avatarY. Vue

Summary

The website content discusses the complex and strained race relations between Asian Americans and Black Americans, highlighting the author's personal experience with backlash after addressing Asian struggles and the potential resurgence of Asian gangs in response to anti-Asian violence.

Abstract

The author of the article expresses deep concern over the tensions between the Asian American and Black American communities, recounting the personal consequences faced after writing about the Asian perspective on these issues. Despite the risk of being labeled racist, the author emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the violence Asians face, including from within the Black community. The piece also touches on the role of Asian Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) and the "woke" culture in silencing discussions about these tensions. The tragic death of Sia Marie Xiong in Compton, potentially a hate crime, is used to illustrate the ongoing gang activity and racial tensions that could lead to a resurgence of Asian gangs as a form of self-protection, reminiscent of the violent gang activity of the 80s and 90s. The author calls for genuine dialogue between the Black and Asian communities to address the underlying issues, warning that failure to do so could lead to a repeat of past violence.

Opinions

  • The author believes that the Black community's response to their article was dismissive and failed to acknowledge the struggles of the Asian community.
  • There is a sentiment that the unity between Asian Americans and Black Americans is superficial and not reflective of the real issues faced by underprivileged Asians.
  • The author suggests that the current climate of anti-Asian sentiment is similar to the conditions that led to the formation of Asian street gangs in the past.
  • The author criticizes the "woke" culture and Asian SJWs for perpetuating a narrative that suppresses open discussion about racial tensions and violence.
  • The author is concerned that the ongoing violence and lack of meaningful dialogue could lead to a resurgence of Asian gangs as a means of protection and community solidarity.
  • There is a call for the Black community to engage in real, potentially difficult conversations with Asian communities to address the systemic issues and prevent further violence.
  • The author implies that the societal response to discussions about race relations, including censorship and cancel culture, is counterproductive and hinders progress.

Race Relations

Asian SJWs and Black Folks: So you’d rather call me racist than face the truth.

The inevitable return of Asian gangs in the ever present tension between Black Americans and Asian Americans.

Screenshot of my own article that had to be taken down for safety.

A few days ago, I wrote a piece imploring to the Black Community to see my Asian community and our struggles with the Black Community. It’d been a deeply buried truth for so many Asians, but they kept silent out of fear of the backlash and the dismissal and the cancellation that they would receive from social media. They all feared being called racist and anti-Black for even muttering the words of their reality. The harassing of not just me but also my friends got to be so bad that for their safety, I had to take it down. I suppose I’d hoped that times had changed and that the Black community would see the article for the entreaty for help it was; but it was met with a lot of dismissal, ridicule, defensiveness, and claims of racism and anti-blackness, so I guess times haven’t changed all that much in the last 35 years.

Writing that piece wasn’t easy. It came from a place of deep trauma, frustration, and care for my people. I knew that speaking my truth could be weaponized by the conservative right and racists to destabilize the progress that Black people had gained with the BLM movement; however the counterbalance was that my people were suffering. Asians were being killed and beaten at a rate that felt like every single day by both Black and White perpetrators (who were the majority of the perps).

Calls for unity and claims of unity between Asian Americans and Black Americans were being splashed across headlines, even when deep down, I knew this was all just lip service. It was all media narrative that didn’t actually address those underprivileged Asians whose lives were most in danger. There was no real talk of real solutions based on real reasons and problems between the two communities. I had a hard choice to make, and I made it to give a voice with real pain and history backed by facts and collected data and articles, but it only seemed to reach other Asians who’d lived like me. Others saw it fit to slap “anti-Black” across my forehead and railroad me out of town for even hinting that there might be problems for Asian Americans from Black Americans.

Ironically, most of the hate came from Asian Social Justice Warriors (SJW) and “woke” Black folks, who largely spoke from a place of privilege and have lost touch with the reality of the mean streets. Once upon a time, being a SJW was an admirable thing. Nowadays, it’s warped into this online authoritarian regime suffering from swallowing too much popular narrative and sent to swarm and harass others into complete silence. It’s as toxic and pervasive as the conservative right that they claim to oppose. It’s a prime example of the self-righteous polarization of American cultural identity on both ends of the spectrum, comprised of fanatical, cult-like group think that dismisses and defies anything and everything that could disturb the bubble.

And here we are with another Asian woman dead.

On March 21, 2021, a young woman was shot and killed in Compton, California. Sia Marie Xiong is Asian on her father’s side and of Black and Native American ancestry on her mother’s side. Though there are no official announcements as of this writing, the whispers are that it was a hate crime because of her Asian ancestry. The family of the victim is insisting on the investigation to move forward as a hate crime. The investigation is still on-going, but given the difficulty for crimes against Asians to be labeled as hate crimes, I have no doubt it’ll be written off as something else. In the scheme of things, the label doesn’t matter. It’s the killing that will.

Over the years, Compton has taken strides to try to lower their crime rates, but that doesn’t mean that gangs still aren’t a problem. Compton still has more than its fair share of gang activity. Where Xiong was killed is allegedly Mob Piru Gang territory, also known as Eastside Mob or Insane Mob Gang according to the latest gang territory mapping. It is predominantly Black. Why does this matter? Because in Long Beach, which is just a short 20 minute drive from Compton, Cambodian and other Asian gangs still occupy the streets there and they’re well-known to not back down. Many have forgotten the bloodshed and the fear that existed during the 80s and 90s when gang activity was at its height, but I have a sinking feeling that race wars will stir it up again.

Also, to be clear, I’m not saying that the victim has any gang affiliations. I don’t know if she does or if she doesn’t. All I know is that with the high tensions right now, it wouldn’t take much to throw a match and start a fire. If you understood how Southeast Asian street gangs started, it isn’t much different from how things are right now in this current American climate of amplified anti-Asian hate and racism. These are the seeds that grew Asian gangs, and it’s all come around again to spread more in this fertile soil of hate.

Often times, in the underground, the identity of the shooter will be known far sooner than when the cops will find out. That name and the claim for that kill will run rapid fire through those communities and street justice will be planned and dealt with outside of legal avenues. That’s the name of the game in the streets. We can all deny it, but it’s an ugly reality. Cops will be left to chase leads that may go nowhere. Journalists will scramble for facts and for twisting narratives for popular consumption, but the reality is a boiling pot of anger.

In San Francisco and in New York City, if my sources are right, there are already rumblings from the Asian gangs there. All whispers right now, but the dragons are stirring. Sleeping beasts are being poked awake. I don’t ask for specific details, because frankly, I don’t want to know, but the unrest and the discomfort is a sure sign that the heat is growing.

In the last 20 years, as Asian original gangsters started to bow out and focus on raising their families, Asian street gangs have decreased in numbers, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t willing to unify for a common enemy. Unlike many other gangs from other ethnic backgrounds, many Asian gangs are willing to put aside differences to come together for a common goal. A central part of the Asian identity is community, after all, and even within the darkest parts of our population, that value still holds true. Southeast Asian gangs were born from a community need for protection and they are undoubtedly going to rise again because of that increased need now. There is even talks of Latino/Hispanic gangs possibly unifying with Asian gangs during this time in response to the bullying that’s been a constant against Hispanic and Latino street vendors.

I spoke to some of my sources, and they agreed that even inactive and retired gangsters are feeling the call. It may not happen tomorrow, but the old wounds are being torn open, all of the things they tried to leave behind are starting to repeat, and it is inevitable that a gang response is on the horizon.

So maybe you can try again to cancel me out when I say there are real problems that need to be addressed between Black and Asian communities, that we shouldn’t try to keep covering them because of feeling defensive or shame or guilt or anger. We need to collectively face our monsters. Black people must be willing to come to the table for real discussions with Asian communities, and no, those topics aren’t going to be gentle and soft. Until we do, all we are doing is building a house on top of a rotted foundation. All we are doing is creating surface level shells to tiptoe on that could crack at any moment. It’s almost pointless and it doesn’t solve anything. This false narrative of “we are so together and united” is a denial worthy of Ivanka Trump claiming nepotism had nothing to do with her success.

When the roads are soaked in blood and bullets spray down like raindrops and we return back to the mean streets of the 80s where it wasn’t safe to walk outside your home, maybe then you’ll listen. While you clutch your pearls in the relative safety of your suburban enclaves while those who have less fortune than you suffer from your denial, maybe then you won’t try to cancel people when they try to tell you there are real problems that can’t be ignored. Maybe then you’ll get over yourself and see just how wrong you were.

Asian American
Race
BlackLivesMatter
African American
America
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