WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 103021 Leezah Sun on AAPI Race Relations 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.240 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.840 Ramsay's Ja big shout out to q Ward who is 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:11.840 off today, but have no fear because we have a 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:16.120 very special guest in with us. Today's show is going 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:22.960 to be about race relations really between black and Asian 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:24.239 communities in this country. 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:25.439 There's a lot there. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.720 There's been a lot in recent months that we've had 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.920 to talk about in today's episode, We're going to be 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:37.280 continuing that dialogue as we committed to doing. My guest 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:42.200 today is Liza's son. Welcome to the show. A little 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.159 bit about Lisa is she's a former State House of 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:52.720 Representatives candidate for Legislative Legislative District number nineteen, a former 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:58.680 vice chair of the azaap I Caucus, and you know, 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.840 just an all around community the activist and politician and 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:06.000 from what I know of you, someone who has a 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:13.360 lot of insight into the history between our two communities. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.160 As we relate to each other, but also. 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:19.679 You know, maybe a path forward, a path toward you know, 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:25.440 having a more profound and meaningful relationship that will you know, 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.679 result in more positive interactions and less negative interactions between 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.600 our two communities. And so I'm grateful that you would 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:36.000 take the time to come on the show and you know, 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.480 share your thoughts and your opinions, you know, and you know, 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.399 in a little bit we'll we'll certainly peel back some 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:46.160 of the layers and check out what's going on there. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:53.000 So before we get to that, though, it's standard practice 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:57.480 around this time to do a little bit of celebrating 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.360 of what we'd like to call Ebony excellence. All I 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.000 do is win no matter what. For Ebony excellence, what 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.560 we do is we highlight something positive in the black community. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.080 This week, it was one that I believe to be 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:16.839 very special. Q actually sent this over in Shreveport, Louisiana. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:21.080 There's a man named Michael Lafitte and he started a 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:25.799 program called Dads on Duty. After twenty three students were 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.760 arrested in three days, parents in Shreveport, Louisiana took it 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:34.280 upon themselves to organize and patrol the halls of the 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:38.079 schools in shifts. And what they do is they greet students, 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.000 they helped maintain a positive environment, and so far it's 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.119 been working. They're looking to actually expand the program into 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.560 other schools, cities, and states. And the interesting thing about 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.640 this is that none of these dads have backgrounds as 0:02:54.680 --> 0:03:00.880 counselors or as you know, in law enforcement anything like that, fathers. 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:06.400 And that's exactly what Michael Lafitz says. He says, we're dads. 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:08.280 We decided the best people who can take care of 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:12.280 our kids are who are us and quote, and you know, 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.840 they just fill the halls with you know, dad jokes 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.040 and a little tough love and some stern looks and 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:21.760 you know, so far there's been no fights. Again, when 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:26.160 you see the drastic turnaround, twenty three students arrested across 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.320 three days because of fighting. And then these dads show 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.959 up end mass and hang out in the hallways and 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.480 crack jokes and just really are a presence. They all 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:37.840 wear the same T shirts and they interact with the students. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.360 You know, some of the students. I've seen some of 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.240 the videos on this, some of the students seem to 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:48.680 be really grateful and they feel protected in a strange way, 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:52.520 even though these men aren't their biological fathers. They're just 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.320 some dads that decided to show up. But I think 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.400 that that's Ebny excellence if I ever heard of it. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:58.960 I'm glad that we got a chance to share that 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:06.680 story about the dads on duty. Now moving along back 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:17.520 to our guest Lisa's son. So twenty twenty was a 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.920 difficult year for everyone, and everyone has their story about 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:27.800 that year. Twenty twenty one, of course, has been very 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.320 much a continuation of a lot of the stories that 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:37.800 we begin to hear about in twenty twenty. But there 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:47.600 is a unique characteristic that I believe relates to Asian 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:55.039 Americans specifically. And you know, discrimination against Asian Americans goes 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.360 all the way back to perhaps the first Asian Americans 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:04.720 that ever landed on this you know, continent. But last year, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:11.320 I believe there was a marked change in tone with 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.279 respect to our Asian brothers and sisters when Donald Trump 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:22.719 said all the things that he said about the China 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.560 virus and the I don't even want to repeat all 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.160 the hurtful and racist things that he said, And I 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:36.360 believe that that gave license to people his supporter specifically, 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:43.960 to terrorize and make fun of, brutalize, et cetera Asian Americans. 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:51.400 Add to that that, in certain communities there has been 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:57.719 a longstanding, deep divide between Asian Americans and those communities, 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:04.160 namely black communities, now you can correct me if I'm wrong, 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:10.719 but my understanding is that the reason that we see 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:15.360 lots of Asian Americans opening up businesses in lower income neighborhoods, 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:20.840 black and brown neighborhoods, is not because Asian folks want 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:25.360 to take advantage of the poor people in this country. 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:32.919 It's a result of folks immigrating here and qualifying for 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.480 loans that black people and brown people in this country 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:43.480 have been systemically discriminated against in terms of receiving those loans. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.000 And then for the Asian folks that they show up, 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.839 they are enterprising people. They show up, they have to 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:55.600 create an economic system to support themselves, and where they 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.239 can qualify for loans and where they can set up shop, 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:03.000 if you will, is those communities, those black and brown communities. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:10.200 And so it ends up being this dynamic that looks 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.440 based on only the optics if you don't know the 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.640 mechanism behind it, like perhaps these folks are coming here 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:19.480 to take advantage of it us. And then there's a 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:27.080 component where there's a lot of significant cultural differences in 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:30.400 Asian and you know, I'm gonna try to be a 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:37.440 little bit more specific, but Chinese, Japanese Chinese mostly, and 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.720 I'm from Los Angeles and this is those are the 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:41.680 tots of people I would interact with Chinese and Korean 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.520 folks when I was growing up. 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:45.080 Everybody. 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:47.680 There's all types of Asian folks in California, but those 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:52.960 are the folks I remember a lot of cultural differences. 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:57.120 You know, the way that folks relate to each other 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.480 is very different than the way you know, Black folks 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.680 relate to each other, and you know, to other people, 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.680 and a lot of times it can come across dismissive, 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.400 it can come across you know, whatever, and it's just cultural. 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:15.880 You know, there's there's people who grow up in very 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:20.480 loving households, you know, Asian mother, Asian father, and you know, 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.720 the way that love is shown, in the way that 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:24.240 the legacy is written in. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:25.679 Those cultures is very different. 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:34.160 And I think that those long standing issues and the 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.360 failure to connect in a meaningful way over many years. 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:39.400 And then of course there was I forget the little 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.720 girl's name, but there was a significant incident in Los 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:47.200 Angeles where a store owner, an Asian woman, shot a 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.080 little black girl and she actually died over that. 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:51.880 And this was in the early nineties. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:56.960 Yes, and that definitely echoes even within the AAPI community 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:04.040 as shocking. Yeah, yeah, you know, heartbreaking to hear someone 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:09.600 within our community could go that far right and retaliation. 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:09.680 Right, right. 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:15.400 And so when you think of, you know, how these 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.520 these two communities, black and Asian communities and people relate 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:24.280 to each other, you start to recognize that there has 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:33.079 been a divide that has perhaps deepened since twenty twenty. Now, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:38.400 I want to maintain that the vast number of the 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.240 attacks on Asian folks over the past two years have 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:47.480 not been by black people exactly, but there's enough to 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.400 tell a story if you want. The media can tell 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:51.480 a story, and then you know, we're caught in this 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.120 weird cycle. But the point is there should be none 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.520 is contrived, absolutely, and I want to say this again, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.920 The point is there should be none. We're brothers and 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.520 we're sisters, and we share this planet, we share this country, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.640 and despite us having significant cultural differences, we do have 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:12.120 more that we can relate on than we differ on. 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.400 We all love our families, We all you know, love 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:16.480 to laugh, and so forth, and so on, very rich 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:22.920 histories and et cetera. With all that said, today, I 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.559 wanted to make sure that we painted a picture for 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.160 our listeners so that folks who maybe are not Black 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.520 and maybe are not Asian, who are listening to you 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:40.120 and I speak right now, can perhaps understand how things 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.080 like white supremacy can affect people who are not white, 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.120 and it can empower people who are not white to 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:53.080 continue to propagate it, proliferate. That's the word I'm looking for, 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.720 thank you, And you know it's it's a very ugly 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.920 monster that runs on its own turns on its own access, 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.720 and you know that's what we're here to talk about. 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:08.080 So that brings me to my first question, which is 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.680 how do you feel about the relations between Black and 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:17.640 Asian communities in general? 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.880 The word community is so broad. It can be a neighborhood, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.000 it could be a small town, it can be a school, 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:31.040 it can even be the place where you work can 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:37.400 be called a community. And my struggle being an AAPI 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:43.600 member of our society interacting with the black community has 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:48.760 overall been very positive. I think that it's up to 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:56.120 the individual's perspective, based on their anecdotal experiences, to make 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.760 an assessment on the health of the relationship between the 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:06.760 AAPI and the Black communities. I mean, we can go 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:11.240 and discuss our personal experiences. But for me, I grew 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:16.600 up in a very all inclusive town called in Urbur, Michigan, 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:22.199 in the eighties and in the nineties, and the community 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.480 that I belonged to was very diverse. I had a 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:31.520 neighbor that had young children that called on me to 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:36.320 be their babysitter, and the father was a black surgeon, 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.160 and the mother was a white stay at home mom, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:46.680 and my early exposure to diversity was very healthy. Now 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.320 that doesn't go without saying that I had a perfect 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:56.560 interaction with the black communities, But when I did, I 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:04.360 had that personal, positive anecdotal experiences with certain black members 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.240 of the community. That tells me that when you have 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:15.360 a negative experience, it's just that person that shared a 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:23.640 similar physical attribute, particularly the skin color, that's it. But 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.439 when you don't have enough of that positive anecdotal experiences, 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:34.120 you can see how someone can warp that perception and 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:38.760 it can lead to discrimination and even racism, and that 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.840 can be fueled by certain family members or their mentor 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.680 within their own communities that may share that same negative 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:56.280 anecdotal experiences. At times, those experiences it's not fair, it's 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:05.679 not balance because childhood trauma. Average childhood experiences plays a 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.880 huge factor into how to shape the mind of a 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:14.400 youngster within the community, and that can further translate on 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.760 how well they interact with certain members of our communities, 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:25.040 particularly people of color. Again, going back to my own experiences, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:32.480 it's been very positive and the negative. I just look 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:40.000 at it as an indivisual, not a broad brush within 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:45.600 a given community, because then that will be discrimination. 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:49.280 Absolutely, you know. And there's something that's interesting. So I've 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:51.520 been to ann Arbor, but I've spent more time in Detroit, 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.920 and you know, they're very different culturally, but you know, 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.280 they're close in terms of their proximity to each other. 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:03.680 And right, you know, you can find a lot of 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:12.960 black folks that live very black lives, right and you know, 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.240 there's nothing wrong with that. You know, there's places, there's 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.480 other places in this country where you can find a 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.800 lot of Asian people who live very Asian lives. Chinese, 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:25.200 there's China towns everywhere and so forth. But what ends 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:30.240 up happening a lot of times in those circumstances is 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.520 that you have a very limited view of what other 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:36.720 people might be like, you know. 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.040 To your point, so. 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:44.840 Again, those limited interactions, especially if you're interacting with people 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:49.800 who are perhaps not the best, you know, best suited 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.480 to represent an entire race of people exactly. 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.320 I mean you just said it doesn't sound ridiculous. 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.880 Yeah, yeah, absolutely, it's insane, But I do see how 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:04.040 it can happen, and it's. 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:05.920 It's I think. 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.760 There's a degree of individual responsibility that needs to come 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:14.000 into play. For each of these people who has again 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:22.880 an unfounded or or a baseless generalization of any group 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.400 of people, it's incumbent upon them to try to learn more. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.480 But in terms of folks listening to you and me 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.640 right now who perhaps don't feel that way, the people 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.160 that our listeners tend to be a little bit more progressive, 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.400 a little bit more educated, folks that really want to 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:41.920 see a better world for all of us. It's our 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:48.800 job to identify in those people, be they black, white, Asian, 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:53.480 or whatever, to point out to them, Hey, listen, I 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:59.520 think that what you're basing your your generalizations on, it's 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.360 it's based on a limited, you know, interaction, a limited 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.119 amount of interaction with these types of people. Now, I 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:16.000 want to jump in here. A lot of what a 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.439 lot of people don't know this about the show. I 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.520 have an older brother. His name is Raka iras Science 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.719 of the Dilated Peoples. That's a hip hop group that 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:33.280 is relatively successful, you know, toured around the world and 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.680 plaques on the walls, this, that, and the other. This 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.040 is part of the reason why I've been able to 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.119 be on the radio because my big brother kind of 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:45.520 looked out for me, and here I am. Yeah, my 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:51.440 big brother is half Korean. Actually two of my big 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.320 brothers are half Korean and one of my sisters. So 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.480 when I was sitting down to create this show, I 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.400 talked with my older brother, Raka, and I says, Hey, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.639 so here's what I'm trying to do. Do you have 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:11.199 any advice from me? And he made sure that. He 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.000 said that I need to share this space in solidarity 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.480 with people who don't look like me. And don't forget 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:22.399 who showed up In twenty twenty, he mentioned something to me. 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:27.560 He says, can you name one time when black folks 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:32.520 showed up for Asian folks? And he said, I was 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.719 asked that question and I couldn't come up with an answer, 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:36.920 but I can name a few instances where Asian folks 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:41.720 showed up for black people and he said, make sure 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.920 that black people know that. Now, my brother is black too. 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.320 His father's black. His father is my father, but his 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.840 mother is from South Korea. 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:52.600 But a family is my brother. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:59.520 Yeah. So he wanted to make sure that this wasn't 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:04.119 a show where the black listeners, which admittedly they're not. 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.840 The majority of our listeners are not black. This show 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.879 is meant to empower non black people. There's plenty of 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:13.040 shows to empower black people, but this show is to 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.520 give some a glimpse, some perspective into what it's like 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:16.000 to be black. 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:17.160 This show is a bridge. 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:18.440 There you go, bridge, thank you. 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:20.880 So the rainbow over. 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:22.119 Yeah, I like that. 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.720 I like that that works. But yes, he said, make 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:30.760 sure that we remember who showed up in twenty twenty. 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.680 And this was interesting for me because I hadn't thought 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:41.080 about it. My personal experience was that I've been to 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:52.960 more Asian majority places on this planet than almost everyone. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.280 I'd say maybe ninety nine point ninety nine percent of people. 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:07.639 I've been to China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:11.800 We're everywhere. Yeah, that's me Hawaii, you know, I just 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.119 just got back from Hawaii. Not too long ago, and 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:19.480 these weren't just like quick trips to see what's going on. 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:21.960 Like I was there on the ground interacting with people. 0:20:22.080 --> 0:20:24.720 And you know, I've told this story before, but for me, 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:31.800 the most significant and prolific way to connect with a people. 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.920 I've been to other countries too, you know, but the 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.399 most significant way to connect with the people is you know, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:40.040 I took a page out of my father's book. My 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:44.680 father was a minister, and I found myself in the 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.439 churches or the places of worship of you know, all 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.480 these different countries, right And you know, as I mentioned earlier, 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:52.560 Asian people are as different as they come, as diverse 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:57.119 as they come. But in all these countries, with all 0:20:57.119 --> 0:20:58.959 these people, where I didn't speak the language, and I 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:00.520 was the only person that looked like me, and I 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.400 was there by myself, and I had to walk around 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:08.399 and try to have a meaningful experience in a place 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:11.040 on the other side of the planet where I have 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:16.960 no family, that's very very lonely. I can't talk to anyone, 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:21.359 you know, But I could go to church or you know, 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:24.159 temple or whatever, and there's a Buddhist temple or you know, 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:29.280 whatever it was, you know, and I was welcomed every time. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:31.400 The only thing they would say is could you take 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:32.000 off your shoes? 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:38.280 You know, and they say that to everybody, everybody. 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:42.560 And so for me, for Ramses, I recognize that that 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.879 was a beautiful experience and you know, a unique experience. 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.080 Not everyone gets to have that. And so when my 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:56.000 brother was talking to me about that request, it didn't 0:21:56.119 --> 0:22:01.960 strike me as odd, but it did strike it did 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:04.720 feel like it was news because I just assumed that 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:07.640 everything was okay. And then once he broke it down, 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:09.920 I'm like, well, you know, I kind of get it. 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:13.119 And then we're seeing the stop asient. This was it 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:16.600 Stop Asian Hate that we're now renaming to Stop Asian Harm. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:17.159 Thank you. 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:18.080 I appreciate that. 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:23.439 Campaigns shortly thereafter, and really need to show up for 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.199 our Asian American brothers and sisters. And I says, in 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.520 my mind, now's the time that we can show up, right, 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:32.360 And because my brother asked, when we're black people there 0:22:32.400 --> 0:22:34.800 for Asian folks, Well, now we can be there and 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:36.440 I can start with this program. 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:42.879 So I add on to the hashtag that you just mentioned, 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:46.479 stop Asian Hate and the reason why we're switching it 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.679 up to stop Asian harm is because the word hate 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:56.200 has been weaponized by our elective officials or law enforcements, 0:22:56.240 --> 0:23:01.040 and even in our judicial system to further criminalize people 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:07.000 of color, because with privatized prison and mass incarceration, that 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:16.919 word is over utilized to imprison small acts of crime 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:20.800 that are non violent, majority of them over eighty percent 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.199 or non violent, and they usually tag it on the 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.760 word hate because when you do a hate crime, your 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:34.879 sentencing goes up, and we can't support that. We just can't. 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:41.959 And with the stop Asian hashtag Stop Asian Hate, I 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:45.159 just think that it's been overly used in the past 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:50.480 year with the incidents, especially with the visceral comments from 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:53.000 our previous president, and again we don't want to go 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:56.560 into details on what he was saying, but it was 0:23:56.600 --> 0:24:01.960 disgusting enough and it emboldened these certain constituents of his 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:05.200 to do, you. 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:06.320 Know, really horrible thing. 0:24:06.320 --> 0:24:09.480 Yes, really horrible. And I'm glad that you mentioned that 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:14.879 it wasn't all from the black communities. No, that is 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.320 a misinformation, right. 0:24:18.040 --> 0:24:26.120 The thing is, there were enough videos of Asian folks 0:24:26.280 --> 0:24:31.159 being attacked by black people to paint that picture in 0:24:31.200 --> 0:24:34.840 the media. But I maintain that the number of black 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:39.240 people that attacked Asian people should be zero. It should 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:41.080 have been zero, It should have always been zero. And 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:48.320 regardless of how Black people have felt about our relationship 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:53.119 with Asian Americans, we get nowhere by behaving the way 0:24:53.400 --> 0:24:56.919 white folks used to behave toward us in the past. 0:24:57.640 --> 0:25:00.000 We get nowhere by behaving that way toward our asia 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:03.280 and brothers and sisters. And so I needed to make 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:05.200 sure that I stated that. Now we do have to 0:25:05.240 --> 0:25:08.880 take a pause for some commercials, but we're coming back 0:25:08.920 --> 0:25:10.840 in just a second, So don't go nowhere, and now. 0:25:12.800 --> 0:25:14.960 Watch going my mic back. 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:21.520 You're like that journalist journalist time strikes from headquarters behind 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:25.560 in the And if you're just tuning into civic cipher, 0:25:25.720 --> 0:25:30.679 I am your host. Rams's jo Q board is off today, 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:35.240 but no worries. We have Lisa's son with us UH 0:25:35.280 --> 0:25:40.880 and we are discussing race relations between black and Asian 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:47.000 American communities. And for those just tuning in, Lisa is 0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:51.920 a former State House of Representative candidate for Legislative District nineteen, 0:25:52.520 --> 0:25:55.160 a former vice chair of the AZAA p I Caucus, 0:25:55.200 --> 0:25:59.639 and a community activist and politician. And one thing that 0:25:59.680 --> 0:26:03.000 we didn't get to talk about is your background. It 0:26:03.280 --> 0:26:05.200 feels a little late in the conversation to be talking 0:26:05.240 --> 0:26:07.840 about that, but please let everyone know what your background is. 0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:11.320 Well, you just mentioned the high lights of it. There's 0:26:11.400 --> 0:26:12.080 not really much. 0:26:12.320 --> 0:26:14.359 Well how about your ethnic background, because you know, the 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:15.679 radio folks can't really hear it. 0:26:16.600 --> 0:26:22.359 So being a middle aged woman, I, you know, immigrted 0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:24.760 here to the States when I was seven years old, 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:28.480 and before that, I was born off of the islands 0:26:28.480 --> 0:26:33.200 of South Korea called Chechu, and my parents were also 0:26:33.359 --> 0:26:37.080 immigrants to South Korea due to the Civil war in 0:26:37.200 --> 0:26:42.760 China back in the fifties. So I come from three 0:26:42.920 --> 0:26:49.359 generations of immigrants, So we know how it feels to 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:54.679 be an outcasts in the given society three generations, and 0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:59.880 at times when it spans that long, there's a sin, 0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:07.240 the loss of belonging that it's really hard to explain 0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:13.399 to people that don't share the same experiences, and that 0:27:13.640 --> 0:27:23.199 sometimes lead to that desired to fit in. So a 0:27:23.240 --> 0:27:26.080 lot of the immigrants that comes from the Asian continent 0:27:26.200 --> 0:27:30.359 in general would come to the United States of America 0:27:30.600 --> 0:27:36.560 and they will know right away where the the totem 0:27:36.560 --> 0:27:42.320 pole hierarchy, the hierarchy and that is just something that's undeniable. 0:27:42.680 --> 0:27:46.080 Although we don't talk about it, but it is there 0:27:46.640 --> 0:27:49.960 and we know right away who's at the bottom. 0:27:50.240 --> 0:27:52.000 Oh yeah, absolutely. 0:27:51.520 --> 0:27:54.200 Yeah, And that's a huge you know play in that. 0:27:54.400 --> 0:27:55.720 Well, let's let's talk about that. 0:27:56.600 --> 0:27:58.639 So what we do on the show is we have 0:27:58.680 --> 0:28:04.080 a segment it's called Baba become a Better Ally. In short, 0:28:04.240 --> 0:28:08.199 if you were able to empower the listeners of this 0:28:08.320 --> 0:28:13.240 program to become a better ally to not only Asian Americans, 0:28:13.280 --> 0:28:14.800 but you know, to all of us, what is your 0:28:15.119 --> 0:28:18.280 vision on how we can best be better brothers and sisters. 0:28:18.520 --> 0:28:21.359 And it's funny when you say baba because in Chinese 0:28:21.520 --> 0:28:25.320 Mandarin Chinese, the word baba means father, and you can 0:28:25.359 --> 0:28:28.679