This will not be the post to educate about model minority myth. Note to self: this space isn’t to educate anyone. It is to explore liberatory imagination and flow with my stream of consciousness about liberation and art. Ok now that that’s out of the way.
The foundation of model minority myth is creating division between asian and Black communities by furthering anti-Blackness in the asian community. It tries to convince asians that we can reach the level of white privilege if we try hard enough, and then when a few select asians reach economic and social “success” - the white people can say, “See? Black people don’t work hard enough. They are lazy and violent, and we need to put them in their place.” In that, white supremacy instills this fear in the asian community of being treated like Black folks as well as fear of Black folks through perpetuating racist stereotypes.
Tiffany’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I know that I said I wouldn’t educate, but I got into the flow haha!
To add more nuance, asians have non-black privilege. In the fucked up myth, there is a strand of truth like how all manipulative strategies have. Asians, especially of lighter skin tones, have closer proximity to white privilege. But do NOT get it twisted. It’s closer, but will never ever be attainable. An example (reading this back - it’s not really an example…but I’m going to flow with it) is in 2020 when people thought that China was the one to spread COVID, and the anti asian violence skyrocketed. Also, I’m learning about the anti China propaganda that the U.S. invests in every year (I think it’s 500 million a year.) Now with the whole tiktok band…we always need to be critical about the decision that the U.S. makes. The empire does not ever make a decision that is not aligned with its value, which is to exploit Black and brown people and further its empire by any means necessary.
So like all communities, the anti-blackness is present in the asian community and then you slap on model minority myth - the silence for Congolese and Sudanese lives is familiar. For the most part, the silence is also applied to Palestine, which is also rooted in anti-blackness. We can’t forget the afro Palestinians and also Palestinians who are darker in skin tone. It’s all anti-blackness.
Something else I’ve seen is that some asians are really quick to point out anti-asian sentiments from Black and other brown communities WITHOUT confronting their own anti-blackness. We are not all on the same playing field. And it’s also disrespectful to afro-asians!
Literally I had an asian friend question why I cared so much for all the violent things that are happening, because there has always been wars and suffering around the world. Part of that is the conditioning of seeing Black and brown bodies (including our own people) as subhuman.
The witnessing of suffering then becomes very distant and irrelevant. It doesn’t read as suffering at all - just another sensational social media post and leftists being dramatic again.
The horrifying part is that I can identify so much of that in myself. So many moments, I’ve rushed through posts about Congo and Sudan, because of that anti-black conditioning that runs so deep. It takes everything in me to slow down enough to catch it. When I’m on tiktok, I have witnessed myself swipe past Black creators quicker than non-black ones. To go against it has been a daily practice of mine for many years, and it still has deep roots.
I used to be scared to be accused of anti-blackness. In healing my perfectionism (which is rooted in white supremacy) the shift is from not f*****g up to keeping myself accountable to reducing harm. The anti-blackness is there, and I’m working on healing and reconditioning from it. In the meantime, I hold myself accountable to doing all that I can to not harm Black folks and POC who have deeper skin tones. This will be a lifelong effort.
I keep on wanting to make a video for social media about this, but I’ve been having a hard time making them recently. Partially, I think it’s daunting when I don’t do it daily. Also, the moment I think about having 20,000 eyes on me…it feels alittle scary. Trying not to get in my head about it!
Please follow Friends of the Congo on IG and donate to their spring campaign.
What does Liberatory Imagination spark in me today?
The day when everyone I know in the asian community confidently speaking up and out for Congo, Sudan, Palestine, and global neighbors with the deep knowing that our liberation is intricately connected.
Tiffany’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
