For me, the past year has been one of strange duality. At once, it’s brought about a heightened a sense of pan-Asian American identity & solidarity, but at the same time, also a heightened sense of connection & solidarity with overseas Chinese communities around the world.
On the one hand, anti-Asian racism has been a powerful shared, uniting experience. And the Asian American organizing over the past year has been incredible, especially for a community that often just wants to keep its head low. 2/
But at the same time, I’ve also seen other non-Chinese Asian Americans voice anti-Chinese statements - which reminds me that the threads of our stories don’t just start and end in America. 3/
And it’s been a reminder of how fear of China - and of Chinese immigrant communities - has often often been a facet of life, not only in America but in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. 4/
My story, in short, is both part of the broader Asian-American story but it also is part of the broader overseas Chinese story - and for that matter, part of the broader Chinese story. 5/

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More from @mcpli

15 May
While I am deeply empathetic to both Israelis and Palestinians in the current situation (especially civilians), I also feel like saying a pox on both sides.
The status quo is untenable and has gone on for too long - and, for all the current fingerpointing, governments and the political classes on both sides have a hand in that.
The replies to this comment show some of the emotion of the subject. But the point remains that there are those in government on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides who aren’t reasonable and aren’t willing to do things necessary for a real peace.
Read 4 tweets
10 May
The big Catalist report on the 2020 electorate is out. catalist.us/wh-national/
I suspect this will be one of the more talked about and debated findings in the Catalist report - with much higher turnout, Latino support for Biden was 63%, down from 71% support for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
But even in a big turnout year, Latino turnout still lagged other ethnic groups.
Read 4 tweets
29 Mar
This is one of those things that seems easier than it is. Some of the issues in this thread 🧵 1/
First, to get a Georgia ID you have to bring in your birth certificate (you can also bring in a passport, but most of the folks currently without IDs won’t have one of those). For people born out of state, that means contacting your birth state and paying a fee. 2/
That’s fairly easy to do if you are tech savvy enough to be online and have a credit card to pay the fee. Fees vary but in Michigan, it’s $34 and in Massachusetts, $32. Folks without IDs will need help with all these things. 3/
Read 11 tweets
18 Mar
I think the thing people need to understand about anti-Asian racism (with its roots in the ‘Yellow Peril’) is that it is and always has been closely linked to xenophobia. This was the case in the 19th century, during the rise of Japan in the 70s & 80s, and today. 1/
That makes it related to other forms of racism but also different - just as leukemia and colon cancer are both cancers and bad things that should be rooted out but also very distinct from one another. 2/
And the link between anti-Asian racism and xenophobia is why it probably isn’t going away any time soon - and may even get with worse in the near term. The emergence of China is something deeply threatening to the American psyche, just as the rise of Japan was. 3/
Read 9 tweets
17 Mar
Re-upping this thread 🧵on the *long* history of discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans in the United States based on the sense that we are too foreign, too ‘other,’ too perpetually alien. It is important that people know this history.
And related to all of this is the notion of the ‘Yellow Peril’ - the idea that Asians and Chinese in particular are conniving threats to the America - an idea which plays out in things like this
And lest you say, that kind of anti-Asianness is about people who are foreign nationals, not about American citizens, I’m here to tell you that a great many Americans have a very hard time telling the difference. To wit below, a very common variant of a Twitter response I get.
Read 5 tweets
5 Mar
A thread 🧵 on the redistricting provisions of H.R. 1 - which many people shorthand describe as banning partisan gerrymandering and/or requiring independent commissions for drawing congressional districts - but which really are a *lot* more. #ForThePeople #HR1 #fairmaps 1/
First, let’s talk about the partisan gerrymandering ban. Unlike the partisan gerrymandering cases litigated in state and federal court, H.R. 1’s partisan gerrymandering covers not just intent but also *effects.* #ForThePeople #HR1 #fairmaps 2/
This is crucial because, as we saw last decade, maps can be wildly skewed (think the 12-4 in OH or 13-5 in PA) but evidence of intent is often carefully hidden & lawmakers offer any number of pretexts, requiring complex, time consuming litigation. #ForThePeople #HR1 #fairmaps 3/
Read 21 tweets

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