Thread by @TheRoxyV

I'm getting real sick of seeing #RooftopAsian2020 so to all my Asian brothers and sisters, this thread is for you. 1/

First off, it wasn't Rooftop Asians '92, it was Rooftop KOREANS '92. 

Why is this distinction important?

Because it is a giant shameful BLOODSTAIN in the history of Korean Americans. 2/

Here's where we have a fun history lesson:

Koreatown became a thing because the neighborhood was considered undesirable due to its close proximity to Black neighborhoods.

There was an opportunity to make a living and Korean immigrants were able to establish a little slice of home starting in the 60's and opening stores in black neighborhoods where grocery stores refused to open locations.

Fast forward a few decades, we see tension between the Korean and Black communities, and our anti-blackness had a lot to do with it. Koreans have made a LOT of money off of the Black community and to this day, show them little respect.

In 1991, anti-black sentiment and stereotypes led to the death of a young Black girl named Latasha Harlins at the hands of Soon Ja Du, a Korean store owner. Latasha was in Soon's store, picked up an orange juice, put it in her bag, and had money in hand to pay for it.

Before she could however, Soon accused her of theft, a scuffle ensued, and the orange juice was recovered.
As Latasha was leaving the store, Soon shot her in the back of the head.

Soon Ja Du would go on to claim self defense and stated that she feared her life was in danger.

Sound familiar?

Latasha Harlins was a CHILD. She was 15. She was killed from behind.

Soon Ja Du was convicted of manslaughter and got probation, community service, and a fine.

Fast forward a year and the Rodney King verdict finds the police officers involved in his horrific beating, acquitted by a jury of NOT his peers.

The riots begin, KTown starts being looted, Korean shop owners take up arms on the rooftops of their stores to defend their livelihoods.

Do you know why they had to do that? Because LAPD blocked off the streets leading to the white neighborhoods. LAPD defense lines were centered around Beverly Hills and WeHo. LAPD REFUSED to come into the area and watched POC neighborhoods FUCKING BURN.

There's a reason why the current protests are centered in predominantly affluent white areas.

If you're not seeing the pattern, let's move on to the second point.

YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM

Full fucking gotdamn stop.

The fact that you're romanticizing horrific choices that were made, lives that were taken, and want to take this darkest moment in Black-Korean relations and wear it like A FUCKING BADGE OF PRIDE?

You're a fucking embarrassment.

The riots are a moment in time that the Black and Korean American community have to live with as a trauma ingrained into our DNA.

You do not want this.

DO NOT GLORIFY THIS.

RECOGNIZE the PATTERNS IN THE WAY OUR COMMUNITIES ARE POLICED.

We've fallen so hard, hook, line, and sinker, for the Myth of the Model Minority.
You think you have a seat at the table, you don't.
Because if push comes to shove,

WE ARE STILL THE YELLOW PERIL.

OH, you're not familiar with The Yellow Peril?

Well then it's story time because this one isn't just about Koreans, this is about all the East Asians.

The Yellow Peril aka
The Yellow Terror aka
The Yellow Spectre

was the belief that eastern cultures and people were "core imagery of apes, lesser men, primitives, children, madmen, and beings who possessed special powers."

White women were warned that Asian men would seduce and corrupt them.
Asian women were seductresses, dangerous and exotic.

The Yellow Peril was a threat to white society and all that was decent and good and righteous.

Hmm… I'm seeing a lot of parallel rhetoric.

Over time the Asian community has assimilated to the point where we have been weaponized against Black and Brown bodies as the "Model Minority."

You know,
"if THESE others can be good and make it, why can't THOSE others?"

This Model Minority stereotype may seem like a compliment at first glance, but it's not.

It's a stereotype used to induce complacency so as to not recognize our status as second class citizens.

It's also harmful as it perpetuates the idea that Asians do not suffer from poverty and mental health issues. 

Newsflash: WE DO

We need to recognize this current uprising, this movement, for what it is. 

An effort to dismantle a system that favors one life over another.

We need to recognize that All Cops Are Bad because they perpetuate a system in which Black and Brown bodies are targeted and undervalued.

Lives they take with impunity.

Cops are here to maintain the status quo in a hierarchy that prioritizes rich white lives and neighborhoods.

Cops do not serve and protect us all equally. 27/

BLACK LIVES MATTER

PERIOD.

FULL STOP.

We need to recognize that this statement of fact does not mean that OUR lives do not matter.

But that in our current society, Black lives do not seem to matter.  31/

That Black lives are, and have been, unfairly treated, traumatized, and endangered by a system that does not provide liberty and justice for all. 32/

We need to stop being a part of the problem with our internalized anti-blackness formed from our proximity to whiteness. 

We may be white adjacent, but we're always an "other."

Asians have to once again become the Yellow Peril.

We NEED to stand with BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Because unless we start recognizing that Black lives matter, we can never truly have justice and equality.

My grandmothers came to this country so I could succeed in life.

They did not live through the trauma of being imperialized,

live through the trauma of a fucking war puppeteered by the West,

move to a country where they didn't speak the language

and work their fingers to the bone and endure racism to watch me succeed at being the oppressor. 36/

THIS Yellow Peril supports Black Power.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

#BlackLivesMatter #Asians4BlackLives #YellowPerilSupportsBlackPower

Get your shit right and come correct

End thread.

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