Wong acknowledges that many Asian Americans are rightfully angry and grieving right now, bemoaning what they see as inaction with regards to these assaults. But she points out that APEN, as well as other Oakland-based organizations, like Asian Health Services and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, have been hard at work for years trying to solve unemployment, lack of mental health resources, and other problems that create the conditions for violent crime. “We are here serving our communities every day — and we need more resources.”
Since the problems that engender crime stem from white supremacy, the solution isn’t to implement a white supremacist policing system — it’s to destroy the white supremacy that endangers all BIPOC. These problems also include the gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area that continues to further marginalize and displace BIPOC, as well as the model minority myth, or the belief that all Asian Americans are successful because we work hard and stay in line, wielded to deny the systemic oppression of other communities of color and pit us against each other, explains Kalaya’an Mendoza, a Filipinx American activist and co-founder of Across Frontlines.
**“If we want to fight for justice, if we want to fight for true safety, then we need to start by addressing the problem at its root cause, which is white supremacy and capitalism,” **he says. We need to redirect our blame from other marginalized people to the billionaires and corporations complicit in our oppression. “Do we get angry with a person from a displaced or marginalized community for inhabiting the violence that has been inflicted upon them, or do we get angry with those who have upheld the system of violence and oppression?”
"Do we get angry at the person that killed my grandma? No. They are black and not responsible for their actions. Blame whitey"
Wong acknowledges that many Asian Americans are rightfully angry and grieving right now, bemoaning what they see as inaction with regards to these assaults. But she points out that APEN, as well as other Oakland-based organizations, like Asian Health Services and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, have been hard at work for years trying to solve unemployment, lack of mental health resources, and other problems that create the conditions for violent crime. “We are here serving our communities every day — and we need more resources.”
Since the problems that engender crime stem from white supremacy, the solution isn’t to implement a white supremacist policing system — it’s to destroy the white supremacy that endangers all BIPOC. These problems also include the gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area that continues to further marginalize and displace BIPOC, as well as the model minority myth, or the belief that all Asian Americans are successful because we work hard and stay in line, wielded to deny the systemic oppression of other communities of color and pit us against each other, explains Kalaya’an Mendoza, a Filipinx American activist and co-founder of Across Frontlines.
**“If we want to fight for justice, if we want to fight for true safety, then we need to start by addressing the problem at its root cause, which is white supremacy and capitalism,” **he says. We need to redirect our blame from other marginalized people to the billionaires and corporations complicit in our oppression. “Do we get angry with a person from a displaced or marginalized community for inhabiting the violence that has been inflicted upon them, or do we get angry with those who have upheld the system of violence and oppression?”
"Do we get angry at the person that killed my grandma? No. They are black and not responsible for their actions. Blame whitey"