WEBVTT - The Perils of the Model Minority 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.920 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok F Daily with 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:20.400 Meet your Girl Daniel Moody. Pre recording from the Home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.360 I hope that you have enjoyed your holiday week. We 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:28.520 are offered just one more day, but I'm very excited 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.839 to welcome to wok F Daily for the very first 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:39.720 time Varunnicor, who is the founding executive director of AAPI 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:45.879 Victory Alliance. And you know, in this conversation with Varun, 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:54.000 I ask questions, you know, about how the AAPI community 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.440 has been positioned in many ways through the lens of 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.680 white supremacy as model minorities, and what does that mean, right, 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:10.399 and how they better move past that distinction to link 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.959 arms with other communities of color, the black community and 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.080 other communities of color, And you know, I ask questions 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.559 about what it is that we get wrong right about 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:27.080 this very diverse, very layered community. And on top of that, 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:31.160 we get into a conversation which is just shilling right, 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:37.600 But the last couple of headline mass shootings that we 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:44.039 saw were actually at the hands of AAPI individuals, directed 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:49.200 towards people in their own communities. And Varun talks about 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:56.800 a really startling new marketing campaign that the NRA has 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:02.080 been doing directing their attention to this community which is 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:08.120 very affluent but has had a very low gun purchasing rate, 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:12.880 and how they have exploited, how the NRA has exploited 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.880 these last shootings and the rise in anti Asian hate 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.560 that we saw at the hands of the Trump administration 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:26.840 and particularly during COVID has used this to try and 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:31.519 get new fucking members. And it's really wild and crazy, 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:37.520 and so we talk about so very much in this conversation, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.360 and you know, it's one that we will continue to 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:46.240 have on WOKF because I believe that we need to 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.120 What does it look like right to really form a 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:54.959 multi racial democracy, particularly at a time when white supremacy 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.200 and white supremacy, domestic terrorists violence is at an all 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:03.000 time high. What does it look like to link arms 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:07.480 to elevate each other's stories successes as well as traumas, 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.919 and then how do we find solutions together? So I'm 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:16.520 really excited, folks, to bring you this conversation with Varun Neicor, 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:27.560 who is the founding executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance. Folks, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.760 I am very happy to welcome to ook F Daily 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.320 for the very first time Varun Neicor, who is the 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:40.520 founding executive director of the AAPI Victory Alliance as well 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:47.800 as the newly launched AAPI Think Tank. Varun, it's great 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:53.560 to have you on WOKF and I want to start 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:58.120 off with talking today about the fact that whenever we 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.560 have had a whether it is a mass shooting, it 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.520 is a stabbing, it is a push on the subway 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:09.480 over the last couple of years, and that violence being 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:14.760 directed towards a member of the AAPI community. We have 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:19.240 news reports, we have headlines, we have coverage for what 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.760 feels like a hot minute, and then we go about 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.000 our business in mainstream media. And so I want to 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:32.320 get a sense from you how you feel about the 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.480 coverage right of said violence against your community, and then 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:43.200 also how do we continue to have the conversation regardless 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.480 of specific acts that reached the headlines. 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.159 Yeah, and I appreciate you having me on, Daniel, Thank 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:55.880 you so much. This is such a great opportunity to 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.320 tell the larger story of what's happening in America to day, 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.400 at least from the API perspective. You know, the coverage 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:10.039 is disheartening, I would say in many respects. Right, We've 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.960 heard about shootings go on, you know, literally for decades, 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:19.880 as gun ownership in the United States has increased, you know, manyfold, Right, 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.520 I think there's six hundred million guns in the country 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:28.159 or so, and so with I would say the nuance 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:36.400 that's happening more recently is this concern legitimately over the 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:41.280 numbers of mass shootings, which are now occurring about one 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:48.120 a day according to the Gun Violence Archives. And interestingly, right, 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:52.760 I think there's another trend here that since Sandy Hook 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.360 about ten years ago, a little bit more than ten 0:05:55.440 --> 0:06:00.600 years ago now, the number of ar style weapons, which 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:07.560 are the assault weapons being utilized in these mass shootings, 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.919 has seen also an exponential rise since Sandy Hook. So 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:20.240 folks are those with guns, they're not only utilizing these weapons, 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.919 but they're utilizing these weapons because obviously they want to 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:28.760 cause the most amount of mass destruction in the shortest 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.279 period if possible. Right. So that's that's alarming. And so 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.640 I think the statistic is roughly seventy five percent of 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:41.520 the mass shooting incidents are now caused by assault weapons. Right. 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.440 So that's why a lot of folks, including our organization 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.719 and many many others are calling for an assault weaponspan 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:53.520 media has been it's sort of interesting, right, It's there's 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:58.880 so many things going on in today's new cycle that we, yes, 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:03.200 we hear about a mass shooting, there's a lot of heartbreak, 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.400 and then we move on to either the next mass 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.760 shooting or we move on to the next you know, incident, 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.320 whether it's the overthrow putin in Russia this week, or 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:17.040 it's something about you know, Donald Trump's myriad of cases 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:23.080 the next right. Then it's it's the desensitization. I would say, 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:30.760 over all of this that alarms me. We are, on 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.400 one hand, desensitized and on the other hand, I think 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:39.840 we are also we're concerned. Uh. And one one data 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:44.560 point specifically is you know you're referring to and your 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.760 second question was referring to the API community and how 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.640 we're sort of seeing what I would call the back 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:57.200 end of the of the of the tail of the 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:01.760 rise and racist incidents against the ape community post pandemic. 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:06.200 Right now, it was sort of random acts of violence, 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:10.000 if you will, and it's now turning into our people 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:15.040 are being targeted by guns, right and so you've seen 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.840 the extreme nature of the violence and the hate now 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:24.280 starting to rear its ugly head. And it's unfortunately it's 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:31.240 not only folks that are not Asian that are causing incidents, 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:36.479 but it's also Asian Americans who are you know, responding 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.800 to the marketing And I'd love to talk to you 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.760 about that more. But we're responding to the marketing by 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:48.640 the NRA to our community, exploiting our fears, marketing guns 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.920 to us. We are purchasing the guns. And now unfortunately 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.320 in certain cases we're actually utilizing those guns, like we 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.400 saw in Monterey Park and have Tom Bay earlier than year. 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.040 Both of those mass shootings were Asian Americans. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:08.480 Unfortunately, let's talk about that because you know, here's the 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.400 thing about the n RA uh and there and their 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.960 underhandedness and how and who they market to and when, 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.680 which is that the marketing is based on fear. Right, So, 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.679 any community that is currently being targeted outside of the 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:25.600 black community because they don't want the black community to 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:30.679 have guns, but any other community that is being targeted, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:37.400 they then see a marketing opportunity, right, a marketing opportunity 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.240 at the hands of the very thing that is killing 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.280 said members of the community. It's a it's it is 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:50.480 a it's such a cecuitous and crazy uh web that 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.199 they that they leave and it works, And I do 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.079 I want to talk about those two shootings that happened 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:02.800 that were at the hands of Asian Americans directed towards 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:09.720 right the AAPI community, and how did you how do 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.920 you grapple with that? Because you see, the media is 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:15.880 not very good at nuance. The media is not very 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:20.080 good at really being able to part out and parcel 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.800 and make sense of complicated issues that the media is 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:28.880 very binary in their thinking, right, very A. Then we 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.920 go to B very black and very white. So how 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.520 do you talk about how do you think that we 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:40.679 needed to have a better narrative around those kinds of incidents? 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.959 Well, you're I'll start with You're absolutely right. Mainstream media 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.960 is really not We long for the days of long 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:54.679 form media, right where you could actually have an intelligent conversation. 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.640 We're devoid of intelligent conversations. You were moving from one 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.440 emotion to the next emotion and uh, you know one 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.320 hundred times in a thirty minute program, right, So uh, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.360 and so mainstream media is also sort of exploiting this. 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:13.240 They're furthering the the fear that we all fear feel 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:16.520 rather you know, during this time, and that's why I 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.120 think many of us have just turned off like nightly news. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.200 Who wants to watch that right before we go to bed? Right? 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:27.160 And so you know, I would say in terms of 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:34.880 this exploitation uh that the NRA is utilizing, they're not 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:39.400 only utilizing obviously you know, to the uh TO and 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.320 far the API community. Right, they look at whatever marketing 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:49.000 niche they can, right. They they're they're callousness. Callousness knows 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:54.240 no bounds, their vileness knows no bounds. As well as 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:58.360 they're racist. The racist elements of their programming no knows 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:03.920 no bounce. So with that as an accepted baseline, you know, 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:08.360 let's just say that, you know, the NRA saw gun 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.720 sales decline in the twenty eighteen to twenty timeframe in 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:16.960 the latter half of the Trumpet administration. Right, typically gun 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.520 sales go down in Republican administrations, they go up in 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:24.000 democratic administrations for obvious reasons. But you know, the once 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:29.480 again it's the exploit exploitation rather that Democrats are going 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:34.280 to take away your guns, right, And so then they 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:38.840 saw this sales decline, and then they did ethnographic marketing 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.560 analyzes where they were like, okay, well, where can we 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:45.720 sell guns? You know, their marketing showed, their analysis showed 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:50.440 that essentially the API community was it was the lowest 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.520 gun ownership community in the United States, and on a 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.400 per capita basis, we were also the wealthiest community. Wow, 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.360 you know, why don't we mark it to Asians? They 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.559 just started to market to Asians when the pandemic hit. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.679 And then of course the rhetoric that was spewed out 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:13.280 of the last administration in Donald Trump's mouth just further 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.840 the you know, the extreme pandemic. So that's the genesis 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.360 of it all. But you know, the NRA kind of 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.720 took their marketing to another level. There's this Chinese American 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:29.040 gentleman based in California who won a shooting competition and 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:33.600 he was sort of really interesting. He was untrained, he 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.400 was self taught. He wins this major shooting competition. The 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:42.480 NRA grabs this gentleman and they decide to make him 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:46.680 one of their national spokespeople. And of course the words 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.400 that are coming out of this gentleman's mouth are every 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.960 Asian needs to own a gun. Not only is it 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:58.400 our Second Amendment right, but also you know, just insert 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.199 your you know NRA tach line here. You know, you're 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.240 going to be more safe if you own a gun. 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.840 You're going to keep your family safe. You know all 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.720 this bs, you know, ad infinitem that we hear, you know, 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.960 out of the nira's mouth every day. And and so 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:21.160 what we saw in twenty twenty was a rise in 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:26.160 gun ownership sales. And the thing that concerns us as 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:30.560 as a national organization is and I think reason statistics 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.280 that we've just heard, I think it was out of 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.480 the CDC, if I'm not mistaken, said that the vast 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:42.560 majority of new gun owners are not trained. But you know, 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.760 a lot of these folks have young kids in the house, 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.200 and if you're not trained on safe storage. We know 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:54.200 what happens when people own guns. By every measurable statistic 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.720 and metric in the United States of America, one is 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:05.040 less safe. Soon sides rise, accidental death, accidental injury, intentional death, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.600 intimate partner violence. You know, just every measurable statistic is 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:15.080 the wrong way. And I think that, you know, we 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.000 need to do a better job as a community organization. 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.720 And frankly, a lot of you know, I think we 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.120 need to have you know, much like we saw smoking 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:29.920 public service announcements and you know, tobacco and pollution. We 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.200 need to have that for gun ownership in this country, 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.200 and the gun industry should pay for this. There should 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.760 be a tax. There should be you know, required insurance 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:43.680 on guns. If guns had an insurance requirement on them 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:48.400 like every other, like major thing in this country, the 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.560 cost of a gun would go up tremendously because the 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:56.320 liabilities alone on a person owning a gun. Folks would 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.840 think twice, frankly if if they had to also buy 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.920 corresponding insurance to buy a gun right to protect themselves 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.640 and to protect the safety of the community in those 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:07.720 around them. 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.400 You know, It's just it's always so fascinating to me 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.840 because I talked to you know, gun reform advocates all 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.720 the time, and the reality is is that if having 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.200 a gun made you safer, than America would be the 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.640 safest country in the world. Right that we have more 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:29.360 guns in the hands of people than we do people 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.840 in this country, and it is, you know, it's it's 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.760 like two or three guns per person, you know how 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.920 how it maps out, and it's just it's ridiculous and 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.840 even just listening to you because this is the first 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.600 time that I've heard the piece about the insurance is that, 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:49.720 my god, you know, it is just like we we 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.240 just have a free for all, a free for all 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.440 in this country of Mayhem. You don't need to be trained, 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.400 you barely need to have a license, you don't need 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.760 to have insurance, but you can buy as many guns 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:05.360 as you want, and no one says anything or does 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.479 anything about it. And then we have, you know, thoughts 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:10.720 and prayers that are sent down every time that there 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:11.320 is a shooting. 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:12.919 You know. 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.560 One of the other tactics that your organization is looking 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:20.159 at is going after the banks, going after the banks 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.479 that support gun manufacturers. Can you speak to that and 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.880 why you think that that is a good tactic? 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.800 Yeah? And so I want to give kudos to an 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.600 organization called Guns Down America, which several years ago, I 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:36.479 think it was twenty eighteen or so, it came out 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.200 with a report card. I want to say, one of 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.000 the first folks in the GDP movement, the gun violence 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.359 prevention movement to do this. And so what they did 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:51.479 was they rated banks on several factors, you know, but 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.119 the long and short of it was, you know, do 0:17:54.160 --> 0:18:00.639 they invest in the gun industry, do they bank, do 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.720 they allow the NRA to bank with them? Are they 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:10.000 transparent about gun violence in America? Are they transparent about 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:14.879 their ESG policies and their principles right related to guns 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.280 and gun violence? And so they came up with this 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:21.000 report card. It's on a website called is Your Bankloaded 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:27.160 dot com And so you will see there's I want 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.359 to say about four f rated banks, and Wells Fargo 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.720 is one of them. And so what we did was 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.119 we took their analysis and we worked with them. And 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.879 the reason we sort of picked on Wells Fargo is 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.080 we knew that being a West Coast bank that started 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:49.840 originally in California and frankly even bragged about and to 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.879 this day still brags about the fact that during the 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:57.760 Chinese Exclusion Act in the late eighteen hundreds they still 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.000 let Chinese Americans bank with Wells far Go uh and 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.480 that you know, they're good on this related APIs and 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:06.240 good on that. We wanted to sort of call out 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.560 their hypocrisy of it all. And so what we did 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.200 was we started a campaign about two months ago where 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:19.200 we protested Wells Fargo because folks don't really realize that 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:23.040 Wells Fargo is the bank of choice for the NRA, 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:28.840 and when they were called to testify in Congress several 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:32.800 years ago, all they would say in response, uh, in 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.359 terms of you know, financing the gun industry and the 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.679 NRA is oh, our relationship hasn't decline. But since that 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.240 time several years ago, they have not set a peep, 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.960 They've not said a word. There's nothing in their annual 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:49.080 reports in relation to guns or the NRA that's toxic 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:53.480 of a customer. The gun industry and the NRA are 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:58.000 And so what we decided to do is almost borrowing 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:02.199 from you know, Jesse Jackson back in the days of 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:06.440 the Rainbow Push Coalition, which if your listeners might recall, 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:10.800 was a time when a lot of Fortune five hundred 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.040 companies and companies in America were just not being very 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.600 good to the black community. Right. There was few if 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:21.479 any blackboard members, there was few if any black in 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:26.639 C suites, in higher even in middle management. And so 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:30.000 what they did was they started protesting and boycotting these banks. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.760 And we said, you know, I hadn't seen too much 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.720 of that in America as of late. It kind of happens, 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.200 and it doesn't happen, but as a tactic. It's sort 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:43.320 of lost favorability for one reason. And I started, you know, 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.359 noodling around this issue, and I said, wow, you know, 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:50.440 Asian Americans are the wealthiest community in this country. How 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.280 do we use the power, the social power, the social 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:58.360 capital of that wealth. We're not using it at all. Right, 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:01.560 It's basically we're about it. We don't like to brag 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.600 about it. We're not very for the most outside of weddings. 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:08.399 I joke, we don't really brag about our house. We 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.160 have the big, elaborate weddings, but outside of that, one 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:16.080 would never know. And I started to say, you know, 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:20.199 we need to start using this as a wedge with 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.200 banks and say, look, if you don't start changing your 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:27.919 corporate policies, if you don't stop defunding the NRA and 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.200 the gun industry, the same industry and the same organization 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:35.080 that are taking our paychecks and our deposits and our 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:39.760 investments and then investing it in an industry that's marketing 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.920 to us. We're purchasing more guns, other people are purchasing 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.119 more guns, and then they're killing our community. Right, So 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:51.000 you can see how this vicious circle starts with assets, 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:54.760 It starts with money, and that's what we're really trying 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:55.320 to disrupt. 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:58.040 I mean, I think that it's a I mean, it's 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:00.680 a brilliant tactic, right because I think that when we 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:06.480 often see these crises unfold, we think about the NRA, 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.360 we think about the gun manufacturers, but we don't think 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:13.080 about all of the funding that goes on behind closed doors. 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:15.639 We don't think about where these organizations, where these groups 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.800 are putting their money, and who is holding it. And 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:22.120 I think that it is really important to find other 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:26.880 tactics and other avenues to get the job done right, 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:30.320 which is to protect as many people as possible. No 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:32.560 one is saying, oh, take I mean, I say it 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:34.760 to take people's guns away, because I don't see what, 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:38.880 you know, what good they do? To be honest, and 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:43.120 you know, had the founding fathers of this nation had 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:46.960 you know, a magic eight ball that could have showed 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:49.800 them what was going to happen, I doubt that they 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:51.760 would have said, you know what, we should all still 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.600 have the right to bear arms. I think they probably 0:22:54.640 --> 0:22:57.119 would have amended the Constitution or never put it in 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.879 there in the first place, you know, for one of 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:03.960 the other the other issues that I would love to 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:06.520 tackle with with just the few minutes that we have 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:11.800 is that, you know, the API community is a community 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:19.800 that has been looked at, or at least portrayed by 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:24.040 wide Americans as the model right as you you know, 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:28.800 the term model minority, as a way to create a 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:34.960 wedge between other communities of color, namely the black community, right. 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:39.239 And so I want you to speak to what it 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:45.080 looks like or how you move outside of that narrative 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:49.560 that was placed on your community and work in collaboration 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:56.920 with other with other racialized minorities uh in this country 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:01.159 to really create a true multi race democracy, which is 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:02.520 what we want. 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:08.520 Yeah, I'll give you one but one tangible example that 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:11.600 I think is going to be the most illustrative. Given 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:15.080 that here we are Tuesday, June twenty seventh, the Supreme 0:24:15.119 --> 0:24:18.320 Court will end their session in about forty eight hours 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:21.240 or so. We're waiting on a number of rulings, but 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:25.520 I would say one of the highest profile rulings we're 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:27.919 waiting on is is what the Supreme Court is going 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:32.920 to say on possibly striking down affirmative action in college missions. Right. 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:36.679 And so we are just in the process now of 0:24:37.000 --> 0:24:41.760 you know, preparing our statements and I will say this 0:24:42.240 --> 0:24:46.240 that if it wasn't for affirmative action, and I would 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:53.440 say this multi racial democracy that relied frankly on affirmative 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:59.840 action to ensure true diversity in you know colleges, right, 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:06.800 it is. It is created multi generational wealth for black, Brown, 0:25:06.920 --> 0:25:11.440 Indigenous and API communities, even the communities within the API, 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:17.840 you know umbrella that are are not as prominent and 0:25:17.920 --> 0:25:21.879 high profile and certainly not money Southeast Asian communities, West 0:25:21.880 --> 0:25:26.080 Asian communities, Pacific Islander communities, et cetera. Right, they don't 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:31.480 have the wealth that typical Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese might have. Right, 0:25:31.520 --> 0:25:35.480 and so we need to stand together on this issue. 0:25:36.320 --> 0:25:38.119 We assume the worst is going to come out of 0:25:38.119 --> 0:25:40.800 the Supreme Court. Why because a lot of bad things 0:25:40.800 --> 0:25:43.800 have come out right a year ago a little bit more, 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:47.240 we got the unfortunate Dopts decision, right, so we know that. 0:25:48.160 --> 0:25:53.240 But this is an opportunity, I think for this Supreme 0:25:53.280 --> 0:25:56.160 Court ruling that we're all waiting on right now, This 0:25:56.240 --> 0:25:59.600 is an opportunity for once again for all of us 0:25:59.680 --> 0:26:04.560 to stay and arms locked and say we cannot move 0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:08.400 forward as a nation. I cannot prosper as an Indian American. 0:26:08.480 --> 0:26:13.360 I cannot prosper as an Asian American API if all 0:26:13.440 --> 0:26:17.520 people don't prosper, but particularly if people of color don't 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:20.520 prosper in this nation. Those who are less I looked 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:23.000 at this up the other day. Those that are less 0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:25.600 than twenty one years of age in this nation are 0:26:25.640 --> 0:26:29.600 already living in a majority minority you know ecosystem, right, 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:33.760 And every year that goes by this country, you know, 0:26:33.960 --> 0:26:38.560 accelerates towards this new country, right, And if it only 0:26:38.600 --> 0:26:41.760 works for white people, you know, it's not good enough. 0:26:42.560 --> 0:26:45.199 It's it's not good enough, and we cannot prosper as 0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:48.920 a nation. We can't have now we grow our GDP, 0:26:49.160 --> 0:26:51.840 we can't lower the black unemployment rate even more, we 0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:55.360 can't lower the Hispanic unemployment rate even more. If we're 0:26:55.480 --> 0:27:00.320 not all you know, together on this one specific issue. 0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:03.440 But I think this issue sort of tells a lot 0:27:03.520 --> 0:27:06.280 about sort of, you know, how this nation is going 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.639 to exist going forward, If we're going to be successful 0:27:09.680 --> 0:27:12.520 or we're not going to be successful. Assuming that this 0:27:12.520 --> 0:27:15.679 this case is, you know, doesn't go our way, I 0:27:15.720 --> 0:27:18.879 think we'll, well, we'll have to figure out, I would say, 0:27:19.160 --> 0:27:21.880 a better way. I don't hear a lot, and maybe 0:27:21.880 --> 0:27:23.960 I'm just not in the right circles. I don't hear 0:27:23.960 --> 0:27:26.600 a lot or see a lot in terms of you know, 0:27:26.800 --> 0:27:29.879 us in the API community talking to you know, black 0:27:30.000 --> 0:27:33.800 orgs and and Latino orgs and indigenous works, you know, 0:27:33.920 --> 0:27:38.120 about how we're going to move forward on affirmative action, 0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:43.040 perhaps on some other issues. You know, we have seen 0:27:43.080 --> 0:27:46.960 a lot more racial solidarity, I would say since George Floyd, 0:27:47.600 --> 0:27:49.959 but I think it's kind of simmered, and maybe this 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:53.440