experiences, different peoples. And
Speaker 1: if we judge people based upon the worst of what
Speaker 1: they do or the worst of how they behave or
Speaker 1: on one day, have you judged them over space and time?
Speaker 1: Did you have a conversation with them, Did you talk
Speaker 1: to them about where they come from? Have you spoken right?
Speaker 1: In other words, have you treated them the way you
Speaker 1: want to be treated. If you want an Asian person
Speaker 1: to speak to you, have you ever spoken to them?
Speaker 1: So my point is that when we get into the
Speaker 1: politics of reciprocity and knowledge, it's not just about read
Speaker 1: a book, it's not just about no more. I recommend
Speaker 1: all that, but open up your perspective, be a bit fair,
Speaker 1: and don't do the same things I think we need
Speaker 1: to have Michael Eric Dyson like pumped into everyone's It
Speaker 1: just doesn't sound satisfying to say that to that woman.
Speaker 1: Get a book and read your history. And it's the
Speaker 1: human problem to Yeah, and I know it's hard, but
Speaker 1: it's also like, maybe try to expand your heart a
Speaker 1: little bit and your mind just a little bit. How
Speaker 1: about that. You can't reduce the world to your perspective.
Speaker 1: And yet at the same time, your perspective is so
Speaker 1: critical of how you see the world. So it is
Speaker 1: to your advantage to continue to expand. Okay, but it
Speaker 1: is not the onus on the Asian community to do
Speaker 1: the same when it comes to us. And I would
Speaker 1: say the same thing to Asian people who have a
Speaker 1: myampic view black people. You know, have you taken the
Speaker 1: time when you moved into this community, did you read
Speaker 1: about the history, did you get to know people, did
Speaker 1: you invest? Did you hire people from the community and
Speaker 1: give them opportunities? I do think it's incumbent upon all
Speaker 1: of us. I mean, if we don't start functioning that way,
Speaker 1: this is all headed down. And you raise a great
Speaker 1: point because part of the investment of the model minority
Speaker 1: is that it is insulated Asian community. It helps, but
Speaker 1: It also hurts because that honorary white status allows you
Speaker 1: to derive a certain kind of benefit from being quiet,
Speaker 1: from not speaking of from not making noise. How open, Lisa,
Speaker 1: do you believe that the Asian community is too educating
Speaker 1: themselves around the history of the relationship between black people
Speaker 1: and Asian people, but just black people in general, you know,
Speaker 1: just having understands, I do actually think that there's a
Speaker 1: generational divide in the Asian community. Um, younger Asians were
Speaker 1: taught black history, so that's why I think so many
Speaker 1: Asian Americans showed up to protest the systemic injustices that
Speaker 1: have been directed towards black people this summer. So that's
Speaker 1: why it hurts when we hear Asian people have never
Speaker 1: stood up for us. So many younger Asians are like,
Speaker 1: where is this animosity coming from. There's a history, and
Speaker 1: it's there's a reason for it. If our main goal
Speaker 1: is to really have some harmony, we have to stop
Speaker 1: like inserting ourselves right back in that cycle. And I'm
Speaker 1: not making excuses for Asian people, but often there are
Speaker 1: language barriers, and there are cultural differences, and as a whole,
Speaker 1: Asians aren't the most communicative people around my husband, he's
Speaker 1: a Korean American and his parents didn't even tell him
Speaker 1: I love you until he was in his forties. So
Speaker 1: that's what we're working with here. So typically they're just
Speaker 1: not warm and cuddly and friendly. It's not so much
Speaker 1: of the not warm and cuddly. It's just not the
Speaker 1: most communic to It's not affection, particularly affection. But I
Speaker 1: don't think that Asians not approaching you to talk to you.
Speaker 1: It's not so much because they're discriminating against you. I mean,
Speaker 1: I do think there's a cultural piece to it where
Speaker 1: they're probably not even talking to each other that much.
Speaker 1: Quite honestly, when we talk about race in this country,
Speaker 1: it's through a certain lens, right, it's black and it's white.
Speaker 1: Asians have been in this country since two hundreds, right,
Speaker 1: long time? Did you read about Asian history in your
Speaker 1: textbooks and schools? I mean, I didn't, even when I
Speaker 1: hear this aversion and people saying, well, Asian people don't
Speaker 1: stand up for our community. Asian Americans don't even know
Speaker 1: their own history, you know, because it's not taught in
Speaker 1: our schools. If you look at Asian American history in
Speaker 1: this country, we can't compare it to what black people
Speaker 1: have gone through. Right, Although some Chinese and some films
Speaker 1: were actually enslaved, but the Chinese were the only demographic
Speaker 1: to ever excluded from being able to immigrate to this
Speaker 1: country for decades. Hundred and twenty thousand Japanese rounded into
Speaker 1: camps for years. They lost their businesses, they lost their homes.
Speaker 1: I also learned that there were lynchings that happened of
Speaker 1: lying in the American history, happened in Chinatown exactly. And
Speaker 1: I just learned about this. Think about Asian brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters the way white folks think about us, and I
Speaker 1: think we'd be a bit more compassionate. Tony Morrison said,
Speaker 1: on the backs of black people, America has been built,
Speaker 1: and we know Asian labor, unrecognized, has provided the opportunity
Speaker 1: for America to be what it is. So here is
Speaker 1: the tragic irony that we would come to a place
Speaker 1: now where we're at each other's next when indeed what
Speaker 1: we should be doing is trying to look at the
Speaker 1: common enemy of white supremacies that is murking all of us.
Speaker 1: I've heard a lot of my Asian peers talking about
Speaker 1: aspiring to this level of whiteness and not wanting to
Speaker 1: have their original name, Like if their parents call them
Speaker 1: their original name and they have friends in the house,
Speaker 1: that makes them feel some type of way. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: when you don't know your history, and if whites are
Speaker 1: at the top, you can understand why you've are moving
Speaker 1: that direct an honorary white exactly. Now, Michael, let me
Speaker 1: ask you a question. What do we say to Black
Speaker 1: people in the community who feel threatened and feel as
Speaker 1: though that the presence of Asians and our community are
Speaker 1: stealing livelihood? Why be mad at the Asian brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters who came here looking for an opportunity. Don't hate
Speaker 1: the player, hate the game. Why do Asian people have
Speaker 1: those nail shops? Where could they get them in the
Speaker 1: black community? Be mad at white supremacists who denied black
Speaker 1: people access to the loans to be able to own
Speaker 1: the shops in their own community. And the game at
Speaker 1: this point is black people can't get loans. The reason
Speaker 1: Asian brothers and sisters are all no shops because they
Speaker 1: were able to get loans right and Asians historically haven't
Speaker 1: had the opportunities to open their businesses or even live
Speaker 1: in some cases in predominantly white communities, so they end
Speaker 1: up in communities of color where they're predominantly black people.
Speaker 1: And when they do open businesses, it's not so much
Speaker 1: that they are trying to discriminate against black people. This
Speaker 1: is where they have to open businesses, and often they
Speaker 1: don't take the time to understand the historical roots of
Speaker 1: where they have set up shops. All they really care about, frankly,
Speaker 1: is survival. So this is the thing. So, because I
Speaker 1: want to make this really clear, you are basically saying
Speaker 1: that it's the construct of white supremacy that makes it
Speaker 1: possible that Asians can get those loans. Before weekend broken down.
Speaker 1: I just want to make sure that it's clear that's
Speaker 1: exactly right. The history of Black cooperation with Asians and
Speaker 1: Asian cooperation with blacks is much deeper and more profound
Speaker 1: than the kind of bitterness and the freacas we see
Speaker 1: going on right now. Asian people, whether black people know
Speaker 1: it or not, have been involved in the struggle for
Speaker 1: African American freedom from the get go, from the time
Speaker 1: that they got here, right, but that history is obscuwer
Speaker 1: and what is put forth is they're disrespectful, they don't
Speaker 1: like us. We saw a black people side with the
Speaker 1: Philippines and the Philippine American War. We saw black folks
Speaker 1: with the Vietnam War speak out, and so it is
Speaker 1: in the history if you read it, I mean Hector
Speaker 1: Woultang Clan. Yeah, the greatest protest movements that we have
Speaker 1: put forth have always had the participation of Asian brothers
Speaker 1: and sistis. For every story of the tension, there are
Speaker 1: so many stories of solidarity those I'm not saying they
Speaker 1: haven't done everything you said, But having said that, are
Speaker 1: you judging an entire race of people, Vietnamese, Chinese and
Speaker 1: Korean based upon your interaction? Was amazing folks who treated
Speaker 1: you like crap. That kind of thing is what we've
Speaker 1: been fighting in. That's what Martin Luther King, Ella Baker
Speaker 1: and Joanne Robinson had been fighting against all of our lives.
Speaker 1: We got to do so, Lisa, I want to bring
Speaker 1: in somebody who say is one of the smartest people
Speaker 1: out there. Korean American writer and am Herst professor Men
Speaker 1: Chin Lee. Hello, Hi, Hi. You know, I'm so happy
Speaker 1: to be here and thank you for that generous introduction.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be here because I think the Red
Speaker 1: Table talk is actually a Korean show. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you knew that. I love it. I love and
Speaker 1: here let me tell you why it's a Korean show
Speaker 1: because it's three generations of women of color, and that
Speaker 1: is exactly how I grew up. And also, I'm such
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Michael Eric Dyson, So hello, professor,
Speaker 1: and Lisa Lyn knows how much I love her. I
Speaker 1: want to really address to Latasha Harlan situation because that
Speaker 1: is a graphic image, but it is a very incomplete image.
Speaker 1: There also an image of Euricochiyama cradling the head of
Speaker 1: Malcolm X when he was assassinated, and that image has
Speaker 1: been on the forefront of my mind always. We can
Speaker 1: focus on that one thing in the same way we
Speaker 1: can focus on all those horrible videos which the media
Speaker 1: has been perpetuating to create greater sense of divide and
Speaker 1: for us to buy into the notion that them people
Speaker 1: came over here and brought that disease and black people
Speaker 1: attacking Asian people in the street. Now here's here's the
Speaker 1: use of white supremacy. The disproportioned number of people who
Speaker 1: are attacking Asian people in that black but it serves
Speaker 1: the narrative that see these criminalized black people who are
Speaker 1: out of control, and we have so many gaps in
Speaker 1: our knowledge because a white supremacist education prevents us from
Speaker 1: knowing about each other and ourselves. It's part of the
Speaker 1: veil of ignorance because most of us don't really know
Speaker 1: the history. History that's not the part of the story
Speaker 1: they want us to know. We need test solidarity is
Speaker 1: not just because we want to feel good, but because
Speaker 1: we have twelve percent African Americans in this country who
Speaker 1: can vote, and then we have Asian Americans, which just
Speaker 1: five percent. But we're the fastest growing population of racial
Speaker 1: minorities in this country. If we have sevent if we
Speaker 1: can get most of us to vote together, what can't
Speaker 1: we do? Men, you say that we've been ignoring a
Speaker 1: major factor in the Black Asian divide. Can you explain? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I really want to talk about this because I come
Speaker 1: from a working class background. So one out of four
Speaker 1: Asian Americans in New York City lived below the poverty line.
Speaker 1: Of all the racial minorities in New York City, the
Speaker 1: poorest people are actually Asian Americans. They're struggling of Asian
Speaker 1: American elders have language issues, And that's really important to
Speaker 1: notify because when we think about the people, let's say,
Speaker 1: in those nail salons who could be rude, some of
Speaker 1: those people are actually almost like indentured servants. They owe
Speaker 1: so much money to the people who brought them into
Speaker 1: this country. And those women who are killed in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: two of those women live there like nobody wanted them. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, I asked for compassion, But if you don't
Speaker 1: feel like giving compassion, that's okay. I get it. It's
Speaker 1: true if you don't have it in you, if you're
Speaker 1: too exhausted, it's like you've been fighting this fight. I
Speaker 1: get it. But before you make such a bold assertion
Speaker 1: to refuse, just take the time to understand some of
Speaker 1: those data points that engine just conveyed. And it's a
Speaker 1: pretty bold stance to take, I think. So. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: guess at the end of the day, it really is about, like,
Speaker 1: having these conversations, do you feel like you got enlightened
Speaker 1: in a certain because I know I hadsolutely absolutely. I
Speaker 1: just really really started listening and thinking about my own
Speaker 1: limited experience, and then you hear yourself, don't And I
Speaker 1: hear myself because sometimes you hear you go like, oh,
Speaker 1: is that mean? Like did I really just say that?
Speaker 1: But I do understand that we are as a community
Speaker 1: so traumatized right now, it's just hard for us to
Speaker 1: feel that compassion. These conversations are hard, they're painful, but
Speaker 1: they're so essential. As long as we continue to perpetuate
Speaker 1: these tensions and aggressions against one another, we will continue
Speaker 1: to spiral down. And that's why we need each other.
Speaker 1: I mean, I need you and you need me, And
Speaker 1: this is a fight that we're all in together. This
Speaker 1: is life and death at this point. Absolutely ela out
Speaker 1: of many one, when we do that, we got a
Speaker 1: much better chance. I don't. I am getting terry. I'm well, yeah,
Speaker 1: because it just seems like such a struggle. I know,
Speaker 1: but that's the part to work through. It's a lot
Speaker 1: of purification in this process. You know, it's gonna be ugly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it has to get ugly before the healing can happen,
Speaker 1: exactly because it's allowing these wounds to be exposed and
Speaker 1: even just like being able to look each other in
Speaker 1: the eyes. You know, it's hard. Yeah, it's it's it's hard,
Speaker 1: you know, swift, it's a lot, and it's a lot
Speaker 1: of pain and having to look, you know, in the
Speaker 1: shadows of our hearts. Really just it's purified because at
Speaker 1: the end of the day is just getting closer to
Speaker 1: love rights. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, this was a beautiful conversation.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you very It's powerful what just happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really beautiful. Proud to be a life for it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you've done any time. Man, you are so incredible. You
Speaker 1: guys were Yeah. Now I don't think I know what
Speaker 1: my next tattoo is going to be. Eli, I was
Speaker 1: like sitting here like that speaks to my value to
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