The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise of harassment and violence against Asian-Americans, and with these, a powerful protest movement. At the same time, millions of Americans took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Both responses belie the power of racial oppression in the United States. Yet, if we look at the specific forms of oppression that Black Americans and Asian Americans experience, one notices striking differences. Certain types of violence, for instance, affect more Black Americans than Asian Americans. Similarly, harmful tropes about Blacks and Asian Americans differ: African Americans are negatively portrayed as lazy or violent, while Asian Americans, though touted as “model minorities,” remain caricatured in TV and film and experience the psychological downstream effects of their status as “model minorities.” These differences between the Black and Asian oppressions raise pressing questions: Should we combat these oppressions separately? Or can we form solidarity across these groups? What would be the basis be for such solidarity? To shed light on the future of Black and Asian solidarities in the United States, I bring to the table three thinkers: Iris Marion Young, Audre Lorde, and Diane Fujino. Young helps bring out the differences between the forms of oppression Asian-Americans and African Americans face. Lorde teaches us the importance of coalition-building. And Fujino’s work highlights the particularities of Black and Asian solidarities.
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