THREAD: This moment should be an awakening for all #AsianAmericans, regardless of political persuasion. It is a blunt reminder that regardless of whether we were born in the U.S., regardless of our national origins or citizenship, our racial status in the U.S. is precarious.
2/ One moment, #AsianAmericans are exalted as model Americans and touted as victims of affirmative action by conservative pundits whose goal is to dismantle the policy. In the next, we are derided by the same pundits as filthy foreigners who are the vectors of the #coronavirus.
3/ During a pandemic like this, #AsianAmericans are realizing that the privileges of an elite degree, class, status, nativity, and citizenship are no shields against racism, xenophobia, and scapegoating.
4/ But in moments of crisis, there are also opportunities. We are presented with an opportunity to forge a unified #AsianAmerica—one that recognizes the precariousness of our racial status, yet one that also recognizes the precariousness of the status of all minorities.
5/ This pandemic that threatens the health and well-being of all Americans—but one that makes #AsianAmericans additionally vulnerable to xenophobic and racist attacks—presents us with an opportunity to form a cohesive Asian America, and also a more unified America.
