Unpack the flag.

Many liberals, celebrities included, found the Trump administration an embarrassing time to be an Americans (Newsweek, Huff Post, The New Daily). The Met Gala theme might be a sign that, with Biden in office, liberal patriotism and flag-waving is once again in vogue (Mediaite). But we should reflect on who the flag has excluded and oppressed. This is especially relevant when Black Lives Matter protestors are being beaten and arrested right outside an exclusive gala centered on this country’s greatness.

TAKE ACTION

Support protestors arrested outside the Met Gala. Cashapp $4OurLiberation, $DesMoneyGZZ, $b00gie888.
Consider: What symbols have different effects for distinct communities? Which symbols should we reclaim or modify? Which should be change or discard?

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Last week, the Met Gala returned after a one-year absence due to COVID. As always, “New York City’s party of the year” drew attention and sparked commentary as a litany of celebrities arrived to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in custom-made designer attire.

The theme of the 2021 Gala was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Timotheé Chalamet sported all-American Chuck Taylors, Billie Eilish referenced Marilyn Monroe, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrived wearing a dress emblazoned with “Tax the Rich.” It was Debbie Harry of new-wave band Blondie who took the assignment most literally with her “deconstructed ballgown” with the colors of the American flag (The Hollywood Reporter).

Like any symbol, the meaning of the American flag is contested. Some members of marginalized communities wish to claim it, proclaiming that they’re as American as anyone else. But the American flag is often associated with right-wing and far-right politics. In 1918, Robert Prager was wrapped in an American flag and lynched by a mob consumed by anti-German and anti-socialist hysteria (Madison Historical). “In the 1960s, there was a battle over who got to use the flag to represent their point of view in the anti-war movement, civil rights movement,” said flag researcher Ted Kaye. “The Klan used the American flag more than it used the Confederate flag” (Street Roots). After 9/11, American flags symbolized support for the War on Terror that killed a million people (Brown University). Toby Keith’s war-mongering “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” with lyrics like “we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way,” spent 20 weeks on the charts (Mother Jones). Today, white supremacist militias brandish American flags as they rampage through the streets of Portland, OR (Street Roots).

But even removed from conservative or white-supremacist associations, the flag’s history is messy at best. It was the flag flown by the army that murdered hundreds of Lakota civilians at Wounded Knee, killed dozens of civilians while suppressing the 1967 uprising in Detroit, stole the northern half of Mexico (National Archives), and invaded dozens of countries (Evergreen). The third verse of the National Anthem, an ode to the flag, celebrates murdering enslaved people during the War of 1812 (The Nation).

People of color, immigrants, and those seeking to change an exploitative and oppressive system have disproportionately been repressed, not represented, by the American flag. While celebrities paraded their takes on the “Lexicon of America” at the Met Gala, the NYPD was “brutally” arresting protesters outside (The Grio). The lexicon of America might include many people, but the prison abolitionists of color being brutalized on the street were evidently not among them.

Lex Scott of Black Lives Matter Utah faced a vicious backlash after stating, "When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around… We know that the person flying it lives in a different American than we do” (Newsweek). “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color,” said Colin Kaepernick. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder” (Paste Magazine). It behooves us to understand the real history of any symbol before displaying it with any sort of pride.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Black Lives Matter protestors were brutalized and arrested outside this year’s Met Gala, whose theme was “In America.”
Many communities don’t feel represented by the U.S. flag because of the actions of the American government and the flag’s association with far-right politics.
It’s important to consider the different impacts any symbol might have to various communities.

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Nicole Cardoza 9/20/21 Nicole Cardoza 9/20/21

Divest from fossil fuels.

After fighting for almost a decade, Divest Harvard claimed victory last week when Harvard University announced it would divest completely from fossil fuels. “It took conversations and protests, meetings with administration, faculty/alumni votes, mass sit-ins and arrests, historic legal strategies, and storming football fields,” the group said. “But today, we can see proof that activism works, plain and simple” (Twitter). This announcement means that Harvard will no longer invest any part of its $42 billion endowment in fossil fuel companies (The Guardian). It’s a key victory in the efforts to demand accountability from university endowments which too often profit by funding objectionable industries.

TAKE ACTION

Follow UC Divest and sign their petition to end the University of California’s investment in fossil fuel and weapons companies.
Tell your elected officials to divest public pension funds from fossil fuels.
Consider: Does your money fund oppressive industries? This could be personal investments, college endowments, or pensions. Are there movements to demand divestment from institutions around you?

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When universities receive financial gifts, they’re often placed in their endowment, a financial vehicle whose proceeds fund the school’s operating expenses (Investopedia). The endowments of wealthy universities like Harvard are enormous: Yale has $30 billion, Stanford has $27 billion, and Princeton has $25 billion (US News). Princeton’s endowment is five times the national wealth of Haiti and twice that of Liberia (Credit Suisse). Universities naturally want their investments to be as lucrative as possible. This can mean providing capital to industries that are disproportionately harming people of color and the planet, a practice that divestment campaigns seek to end.

Emissions from fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas are the primary driver of global warming (NASA), which disproportionately threatens working-class communities and communities of color (Anti-Racism Daily). These communities also bear the brunt of the industry’s refinery fires (Democracy Now), oil spills (The Conversation), and toxic pollution (Grist).

Before last week’s announcement, Harvard President Bacow publicly opposed “politicizing” the school’s investments despite facing years of protests by students, faculty, and alumni. In 2019, hundreds of Yale and Harvard students stormed a football game to demand both schools end investments in fossil fuels and Puerto Rican debt; dozens were arrested (Harvard Crimson).

Last year, they occupied a university building to demand divestment on the five-year anniversary of another campus occupation calling for the same (Harvard Crimson). The campaign didn’t politicize the university’s investment decisions. By highlighting the social harm abetted by Harvard’s investment decisions, it demonstrated those decisions were always political in the first place.

Though Harvard’s endowment is by far the largest, the struggle to stop institutional investment in particularly noxious industries doesn’t end there. University of California students, among others, are leading a fight to end investment in fossil fuel and weapons companies like BlackRock and Lockheed Martin (UC Divest).

And while Harvard will no longer profit from fossil fuels, it still invests in the private prison industry (The Crimson). It also invests in debt which the Puerto Rican government must pay back in lieu of funding basic services or infrastructure (The Intercept). Puerto Rican debt collection, private detention centers, and fossil fuel companies all profit from the extraction of resources and people from marginalized communities. They all use investments from university endowments, public and private pension funds, and city and state governments, as well (Equal Times). In 2018, the California teachers’ pension fund ended investment in private prisons (CalSTRS), though the same fund recently voted to postpone full divestment from fossil fuels for 30 years (Common Dreams).

Demanding institutional divestment dates back to the 1980s, where activists demanded money be taken out of apartheid South Africa. When our public funds, pensions, or alumni contributions support oppressive practices, we can organize together to demand a change. As the Divest Harvard campaign shows, it’s not always an easy fight, but it’s a fight that we can win. We need to demand divestment from exploitative industries.

Written by Andrew Lee (he/him)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

After a fight lasting almost a decade, Harvard University announced it would divest from fossil fuels.
Universities and other institutions often make investments in companies that profit from oppression and exploitation.
For decades, divestment movements have demanded that these institutions end investments in malignant industries.

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Nicole Cardoza 9/16/21 Nicole Cardoza 9/16/21

Protect organizers and activists.

Last week, CBS announced a new TV competition series called "The Activist," which pits changemakers against one another to see who can garner the most social engagement. The show, bolstered by celebrity talent, is being criticized for promoting “performative activism” and positioning social impact as a competition (Hollywood Reporter).

TAKE ACTION

Support the Allied Media Conference, an annual community-designed event that promotes collaboration and connection between media-based visionary organizing projects.
Support Budding Roses, a space to empower youth critically engaging with social justice issues.

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But I think we need to spend more time talking about why this concept is a miss. There are reality shows for almost any talent, from starting businesses to singing and dancing to knowing obscure trivia. In some ways, a show that centers on charitable initiatives and good causes may feel like a refreshing addition to the lineup.

But the role of community leaders is far more complex and controversial in mainstream society than the hidden talent next door. Activists are routinely arrested and jailed for amplifying causes that matter. (Just last month, over 800 people have been arrested so far for protesting the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota (TruthOut).) They receive harassment and doxxing online for sharing their stories. Naysayers are quick to discard an entire movement based on the actions of one activist, placing unfair scrutiny on imperfect people trying to do good (AP). And as Andrew wrote in another newsletter, our nation has a long history of surveilling and persecuting influential leaders (Anti-Racism Daily). One primetime show isn’t going to change the conditions that place activists in danger; in fact, it might encourage them.

Also, you can argue that community leaders are already forced to compete for resources. Smaller grassroots organizations are less likely to receive funding than larger, more established ones – particularly if they’re run by people of color (NYTimes). Beyond this, many philanthropists are still hesitant to support work that treads on “sensitive ground,” like the racial equity movement of the past year (Financial Times). Mainstream media tends to sensationalize the issues at hand, but rarely offers insights on who is actively addressing them or how the readers can support their efforts. Investing time and energy into growing large social followings, driving engagement on causes, and crowdfunding for sustainability isn’t a game; it’s often the only option left when white-led institutions fail to support. “The Activist” is only reformatting the same systemic inequities for views.

Ultimately, it seems “The Activist” is focused on creating the same tenuous relationship between leaders and their communities – one often fueled by mistrust, skepticism, and scrutiny. But what we need now, more than ever, is a relationship based on trust. One that centers changemakers as voices that deserve to be heard, regardless of their Instagram following count. What would it look like if we centered the systemic issues instead of judging the people trying to change them? What if, instead, we challenged those with power and privilege to do better? And re-allocated our time spent gawking towards working to change the conditions that created the show? We can support community-rooted projects aimed at fostered collaboration between activists rather than pitting them against one another. Detroit’s Allied Media Conference brings together media activists to share ideas and build connections, while Portland’s Budding Roses provides a space for youth to learn about social justice issues together. Pushing for systemic change and building collective power isn’t a game or a competition — it’s something we do in community, and the stakes have never been higher.

The show is unlikely to change. But we can. We’re still the audience, even if we’re not watching this show on CBS. So how will we choose to support the activists in our community?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The upcoming CBS show “The Activist” will feature activists competing against one another for social engagement.
Activists are already forced to compete for limited resources, with many facing repression and incarceration instead of public acclaim.
Instead of viewing organizing as a competition we watch, we can engage with collaborative, community-driven initiatives for justice.

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Nicole Cardoza 9/15/21 Nicole Cardoza 9/15/21

Fight environmental housing injustice.

The remains of Hurricane Ida clobbered New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania early this month, killing 43 people with record-breaking flooding, including over a dozen in New York City. (Time). This inundation was unprecedented — Mayor Bill de Blasio called it a “historic weather event” (Inquirer). Catastrophic acts of nature seem beyond human control, but the tragic deaths in New York also stem from housing inequality and environmental racism in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

TAKE ACTION

Support Make the Road NY and Dorchester Not for Sale.
Support the Right to the City Alliance affiliate closest to you.
Consider: who would be most at risk from natural disasters or housing insecurity in your community? How can you help change that? How can your community build collective resilience?

GET EDUCATED

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was likewise an act of nature. But Black residents were more likely to live in low-lying areas close to the water and a majority did not have a car with which to escape (New Orleans Tribune), so low-income Black people were the majority of those trapped in the city (Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality). During the catastrophic winter storm in Texas earlier this year, the power stayed on in Austin’s affluent downtown while poor communities faced rolling blackouts for days (The Guardian).

Almost all of those killed in New York City were living out of basement apartments not up to code. These units also had increased risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and death by fire. But as housing costs balloon, there’s increased pressure on homeowners to rent out basement rooms. Tenants are also pressured to take a relatively affordable room, no matter the risks. Working-class families, often immigrants working in the service industry, live in illegally converted units since “the housing crisis… leads people to live in unsafe conditions in the first place,” according to the Citizen Housing Planning Council’s Jessica Katz (N.Y. Times). Those who perished were largely people of color working in the service industry if not the new “servant economy” of precarious gig work (The Atlantic). Those whom they served — whiter, more affluent New Yorkers — survived.

A housing crisis cuts across all dimensions of urban life. Prohibitive housing costs force people to stay with abusive partners, and domestic violence is a “leading cause of homelessness” for women and children (NNEDV). “The housing crisis puts LGBT+ people in serious danger” as well, “whether that’s forcing us to live in oppressive dysfunctional family homes, or living with strangers who don’t seem to get it” (GCN). Black women are disproportionately affected by evictions (Ms. Magazine), which force evictees to subsequently accept less regulated and more dangerous housing (Huff Post).

And there are a host of environmental problems that plague housing for working-class people of color even before a major storm hits. These include air pollution (Make the Road NY) and proximity to toxic waste sites and landfills. The correlation of communities of color with such hazards is known as environmental racism, the concentration of “disadvantaged populations in substandard housing and compromised communities, where hazardous exposures are much more likely” (NIH). Those with the least social power are more liable to live in sub-standard housing or lose housing altogether. They are the most exposed to toxins, pollutants, housing-related violence, and death (The Conversation).

As sea temperatures rise, hurricanes like Ida will only appear more frequently and intensely (ABC News). The unconscionable expiration of federal unemployment benefits will only increase the number of people living in substandard housing, in their cars, or on the streets (NPR). And the United States is one of a handful of countries that hasn’t acknowledged housing as a human right by ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (United Nations). It will take community power and collective resistance to fight for both housing and environmental justice — and make sure the tragedies of Ida are not repeated.

Groups are taking action for this purpose all across the country. Make the Road New York is organizing tenant power against environmental racism (Make the Road). In Boston, Dorchester Not for Sale (Facebook) is drawing connections between environmental justice and anti-gentrification fights (EHN), as are the 90 member organizations of the Right to the City Alliance (Right to the City). Housing inequality holds members of oppressed and marginalized communities back from the joyful, healthy, and secure lives we should all demand for ourselves and those around us. To survive disasters and crises, we need to build flourishing, equitable communities that can safely shelter us all.

Written by Andrew Lee (he/him)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Almost all of the fatalities from Hurricane Ida in NYC were in basement apartments.
Poor communities and communities of color are at greater risk from natural disasters in part due to substandard housing.
We can make sure all the members of our communities survive natural disasters by fighting for housing and environmental justice.

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Nicole Cardoza 9/13/21 Nicole Cardoza 9/13/21

Demand universal sick leave.

The pandemic has only deepened existing fault lines of class, race, and gender oppression. The ubiquity of the coronavirus has highlighted these structural inequalities, producing disparate effects on different populations. “Essential workers” were briefly lauded as “heroes” last year. Many of these workers, essential to maintaining community health and sustenance during a pandemic, would not typically receive paid sick days themselves.

TAKE ACTION

Demand that Congress mandate paid sick leave for all workers.
Follow Paid Leave for All on Twitter.
Support campaigns for expansive paid sick leave at the municipal level, like this one from Philadelphia.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Some people talk about the United States lagging behind other “developed countries” when it comes to offering paid sick leave, but this actually undersells the problem. 93% of all countries offer paid sick leave to all workers (P.R.I.). The U.S., both the richest and most inequitable country in the world (N.Y. Times), is part of the 7% which fails to do so. The United States also fails to mandate paid parental leave, unlike countries such as Germany, Mexico, and Niger. And U.S. workers aren’t required to receive paid vacation days. In contrast, workers in Algeria receive about a month every year. (Yahoo! News). The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act mandates that employers provide unpaid leave for certain conditions but leaves out common diseases like the flu. This excludes millions of workers who are new hires or employees of small businesses (Department of Labor).

Since employers in the United States aren’t required to provide any paid sick leave to their employees, many do not. About 32 million workers have no sick leave whatsoever, with less lucrative jobs less likely to offer sick days (Pew). Such workers are three times more likely to forgo medical care than those who would be paid during their absence (Health Affairs).

The absence of mandatory paid sick leave means people have to choose between working while sick or missing pay and potentially putting their job at risk. 63% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and almost half were spending beyond their means even before COVID (CNBC). For many, the choice between working while sick and losing income by calling out is no choice at all. Out of economic necessity, they are forced to risk worsening their own health and the health of coworkers or customers.

One survey found that 90% of office workers go into work while ill, with 33% reporting that they never call out sick (Robert Half). 12% of food service workers said they’ve worked while experiencing vomiting or diarrhea (CDC). Companies like Instacart and DoorDash promised COVID sick time for delivery drivers, but in practice, it was “onerous” to even apply (CNET). Since gig workers get paid by the job, some were seen wading through waste-deep sewage water (Gothamist) to deliver food as the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded NYC (USA Today). All in all, a pre-COVID survey found that 39% of workers went to work with flu-like symptoms (N.Y. Times). And though the federal government provided paid sick leave for workers with COVID, few knew it existed (US News).

And when companies do offer paid sick leave, it’s often inadequate. Many times, workers receive just a handful of days each year (Yahoo! News). Paid Time Off (PTO) policies, which combine vacation and sick days, ensure that employees with medical conditions receive less vacation time than their colleagues (USA Today). Other companies offer inadequate sick leave but allow employees to “donate” sick days to a coworker, leading one Florida teacher to go viral for begging his coworkers for sick days to finish chemotherapy (MarketWatch).

The result? A “near-guarantee that workers will defy public health warnings and trudge into their workplaces, regardless of symptoms” (Inverse). Low-wage jobs where people of color are overrepresented are the least likely to offer paid sick leave, compounding with other racial disparities in health and healthcare (CDC).

Every worker should accrue paid time to recover from illness as a condition of employment. Unionized workers are dramatically more likely to receive paid sick leave than non-union workers. Sick leave and employer-provided health insurance, which union workers almost universally receive (Pew, EPI), are often priorities when unions fight for concessions from employers. Scores of organizations like the NAACP are calling for federal legislation to mandate sick leave for all employees (NAACP), while other focus on just sick leave policies at the state and local levels. Workers shouldn’t have to choose between a paycheck and their health.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

93% of countries mandate paid sick leave for employees. The U.S. does not.
Because of this, nine out of ten U.S. workers work while sick.
Local, state, and federal initiatives, along with workplace organizing, bring us closer to universal paid sick leave.

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Nicole Cardoza 9/8/21 Nicole Cardoza 9/8/21

Unpack humanitarian intervention.

An image of a U.S. Marine cradling an Afghan baby went viral last week (Business Insider). Alongside pictures of desperate families pressed up against razor-wire fencing, it is one of the most striking visuals of a calamitous American retreat (The Guardian). Americans saw these horrifying images alongside articles analyzing the dire prospects for Afghan women (Newsweek) and LGBTQ+ people (BBC), increasing pressure on Biden to extend an August 31 evacuation deadline (MSN). The United States harmed civilians in a 20-year occupation and then abandoned them in its evacuation. To refuse civilians and their children would be a moral catastrophe, but plunging a nation into civil war with devastating civilian casualties is already the opposite of humanitarianism.

TAKE ACTION

Support Afghans for a Better Tomorrow (Twitter) in demanding that the U.S. and NATO accept their responsibility to refugees after “20 years of failed policies that have done incredible harm.”
Sign this petition against the Biden administration’s refugee caps.
Donate to Emergency Relief Afghanistan, Islamic Relief, and other organizations providing direct aid on the ground.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

In 2001, 80% of Americans supported invading Afghanistan (Gallup). In recent years, Afghanistan faded from front-page news. This May, Americans largely felt the war was no longer a “hot-button issue,” with a plurality in favor of withdrawing troops (Gallup). In July, only 46% of Americans felt the invasion and occupation wasn’t a mistake (Gallup). But pictures of soldiers with babies circulating along with a newfound concern for Afghan civil rights caused support for the withdrawal to plummet (Yahoo News). Though accepting adult refugees remains controversial (Media Matters), many clamor to adopt refugee children (Today). Admitting Afghan children, if not their parents, might suggest the war truly was a humanitarian intervention.

In reality, the American government had its own reasons for its invasion of Afghanistan twenty years ago (Common Dreams, Small Wars Journal) and the admittance of children today. This use of children to justify war is personal to me as someone adopted from Korea, a country which likewise started sending children to the U.S. after an American occupation and war. Countries that send children to the United States are often in tatters as a result of the American government’s actions. During the Korean War, American forces deforested nearly the entire peninsula with napalm (Truthout). Some women survived by having sexual relations with American occupying forces. Their mixed-race children were the first Korean American adoptees (USA Today).

This created “a paternal attitude between Korea and the US where white Americans rescued Asian orphans, while concealing the US responsibility in the Korean War” (University of Minnesota). Adoption from South Korea is one of the ways in which “the war lives on as a material fact” (The New Inquiry). White America has long used adoption to “civilize” “savage” children of color (Twitter) while obscuring its role in creating the conditions that force desperate parents to give up their children in the first place. Today, the Biden administration continues to maintain family separation policies (Phoenix New Times) that break up families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border while thousands of “unaccompanied minors” are incarcerated in Border Patrol jails (Fox 10). The United States government isn’t a selfless benefactor for Korean, Central American, or Afghan children.

The U.S. government justified its invasion of Afghanistan as retribution for 9/11 but also, paradoxically, a war to liberate Afghan women from gender oppression. But the United Nations estimated 100,000 Afghans (NBC News), the equivalent half the population of Salt Lake City, were injured, maimed, or killed, often by the American military (Democracy Now, New Yorker).

All of this begs the question: if the protection of Afghan women, children, and sexual and gender minorities was the reason for the occupation, where was this concern before? Where was it when U.S. airstrikes were levelling neighborhoods earlier this month? Did the CIA ask whether detainees were part of the LGBTQ+ community before torturing them in black sites (IBT)? Was the U.S. government concerned with the well-being of children as it extrajudicially murdered their parents (Human RIghts Watch)? There is no such thing as a humanitarian war. Governments wage war to protect their own interests. There is never anything humane about mass death. One does not have to endorse all — or any — of the actions of a foreign government to oppose bombing its citizens “back to the Stone Age” (History News Network). To claim that destroying a country is a charitable act on behalf of that country’s most marginalized members is depraved.

Children cut off from their families and cultures in the wake of war are not a political symbol but a human tragedy. The U.S. is complicit in the splintering of families, not their savior. Our government has a responsibility to resolve the harm we’ve caused.

Key Takeaways

The U.S. military committed numerous human rights abuses during a fruitless occupation of Afghanistan that plunged the country into civil war.
The “humanitarian” adoption of children has long been used to whitewash brutality.
The U.S. responsibility to Afghan people comes not from its benevolence but its role in destabilizing the country.

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Nicole Cardoza 8/31/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/31/21

End anti-Asian stereotypes in media.

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings opens this week, the first Marvel film to feature a predominantly Asian cast. When screenwriters scripted the movie, based on a 1970s comic book character, they went so far as to write a “physical list” of racist parts of the story “we were looking to destroy” (Inverse). This highlights the long history of anti-Asian stereotypes in American pop culture — depictions that carry through to the present day.

TAKE ACTION

Support PALMS, AYPAL, the Chinese Progressive Alliance, or a local Asian American group organizing for justice.
Support the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and other Asian media initiatives.
Consider: How are people from your racial, ethnic, or cultural background portrayed in popular media? What about people from other communities? Do these depictions influence how you think about people from other backgrounds or yourself? How might they determine people’s safety, well-being, and access to resources and decision-making power? How can we modify, add to, support, or reject these depictions?

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings opens this week, the first Marvel film to feature a predominantly Asian cast. When screenwriters scripted the movie, based on a 1970s comic book character, they went so far as to write a “physical list” of racist parts of the story “we were looking to destroy” (Inverse). This highlights the long history of anti-Asian stereotypes in American pop culture — depictions that carry through to the present day.

In the original comics, Shang-Chi’s father is Fu Manchu, an evil magician plotting to take over the West. According to a description written by the creator in a 1913 novel, Fu Manchu possesses “all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present … Imagine that awful being, and you have a picture of Dr. Fu Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man” (Inverse).

Yellow peril refers to the long-held white American fear that “Asians, in particular the Chinese, would invade their lands and disrupt Western values, such as democracy, Christianity, and technological innovation” (BGSU). The fear of the yellow peril presented by Asian people was borne out of labor competition between white and Chinese workers, eugenicist fears about “race-mixing,” and supposed “moral degeneracy” (Association for Asian Studies).

When such depictions are criticized, we’re often told that they were mere “products of their time.” This is always a bad-faith retort for two reasons. First is that Asian people, including Asian people in America, are not some sort of recent invention. We had been here for generations when the first Fu Manchu book was published, and it was as hateful in the early twentieth century as it is today. 1913 also saw the passage of the California Alien Land Law to ban Asian people in California from owning or leasing land (Immigration History). Anti-Asian beliefs fuel anti-Asian practices.

The second reason why the “product of their time” rebuttal falls short is that such stereotypes don’t suddenly disappear. Stereotypical depictions of Asian sex workers led some to make jokes mocking the deaths of six women in the Atlanta shootings (Variety). A 2013 General Motors ad called China “land of Fu Manchu” where people say “ching ching, chop suey” (SCMP). The myth of the yellow peril continues to this day. Today, nine out of ten Americans view China as “a threat” (Pew Research) though China is, in fact, the United States’ largest trading partner (Forbes). The American right crows about “kung flu” and the “China virus.” One in four Americans has seen someone blame Asian people for Covid-19 (USA Today). Eight out of ten Asian-Americans report that violence against us is increasing (Pew Research).

The fact is that Asian stereotypes — along with risks to Asian people — persist in the United States. In the words of Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu, “As a progressive Asian American man, I’ve always wanted to shatter barriers and expectations of what Asian men are and be very aware of the boxes that we’re put into — martial artists, sidekicks, exotic, or Orientalist… But I grew up watching Jet Li and Jackie Chan, and I remember the immense amount of pride that I felt watching them kick ass. I think Shang-Chi can absolutely be that for Asian Americans. It means that kids growing up today will have what we never did — the ability to watch the screen and to really feel seen” (Swift Headline).

Asian artists are dismantling stereotypes while Asian communities are organizing and standing in solidarity with other communities of color, as well. Groups around the country are organizing for health, disability, economic, and language justice.

The Black Power movement inspired student activists to coin the phrase and political category “Asian-American.” This wasn’t merely a demographic self-identifier, but a way to join diverse Asian immigrant movements together in a political struggle against white supremacy (Time).

A picture of Richard Aoki man holding a sign reading “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” has been resonating with a new generation of activists (Huffington Post). It’s not a picture with an uncomplicated legacy, especially since Aoki — the only Asian American person in Party leadership — was revealed to be an FBI informant (NBC News). But building on a history of struggle, inter-racial solidarity, and deconstructing negative stereotypes and the violence they facilitate are all steps in creating a world where all of our communities have safety, power, and dignity.

Key Takeaways

The original Shang-Chi character was the son of Fu Manchu, one example of the idea of the yellow peril.
The yellow peril myth described Asian people as immoral foreign invaders.
Permutations of the yellow peril myth and other anti-Asian stereotypes persist to this day. Artists and organizations are working to build safety and community in the place of stereotypes and fear.

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Nicole Cardoza 8/30/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/30/21

Support unfairly targeted activists.

Last Friday, Shamar Betts received four years in federal prison for “inciting a riot” after George Floyd’s murder. He owes $1.5 million in restitution (News-Gazette). Black Lives Matter protests drew “aggressive federal prosecutions for crimes not usually in the purview of U.S. attorney’s offices.” Prosecutors demanded harsh sentences in an apparent effort to suppress anti-racist protestors who Attorney General Barr characterized as “domestic terrorists” (The Intercept).

TAKE ACTION

Support the Civil Liberties Defense Center’s crucial work defending activists from unjust prosecutions.
Sign this petition to support the release of still-incarcerated Ferguson protestor Joshua Williams.
Consider: who decides which types of protest and organizations are legitimate? How can we contribute to the movement for racial justice in the way we think is appropriate and effective without turning in those who might disagree? How might powerful institutions benefit from dividing “good” and “bad” protesters?

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

While charges began under Trump, “the Justice Department under Biden has continued many of these civil disorder and arson prosecutions.” “We’re not seeing a big change in the Biden administration with regard to the prosecutions of Black Lives Matter activists as compared with the previous administration,” said Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. In the wake of January 6th, Democrats introduced a bill creating “domestic terrorism offices” in the FBI, Justice Department, and Homeland Security. Activists fear that they would eventually be used to target racial justice movements (The Intercept).

Biden promised to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but his administration sought harsh punishments for those arrested protesting the man’s death (NYTimes). How can the government reconcile with movements it represses?

Our piece on COINTELPRO explored how counterinsurgency efforts during the civil rights movement surveilled, imprisoned, and assassinated activists ranging from Muhammad Ali to Dr. Kin. Through COINTELPRO, the FBI worked with Chicago police to assassinate a sleeping Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter Black Panther Party (Huff Post). Had he not been executed at the age of 21, today would be his 73rd birthday. According to the ACLU’s Nusrat Choudhury, “The FBI appears to be engaged in a modern-day version of COINTELPRO” (FAIR).

One side of counterinsurgency is repressing parts of a social movement through disruption and draconian punishments. The other side of counterinsurgency is fostering those parts of a movement easiest to contain. Both serve to divert movements of the most directly affected seeking change of an unjust system.

“Counterinsurgency theory places a heavy emphasis on shaping the social environment,” writes policing scholar Kristian Williams. “Police-led partnerships [sometimes use] progressive nonprofits to channel and control political opposition.” After protests against the murder of Oscar Grant, nonprofits collaborating with the police took the lead in pushing protestors off the street at marches and denouncing not the violence of police but unruly protester behavior (Interface). And while they were setting up Hampton’s assassination, the FBI fostered relationships with “cooperative” Black moderates “as a counterinsurgency measure against the militant Negro community” (FBI, pg. 35).

Last year, “the media played a crucial role pushing narratives about ‘outside agitators.’ From MSNBC host Joy Reid to progressive representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, these mysterious agitators were all of a sudden showing up everywhere that confrontational protests occurred” (Teen Vogue). Some held up Dr. King’s legacy to protect “peaceful protests” from “outside agitators,” though King himself wrote, “Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea” (University of Texas).

Political elites wish “to be able to present which protest is good or bad” to neutralize protests, said Lilith Sinclair, an Afro-Indigenous nonbinary organizer (OPB). That doesn’t mean we always agree with what everyone at a protest might say or do. It doesn’t mean everyone in the fight for justice is virtuous, that we should all set fire to fast food restaurants, or must applaud when it happens. It doesn’t mean police infiltration isn't a risk or that social movements can’t have good-faith debates about what is and is not appropriate. But when the police and government feel threatened by a movement for change, sowing division is a key tactic. We shouldn’t do that work for them.

If you want to stand in solidarity with racial justice movements, interrogate your instincts about policing which forms of protest are appropriate. If someone breaks a Target window after a police murder, ask yourself if you identify more with the store manager or with a young person of color who believes that this is the only way a racist system will hear them. The most boisterous protests of last year did not, unlike the police, murder anyone in cold blood or lock anyone in cages for decades. If we come together, despite our differences, we can resist counterinsurgency.

Key Takeaways

The Trump and Biden administrations have sought exceptionally harsh punishments against Black Lives Matter protesters.
Some protesters and organizations have taken to denouncing “bad” protesters, not police repression, as the chief problem facing the movement.
Supporting “good protesters” while persecuting “bad protesters” is a counterinsurgency strategy the government uses to disrupt social movements while maintaining its legitimacy and power.

RELATED ISSUES

7/6/2020 | Abolish qualified immunity.

6/30/2020 | Boycott as a form of protest.

6/22/2020 | Talk about our right to protest.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 8/25/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/25/21

Demand accessible legal representation.

Public defenders represent criminal defendants unable to hire a lawyer for themselves. They only exist because Clarence Gideon petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court from a prison cell. He had been forced to represent himself in court since his home state of Florida only provided free legal counsel for those facing the death penalty (C-Span). The Supreme Court agreed that this infringed on Gideon’s Sixth Amendment rights, ruling that “lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries” (Department of Justice) and creating a system offers legal representation to all those accused of a crime, regardless of their ability to pay (Georgia State University).

TAKE ACTION

Support the Legal Services Staff Association to demand fair working conditions at Legal Services NYC.
Follow and donate to Gideon’s Promise, a public defender organization that provides mentorship and training.
Donate to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation became effective Tuesday (Statesman). Cuomo left office in disgrace after a damning report found Cuomo sexually harassed and created a hostile work environment for female employees. A number of district attorney offices in the state have already requested information, raising the possibility of criminal charges as well (ABC News).

We don’t know if charges will be filed, let alone the outcome of a potential trial. But we do know Cuomo would be able to afford world-class legal representation in court. Already a multimillionaire (Yahoo Finance), his $50,000 annual state pension is higher than the median per capita income of the state he governed (U.S. Census Bureau). Sadly, despite the promise of legal representation for all facing criminal charges, the resources afforded the accused vary widely depending on their wealth.

However, there remains a deep gulf between those forced to rely on a public defender and those who can afford a private lawyer. Even the Department of Justice declared that “the promise of Gideon remains unfulfilled… Many defenders struggle under excessive caseloads and lack adequate funding and independence, making it impossible for them to meet their legal and ethical obligations to represent their clients effectively” (Department of Justice). Because of a lack of public defenders, those accused can wait over a year in jail until an attorney is even appointed to them. Some defendants are unable to communicate with their defenders, who can only devote minimal time to each of their cases. In Washington State, this ends up being an hour for each defendant (Fordham) . Shuranda Williams, who saw her public defender only one time in a year while awaiting a trial in which she may be imprisoned for life, said, “At least if I got out, I could work and afford a decent lawyer” (Marshall Project). Governor Cuomo himself settled in a class-action lawsuit that alleged that New York “failed to provide adequate legal defense for the poor” (N.Y. Times). Over-policed and over-prosecuted populations like Black Americans “bear the brunt of our public defender systems’ underfunding and overwork.” This problem is pervasive since four out of five people accused of a felony are forced to rely on a public defender (The Guardian).

Overworked public defenders are correlated with increased conviction rates, longer sentences, and higher rates of wrongful convictions (Brennan Center). While private attorneys take as many cases as they please, public defenders are regularly tasked with hundreds of cases each year (Marshall Project). The average public defender is paid just $47,500 out of law school — $2,500 less than Gov. Cuomo’s pension (Fordham).

Being able to afford a private attorney is a deviation from the norm: dependence on an overworked, under-resourced public defense system. Those with wealth provide themselves a significantly higher level of legal protection than almost everyone else, especially those from exploited and marginalized communities. The declaration that all are entitled to legal representation in American courts was a significant decision, but if representation remains inadequate, that right becomes fiction.

Key Takeaways

The Supreme Court ruled that those who can’t afford a lawyer must get a public defender to represent them in a criminal case.
In reality, public defense is so under-resourced that in some cases, lawyers can only spend an hour on average looking at cases.
One people with felony charges who can afford a private attorney get significantly more protection than the four of five who can’t.

RELATED ISSUES

10/16/2020 | Abolish the grand jury.

5/27/2021 | Advocate for our right to trial.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 8/20/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/20/21

Release ICE detainees.

Fleeing death threats in his home country of El Salvador, Alexander Martinez entered the United States without papers two months into the Biden presidency. During his detention, he’s been shuffled between six different detention facilities while facing homophobic harrassment and abuse from guards. He remains detained despite passing initial screening for asylum. “I never imagined or expected to receive this inhumane treatment,” said Martinez. The Biden administration doubled the number of immigration detainees since the end of February (The Guardian). U.S. citizens may believe that mass detention of immigrants and asylum seekers is no longer an issue under a Democratic president. 27,000 immigrants — many detained indefinitely in overcrowded, unsanitary facilities with little access to medical care during an ongoing pandemic — might have a different perspective.

TAKE ACTION

Follow Asian Americans United, Juntos, Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania (MILPA), New Sanctuary Movement, VietLead, and Woori Center.
Find a local immigrant refugee organization near you, and identify the best way to support.
Contact your elected officials at the local, state, and federal level and demand that no other government institution share information with ICE. This includes school districts, local and state police, health and human services, and unemployment departments.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

When the American electorate denied President Trump a second term, it was in response to a number of outrages: the so-called “Muslim ban,” a failed attempt to construct a border wall, a bumbling response to Covid-19. Top among them was a “zero-tolerance” immigration policies that the United Nations Human Rights Council suggested “may amount to torture” (Independent). Candidate Biden rallied support in part by promising to “welcome immigrants in our communities” (Democratic National Committee). His election prompted many to share actress Idina Menzel’s sentiment when she tweeted, “My son just hugged me and said ‘mommy no more kids in cages!’ Tears of joy and tears of sadness” (Hollywood Reporter). Immigration policies and immigrant rights soon faded from front-page news.

But as Silky Shah from the Detention Watch Network reported, “His policies so far haven’t matched his campaign rhetoric” (The Guardian).

Community organizations around the country have forced significant concessions from an unjust and inhumane immigrant detention system, but they can use ongoing support to achieve justice and liberation for all immigrants. Advocates were able to push Pennsylvania’s York County Prison to stop accepting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees and secured the freedom of around 100 of those already detained. However, 200 of those already in York were transferred to other detention centers while others were deported (WHYY). Last Tuesday, a coalition of organizations including Asian Americans United, Juntos, Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania (MILPA), New Sanctuary Movement, VietLead, and Woori Center rallied outside the Philadelphia ICE office to demand liberty for all detainees.

“There are a lot of organizations, a coalition. We’re here because we now know that because of community pressure they freed 80-100 people,” Ivonne from MILPA told Anti-Racism Daily, describing what community organizations see as a significant but partial victory. 200 York detainees were transferred to other centers. Some were deported. “Now we want those within the center in York and those within any detention center in the U.S. to be freed.”

While immigration issues are sometimes associated solely with the Latinx community, VietLead executive director Nancy Nguyen told Anti-Racism Daily that she’s fought deportations of the Southeast refugees for ten years and that Black immigrants suffer some of the longest detentions with the least legal representation. “Obama was considered the deporter-in-chief,” she said. “The way that folks should understand it is that, yes, things got worse under Trump but Trump only drove the vehicle that Obama created… This certainly is not just a Latinx issue and it certainly is not an issue that started just with Trump.”

“There are many nefarious ways ICE gets into communities. It’s not just about detention centers. ICE is always trying to collude with the police, ICE is always trying to get into your Health and Human Services data, ICE is trying to get into schools,” Nancy said, “So in every community everywhere folks should be making sure to contact their electeds, to make sure that there are no ICE agreements with police. These are info agreements that the police or that your health department or your school districts share information with ICE,” said Nancy from VietLead. “And also donate to your local immigrant and refugee organizations that are fighting ICE on the ground.”

“Allyship” with immigrants that vanishes once one’s preferred political party gains office isn’t true solidarity. It’s using oppressed communities as a political football. There are organizations of immigrants across the country fighting for justice against a disgraceful system at great risk and against incredible adversity. Supporting them is a moral and political responsibility, especially for those with the privilege of citizenship.

“We’re different colors, from different countries, and they aren’t going to stop us,” said MILPA’s Ivonne. “We have the power to say: enough. We want everyone out. We want them with their families.”

Key Takeaways

Immigrant rights receive significantly less attention from news outlets and many members of the public now that the election is over.
In reality, the Biden administration doubled the number of ICE detainees since this February.
Immigrant organizations across the country have won victories but need resources and support regardless of who’s in office.

Nicole Cardoza 8/17/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/17/21

Support Haitian relief.

In Haiti too, grassroots organizations run by or connected to those most impacted need support. The Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine, a hospital for underserved communities, is accepting direct donations (CHF). Locally Haiti is working to “funnel aid to in the most direct and efficient way to the local people and institutions” (Locally Haiti). The Ayiti Community Trust, run by Haitians and diaspora members, is providing resources to groups on the ground (ACT).

TAKE ACTION

Boost or donate to the Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine, Locally Haiti, and Ayiti Community Trust.
If people you know want to help Haiti by donating exclusively to large NGOs, help educate them about the reasons why many on the ground oppose their practices. Encourage them to contribute to locally-rooted organizations instead.
Support local mutual aid organizations creating resilience in the face of domestic disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

An earthquake Saturday killed over 1,500 people and unhoused thousands more in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas and only nation founded by the formerly enslaved (CNN, World Bank). Tennis star Naomi Osaka pledged prize money from an upcoming championship to relief efforts (Huffington Post). Communities are providing support through organizations from nonprofits to congregations (Local 10) .

But when prominent leaders promoted seemingly-credible organizations like the Red Cross, Save the Children, and UNICEF, former aid workers and Haitian citizens objected. “As a Haitian,” said one Twitter user, “Do Not Donate to these organizations” (MSN). Many of the organizations circulating online are entrusted with funds that do not reach the local communities in need.

After a 2011 earthquake, the American Red Cross received $500 million in donations. They planned to build 700 homes by 2013, and claimed by 2015 to have sheltered 130,000 Haitians (PBS). But according to ProPublica and NPR, four years after the earthquake, they had built just six houses across the entire country. According to the program director, “officials wanted to know which projects would generate the good publicity, not which projects would provide the most homes” (ProPublica). The project leaders were not Haitian and spoke neither French nor Haitian Creole. The non-Haitian manager of a failed project to build houses in the neighborhood of Campeche received $140,000 in compensation. The top local staff member received less than a third of that (ProPublica).

There’s a wide disparity in power between foreign nationals from wealthy countries who give humanitarian aid and its recipients. Save the Children covered up over fifty cases a year of staff child abuse (National News). Oxfam was accused of covering for its top staff in Haiti who illegally hired sex workers, some potentially underaged (BBC). Beyond abuse, the aid sector in Haiti is so large it deforms the national economy and democratic governance; the country is known as the Republic of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) (The Nation). “U.S food aid flooding the market has provided cheap food but driven many Haitian farmers off the land,” and as journalist Jonathan Katz says, “There was no way for Haitians to appeal an NGO decision, prosecute a bad soldier, or vote an unwanted USAID project out of a neighborhood… Two centuries of turmoil and foreign meddling had left a Haitian state so anemic it couldn’t even count how many citizens it had” (America Magazine). As one resident of Haiti said, “We cannot develop our country with international aid” (BBC).

This is not to say that every supporter or staff member of large charities are malicious or that they never get results. But the gulf in wealth and decision-making power between largely white-led aid organizations (The Guardian) and the people they’re supposed to help opens the door to mismanagement and abuse. This imbalance also appeared domestically during Hurricane Katrina relief. One county executive said Black residents were “treated like cattle” in relief centers (NBC News). Since it was donors and not residents who decided what was sent, there were “mismatches between the needs of victims and the supplies the Red Cross had lined up” like two truckloads of moldy cinnamon rolls and battery-operated radios without batteries (N.Y. Times).

It wasn’t the government or nonprofits who first entered New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward with support. It was a local mutual aid organization founded by a former Black Panther. “People from the community asked us to be here, and the goal for this clinic is to transition from a first-aid emergency response to a functional community-controlled primary care clinic. In other words, this is for the community in the long run and not just we're a bunch of do-gooders,” said nurse and collective member Scott Weinstein (NPR).

In the wake of such disasters, the most important thing is to support those affected. We can’t do that responsibly unless we recognize them — not as characters in a fundraising video but actual people, many of whom are telling us that international charities are unaccountable to Haitians, that their resources are not used responsibly, and even function as an unelected government run from London or Washington. When aid directed from wealth countries marginalizes “the Haitian state, Haitian social organizations and Haitian businesses,” we are looking not at disaster relief but disaster imperialism (The Nation). We need to pay attention to communities in dire needs to find out how to truly help.

Key Takeaways

Many people want to help Haitian earthquake survivors through large organizations like the Red Cross.
Such organizations are unaccountable to the people they serve. In Haiti, they comprise a de facto government while international food aid actually harms domestic agriculture.
There are also organizations which distribute resources to local communities and put decision-making power in the hands of those directly affected.

Nicole Cardoza 8/16/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/16/21

Stop evictions.

Landlords have filed for almost half a million evictions during the pandemic (Eviction Lab), and 15 million households are late on rent, owing a collective $20 billion to landlords, are potentially at risk of being put out on the streets. These tenants are disproportionately BIPOC (Colorlines) and LGBTQ+ (Injustice Watch).

TAKE ACTION

Support ACT UP Philadelphia, or, a local organization fighting the eviction of renters and homeless encampments.
Follow and support TANC or a local organization organizing tenants.
Find a tenants union or other local organization to volunteer for eviction defense.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Just over a week ago, the Department of Justice defended a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evictions (MSN), extending eviction bans instituted by both the CARES Act and the CDC last year (Congressional Research Service). Despite DoJ support, this latest moratorium is contested by a lawsuit from a group of landlords. Even if the courts rule in its favor, it’s more limited than its predecessors, only protecting tenants in areas with “substantial” levels of COVID transmission (CDC). Landlords have filed for almost half a million evictions during the pandemic (Eviction Lab), and 15 million households are late on rent, owing a collective $20 billion to landlords, are potentially at risk of being put out on the streets. These tenants are disproportionately BIPOC (Colorlines) and LGBTQ+ (Injustice Watch).

Given this problem’s immense scope, it’s tempting to adopt a wait-and-see approach. But as millions face houselessness, we need to come together — not only because the courts might rule against the moratorium but also because landlords find ways to push tenants out even when it’s illegal.

“Renegade landlords” around the country persisted in driving out tenants unable to pay rent during COVID. In Oakland, one landlord changed the locks on the Castillo-Gutierréz family’s home and tore down the property’s fence flanked by unknown men on motorcycles (KQED). Since the moratoriums only prohibit eviction for non-payment of rent, some landlords tried to “skirt the law” by issuing eviction orders citing years-old non-financial issues (Inlander). After Missouri’s Tasha Tavenner was laid off, two men attempted to rip the door of her home, leading her and her four children to camp in the woods for five weeks. A renter in Ohio had the locks illegally changed on her house and the city trash bins so that accumulating garbage would force her to “voluntarily” leave (USA Today).

“There has been quite a bit of retaliation,” said Paige of the Bay Area’s Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC) when speaking with Anti-Racism Daily. In one case, a landlord repeatedly refused to fix a home’s electrical problems until they ignited a fire. “People have been having to live without a fridge or a stove because the landlord is like, if you aren’t going to pay rent I’m not going to fix anything. I haven’t seen a whole lot of consequences even though this is illegal,” they said, adding that “BIPOC are the most affected by landlord harassment.”

“Once the moratorium ends, there’s going to be a massive crisis for non-payment of rent unless we forgive all that rental debt… Evictions have been happening since the beginning of the pandemic,” Max from ACT UP Philadelphia told Anti-Racism Daily. Those already evicted from their homes face evictions from shelters for minor infractions, as well as police violently breaking up homeless encampments. “The CDC said, do not evict homeless encampments during a pandemic. The city ignored that… They evicted a bunch of people who were staying safely outdoors, put them into indoor shelters, and an outbreak started a week after that. We’re pretty sure that the outbreak that killed someone was caused by that encampment eviction.”

Countless articles lament the plight of landlords unable to collect passive income but likewise unable to throw their tenants out on the curb (CNN). One op-ed claimed that canceling rent was anti-feminist because women landlords exist (Buffalo News). But a majority of rental units are owned not by small “mom-and-pop” operations but instead by large “institutional investors” (Harvard). There’s an immense difference between losing profit and being forced to move into the family car or under a bridge. The latter, incommensurably worse possibility is the one disproportionately facing LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people.

We can’t solely depend on continued moratorium extensions. Even with the moratorium in place, rogue landlords persisted in strong-arming and terrorizing tenants out of their homes. What we can do is support community organizations on the frontlines organizing to keep us all sheltered through and beyond the pandemic.

TANC is training renters across the San Francisco Bay Area as organizers to stay in their homes and “get through this crisis, alive, together” (The Appeal). ACT UP Philly is facing down police brutality (CBS) to “demand more plentiful permanent housing for Philadelphians facing homelessness, many of whom are Black and Brown and LGBTQ+” (Philadelphia Gay News).

“It’s a collective fight against gentrification and displacement across the country,” said Paige from TANC. “Try to find a tenant union, a tenant advocacy group, and see if they’re doing eviction defenses when the sheriff arrives to evict people, to document it and show solidarity. In your own living situation, don’t let your landlord walk all over you.”

To advance racial justice and keep all of our communities housed, it’s more important than ever to support organizations building tenant power with or without the moratorium.

Key Takeaways

A lawsuit threatens a new moratorium on evictions.
Even under existing eviction bans, tenants were illegally evicted by landlords and legally evicted from shelters and homeless encampments.
Tenant organizations are addressing a problem disproportionately affecting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people.

Nicole Cardoza 8/13/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/13/21

Reject conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories are corrosive. It cuts people off from their communities, leading them down internet rabbit holes accompanied only by other true believers. Conspiracy theories can lead their believers to do terrifying things, like bringing a gun into a D.C. pizza shop to free children in a non-existent child sex ring (Salon). Though conspiracy theories can appear outlandish, they’re dangerous enough that we should confront them head-on.

TAKE ACTION

Communicate and find common ground with those exploring conspiracy theories to start to pull them out of their echo chamber.
Use Checkology to learn more about fighting misinformation and identifying credible news.
Support fact-based community organizations addressing conspiracy theory topics like Generation 5 fighting child sexual abuse and Serve Your City educating community members about COVID and distributing mutual aid in D.C.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Last week, Trump stoked conspiracy theories that the January 6th death of Ashli Babbitt as she broke into a Capitol Building hallway had more to it than it seemed. “They know who shot Ashli Babbitt. They’re protecting that person,” said Trump. “I have heard also that it was the head of security of a certain high official, a Democrat” and not, as evidence suggests, a police officer (ABC).

Every death is a tragedy, but if you’re breaching your country’s seat of government by force, you should understand that your life may be at risk. It is unfortunate but unsurprising that Capitol Police shot an insurrectionist. No nefarious conspiracy is necessary to explain this tragedy.

Trump’s remarks are but one of a number of conspiracy theories in American political life. There’s a viral video making the rounds concerning a purported Muslim/Satanic child sex trafficking ring (Rolling Stone). This is related to the QAnon theory that President Trump is battling an international cabal of Satanic cannibalistic pedophiles. QAnon supporters were among those besides Babbitt on January 6th (ABC News). Others are now running in local elections around the country (Modesto Bee).

Conspiracy thinking is also entering traditionally left-leaning spaces. A significant group of yoga practitioners, reiki healers, and New Age psychics now loudly uphold anti-vaccine, COVID-denialist, and QAnon beliefs (L.A. Times). Illuminati theories about an all-powerful international secret society can appeal to both conservatives and those on the left skeptical of state and corporate power (Vox).

This is made more challenging by the fact that some of American history rivals the wackiest theories (The Guardian). The Central Intelligence Agency did in fact dose random American civilians with LSD, secretly observing their behavior to see if the drug could be used to brainwash prisoners (Time). A journalist at a major newspaper did report that the CIA started the crack epidemic by letting anticommunist paramilitaries fly crack cocaine into Los Angeles. That same journalist ultimately died by suicide (Sacramento Bee).

U.S. spy agencies actually financed everyone from abstract expressionist painters (BBC) to the Dalai Lama (NY Times). And oil executives did know about climate change in 1977, though they deceived the public for decades more (Scientific American).

Many of us have the sense that decisions are made outside our control. According to sociologist C. Wright Mills, a small, elite network from the same schools, churches, and fraternal organizations is able to almost exclusively “establish the governing policy agenda” in this country. “The public’s role in the policy making process in U.S. society is largely symbolic” (Psychology Today). A renowned social scientist’s analysis of American society doesn’t sound too far off from a conspiracy theory.

But real-life elite networks aren’t the Illuminati, because the powerful people in our society largely do not have to hide. C. Wright Mills didn’t have to sneak into secret underground lairs to compile his list of the American power elite: he analyzed publicly available data with academic rigor.

Though some criticism of billionaire George Soros is laden with repugnant antisemitism, it’s also true that his foundation funds pressure campaigns in 37 countries around the world (Inside Philanthropy), leading PBS to describe the philanthropist as “the only American citizen with his own foreign policy” (INCITE). Though the Pizzagate theory was 100% wrong, it is true that both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were associates of child abuser Jeffrey Epstein (Daily Beast). And child sexual abuse is horrifyingly commonly, though most often committed not by some secret organization but by someone known to the child (U.S. DVA). Actual injustices become are harder to address when connected to nonsensical or bigoted false theories.

When we look at the real facts of unjustified concentrated power and wealth, we can build movements for social and economic justice to help undo them. But when we deceive ourselves into believing that it’s not garden-variety rich and powerful people but instead all-powerful, mystical secret societies of holographic alien reptiles who control our lives (MSN), coming together to actually make change seems futile. In the latter case, all we can do is dive deeper into learning about more and more conspiracies.

To actually make a better world, we have to reject conspiracy theories.

Key Takeaways

43% of white Americans say that they are “very confident” in their tap water, while only 24% of Black Americans and 19% of Hispanic Americans indicate the same degree of confidence.
Corporations are often allowed to bottle and resell municipal tap water at a high mark-up, skirting rules and regulations that disproportionately affect lower-income communities.
We need to mobilize around protecting the source of clean water, and center Indigenous communities who steward the land and waters.

Nicole Cardoza 8/12/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/12/21

Take action on the IPCC report.

This week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a sobering report predicting that global temperatures will exceed the 2015 Paris Climate Accords’s limits in just 20 years regardless of government action. The Arctic is expected to be free of ice in the summer at least once by mid-century. In the worst-case scenario, the ocean will rise over six feet by century’s end (New Scientist).

TAKE ACTION

Review the action items below, curated in part by youth environmental activists of color.

GET EDUCATED

We’ve compiled some of our previous coverage highlighting the disproportionate effects environmental degradation has on communities of color in the United States and around the world. But our reporting also highlights that climate disaster isn’t inevitable. People are coming together to resist and transform the oppressive, extractive systems propelling the destruction of the ecological systems that sustain us all. Many of those at the forefront of these movements are from the marginalized communities who bear the brunt of climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation. As recent news demonstrates the urgency of taking action to preserve our world, these are the organizations we should all take time to support.

1. Confront Rising Temperatures

“To preserve a habitable world for all of us and our descendants may require a fundamental shift in how we produce things and structure social and international relations. In the short term, a blanket approach to environmentalism will not suffice. Even major philanthropic foundations are starting to recognize that environmental racism and climate change affect poor nations and communities of color first (AP). Supporting the leadership of these communities in opposing the destructive systems that threaten life as we know it is a human imperative.”

Take Action

Understand the impact of environmental racism.
Support frontline community organizations like Memphis Community Against Pollution and Stop General Iron.

2. Quannah ChasingHorse on Generational Change

“Back when I was ten years old, we would get about 60 fish a day in our net or fish wheel. Now we only get, like, eight, and half of them aren't good to eat because of how toxic the waters have become due to the oil and gas development up North, and the mining… So that’s why I push for advocacy. I think sometimes I’m a rude awakening because not many people accept the fact that the climate crisis affects our way of life and our future generations. I’m afraid that our future generations won’t get the opportunity to learn hands-on, just from books and pictures.”

Take Action

Donate to the Indigenous Environmental Network, an alliance of grassroots Indigenous Peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth.

3. Reimagine Earth Week

“Saving the Earth isn’t a single-focus issue. Progress lies at the intersection of nearly every human rights issue. Incarceration, immigration, disability justice, global security, landback initiatives – we can’t address any of these until we are willing to analyze how climate change encourages and exacerbates each. In addition, we must understand that the brunt of the adverse impact of climate change will be felt by those most marginalized – not necessarily those that forget to recycle – creating a never-ending cycle of cause and effect. The voices most impacted are often left out of the conversation, developing policies and practices that don’t center those most harmed.”

Take Action

Join a local chapter of a youth-driven organization addressing climate change, including Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion.

4. Anya Dillard on Effective Organizing

“I would say that racism and climate change have a lot in common. People love to debate both of their existences, people love to say how either does or doesn’t affect one group, when in reality it affects everyone in the long term. It’s interesting to think about it this way because when we think about racism, we think we’ll be good after we fix our law enforcement system and initiate a reparation system. But in reality, there are a lot of trickle-down effects of racism, and at least one of those falls under the umbrella of environmental change.”

Take Action

Donate to WeGotNext, which amplifies individual stories of adventure and activism from communities that have been underrepresented in outdoor and environmental spaces.

5. Jana Jandal Alrifai on Intersectional Change

“We don't just need to reverse climate change and the climate crisis. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again. We have to tackle environmental racism, that everyone is not equally impacted by climate change, and that BIPOC communities often have factories and machinery located in their neighborhoods, affecting their health. Their neighborhoods are more likely to flood.”

Take Action

Sign the petition advocating for No More Empty Summits, urging the Biden administration to take more action to address climate change.

6. Support Climate Justice

“Importantly, climate justice is a grassroots movement. Climate Justice Alliance, for example, comprises frontline organizations. Engagement centered in the communities— not top-down policies created by disengaged congressmen—is necessary. But for BIPOC activists, it can also be dangerous. Jayce Chiblow, a leader at the Canadian organization Indigenous Climate Actions, noted that while ‘Youth are leading us and taking on frontline activity,” many of them experienced violence and were arrested and removed as a result of their activism (Resilience.org). Read some profiles of Indigenous activists here.”

Take Action

Join or support climate justice organizations, such as PODER (@poder.sf), the Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint, or the Center for Earth Energy and Democracy.

7. Alexis Saenz and Community Care

“Our mission is to protect land and water, and to help Indigenous youth become leaders of their communities. We are the International Indigenous Youth Council, which means we include Indigenous people from everywhere, from Mexico, from Panama, from Guatemala, all over. And the goal is to eventually have IIYC chapters across Unči Maka, Mother Earth. Initially, we were focused on frontline non-violent direct action. That's how we started at Standing Rock.”

Take Action

Follow and support the International Indigenous Youth Council.

8. Mohammad Ahmadi on Environmental Activism

“I'm hoping to leave behind a world that is not ravaged by the climate crisis. So we avoid 1.5 degrees Celsius or two degrees of warming each year. I’m just trying to leave behind a more educated population. The youth is the next generation, so if we can educate them, they will demand change from the government faster when they’re older – whether it’s climate justice, racial justice, or anything else.”

Take Action

Donate to Earth Uprising, a nonprofit organization providing resources and opportunities to support the youth climate movement.
Join Earth Uprising as an organizer by filling out this form.

Key Takeaways

43% of white Americans say that they are “very confident” in their tap water, while only 24% of Black Americans and 19% of Hispanic Americans indicate the same degree of confidence.
Corporations are often allowed to bottle and resell municipal tap water at a high mark-up, skirting rules and regulations that disproportionately affect lower-income communities.
We need to mobilize around protecting the source of clean water, and center Indigenous communities who steward the land and waters.

Nicole Cardoza 8/10/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/10/21

Understand intervention.

Last month saw large demonstrations in Cuba against food and medicine shortages resulting from both “the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. sanctions” (CNN). Some participants demanded the resignation of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in heated protests where police deployed tear gas and some demonstrators threw rocks and overturned a police car. Many in the United States have rallied behind the slogan SOS Cuba to demand the American government do something, and in late July the U.S. government increased sanctions against the island (PBS).

TAKE ACTION

Learn why Black Lives Matter opposes the embargo on Cuba and help take action to end it.
Confront irresponsible calls for military invasion as a way to “help” other nations.
When considering proposed U.S. interventions, consider: What would the impact of sanctions or military actions be on everyday people, including those protesting? How might the proposed actions align with U.S. interests? Do U.S. policies create current poor conditions in the country?

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Police violence against protestors is an unacceptable tactic used by repressive governments around the world. Fighting protestors with tear gas, a weapon banned by the Geneva Conventions (USA Today), is cause for condemnation whether it’s on the streets of Havana or Portland, Oregon (NPR). It’s natural that people around the world wish to stand with the Cuban people.

But solidarity is getting twisted into something more sinister. One surefire way to release tensions on the island would be to end the U.S. embargo. U.S. law prohibits American companies from doing business with Cuba. It punishes foreign companies who do business with Cuba. The embargo prevents Cuba from importing food production equipment and medical supplies, creating the conditions that started the protests (Al Jazeera). In June, 184 U.N. member states voted to condemn the embargo. Only Israel and the U.S. voted against (U.N.). But when American journalists and leaders talk about supporting the Cuban people, ending the embargo isn’t on the agenda.

Instead, we’re told that this is a “golden opportunity” for President Biden to “preside over the liberation of Cuba” (Local 10). But the people in the streets aren’t clamoring for a military invasion. As with protest movements in the United States, protestors have a variety of goals. Some want immediate remedies. Others support more wide-ranging reforms. Some dissidents don’t want capitalism but are instead trying to push the Cuban government to the left in favor of “socialism done from below” (Dissent). But U.S. reporting focuses almost exclusively on voices in favor of capitalist reforms.

And selective, self-interested support of certain Cuban protestors to the exclusion of others goes beyond reporting. Since 2017, USAID, a government agency partnered with the U.S. military (USAID), has funneled over $67 million to Cuban dissidents (Cuba Money Project), continuing a long history of American interference. In 1912, U.S. soldiers suppressed Afro-Cuban protests for racial justice (BBC). In the 1950s, U.S. companies controlled 90% of Cuban mines, 80% of utilities and railroads, and almost half the nation’s sugar fields. “In return, Cuba got hedonistic tourists, organized crime, and General Fugencio Batista,” the U.S.-supported autocrat who ruled the country (Smithsonian). After the Cuban Revolution, when the government nationalized American companies profiting off of the island, the U.S. launched the current devastating blockade.

If the U.S. had a sincere commitment to human rights in Cuba, it could end the embargo that cuts off much-needed supplies. It could close the torture camp it runs on the island, the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center. The U.S. could immediately do these on its own, but unlike regime change, they would not be in the U.S. government’s interests (CODE PINK).

There are human rights abuses happening in countries around the globe, including our own. France continues to pass discriminatory laws against hijab-wearers with almost half of the country considering “Muslims a threat to national identity” (Time). The United Arab Emirates incarcerates citizens for peaceful political speech and “bans political opposition” (Amnesty International). Torture is “widespread” in Kazahsztan (Amnesty) while dozens of municipalities in Poland have declared themselves “LGBTI-free zones” (Amnesty). All of these countries are strong U.S. allies. Human rights only seem to be a frontpage story when they occur in countries the U.S. government already opposes.

Cuba, and other countries the U.S. targets, have real problems. Their citizens, like those of any nation, have legitimate reasons to protest. But when we hear that the American solution is immediately to “liberate” them, we should ask if an agenda was in place long before. We should recall what happened after “liberation” of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. There were problems and protests in all three of these countries. But it’s hard to believe that many Iraqi, Afghani, or Libyan protestors found their lives better post-invasion. The U.S. government only ever cynically deployed concern for their residents’ well-being to justify actions that made it much worse. The purpose of the State Department or Pentagon isn’t to promote solidarity. It’s to promote the interests of the U.S. government and American corporations.

When we reject their self-interested war plans, we can begin to choose real solidarity, instead.

Key Takeaways

Cuban protests have led to calls for America to “liberate” the island.
The U.S. in fact created the main reason for the protests, food and medicine shortages, through an embargo condemned by almost every nation in the world.
We hear much more about human rights abuses in countries the U.S. government opposes than countries it counts as allies.

Nicole Cardoza 8/6/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/6/21

Brew coffee equity.

Many Americans have become enamored with local coffee shops. The domain of “spiked hair,” “postmodern baristas” (LA Weekly), these businesses are so often associated with liberal views that a small number of new coffeehouses now base their marketing around their uniquely conservative politics (The Blaze). The movement of modern, boutique “third-wave” coffeehouses — following the first wave of postwar instant coffee and the second wave exemplified by Starbucks — is even named after third-wave feminism (Tamper Tantrum). Coffeehouses can be presented as intersectional oases where open displays of bigotry are as rare as “Hate Has No Home Here” signs are ubiquitous.

TAKE ACTION

Follow and support coffee companies owned by people of color! I had an overwhelming response to submissions on Twitter – check it out.
Encourage predominantly-white coffeehouses to commit to anti-racism and support local anti-gentrification initiatives.
Support democratically-run, collectively-owned coffee farming.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

However, these trends may distract from real issues of racial equity in the way coffee is produced, sold, and served. First, there are clear racial and socio-economic disparities in the industry. Wealthier people consume more coffee than the less affluent (Brandon Gaille), and coffeehouses looking to soak up some of Starbucks’ customers target “urban,” “affluent,” and “educated” consumers with an average income of $90,000 (The Motley Fool). Given that Black people are less likely to consume coffee or work in the domestic coffee industry (Roast Magazine), this means that coffee shop patrons are disproportionately white. This facilitates shocking acts of racial exclusion against non-white patrons. Two Black men were arrested waiting for a business meeting in a Philadelphia Starbucks. W. Kamau Bell was asked to leave a Berkeley coffee shop after approaching his wife, who is white (ABC 7). Santana Tapia, a transgender Latina resident of San Francisco, felt deeply unwelcome inside the expensive, largely-white coffee establishments appearing in the city where she grew up drinking nightly coffees with her family (MSN).

The affluent, largely white patrons inside gourmet coffee shops can lead to the whitening of the neighborhoods that surround them, as well. Researchers found correlations between the appearance of high-end coffeehouses and neighborhood gentrification in cities around the world (Bitter Root). One Denver shop had the audacity to declare “happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014” on a sidewalk sign (Washington Post). Even liberally-oriented establishments can post “Black Lives Matter” signs while doing nothing to address their role in pushing actual Black people out of the neighborhoods they move into (Truthout).

And equity issues start before coffee beans arrive to the cafe. The global coffee industry grew off the labor of enslaved people in places like Java, Haiti, Central America, and Brazil. Today, “shockingly little has changed” as the overwhelming majority of coffee producers are Black, Indigenous, and people of color living in extreme poverty. Indentured Indigenous farmworkers toil without showers, latrines, or adequate drinking water on white-owned plantations (Heifer International). Illiberal practices permeate the the supposedly liberal coffee industry: racial profiling in coffee shops, economic displacement in surrounding neighborhoods, and virtual slavery in the fields where coffee is grown.

Fortunately, people are taking action to bring true equity to the coffee world. Black-owned coffee shop owners and employees like Cafe Grumpy’s Tinuade Oyelowo in New York and Urban Grind’s Cassandra Ingram in Atlanta advocate for inclusion in coffee culture (Roast Magazine). San Francisco’s Santana Tapia helped found a worker-owned pro-queer coffee shop (MSN). Hasta Muerte is a Latinx worker cooperative that sells coffee and serves as a “sanctuary space for people of color, low-income people, and immigrants” (East Bay Express).

Camila Coddou, a former barista who advocates for equity in the industry, asks coffee owners, “Are you dropping into a community of people that don’t look like you who are losing their rights?” (Bitter Root). Community members responded to the Colorado pro-gentrification coffee shop with a boycott and protest (Washington Post). The visibility of these protests pushed local government to double the city’s affordable housing fund (Fox 31). And the Anti Gentrification Coffee Club in Memphis is a coffeehouse run to “deepen the ties in [communities of color], rather than displace them” (Cxffeeblack).

In southern Mexico, coffee plantations formerly owned by wealthy landowners are now democratically run as cooperatives by Mayan farmworkers. Though anti-Indigenous paramilitaries recently attacked the crop stored in two warehouses (ROAR), Mayan communities continue to self-organize coffee production and send it around the world, demonstrating that coffee farming doesn’t require exploitation and deprivation if those growing it are empowered.

Inequalities in the coffee industry don’t mean we have to give up drinking it. But we shouldn’t let the progressive image of coffee culture obscure real work to do in making it equitable for us all.

Key Takeaways

Independent coffee shops are known for being progressive and inclusive.
In actuality, coffeehouses can be exclusive spaces that facilitate gentrification, while much coffee is farmed by unfree workers living in poverty.
People are taking action along the supply chain from the coffee fields to the neighborhood coffee shop to make sure coffee can be good for all of us.

Nicole Cardoza 8/5/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/5/21

Center people of color in anti-racism education.

Burgeoning anti-racists have gotten their bearings by referencing the books on widely-circulated anti-racist reading lists (NBC). But as the texts on such lists reinforce, racism is a broad, enduring feature of our society and entire lives. That means that being an anti-racist isn’t as easy as simply denouncing white supremacy or reading the correct book. Because of these ongoing challenges, racist practices can seep into the very act of anti-racist education. Even white people seeking to educate themselves about race can illegitimately privilege other white voices or make arrogant demands for the labor of people of color.

TAKE ACTION

Look beyond diversity trainings and white introspection as the crucial factors in undoing systemic racism. Materially support people of color-led efforts to undo wealth disparities, mass incarceration, and state violence.
Take the initiative in thinking through ways to undo racism in your community and life. You can use resources like Anti-Racism Daily as a guide, but you can’t expect people of color to write you a personal roadmap.
Understand that anti-racism is an active, lifelong practice and that dismantling unjust systems requires commitment and personal sacrifice.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

In the past year, huge numbers of privileged people have come to understand the depths of racial injustice in the United States. Many have understood the need to take action to undo racist systems, including those that may currently benefit rather than harm them.

A mainstay of the contemporary anti-racist curriculum is Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility. This book emphasizes how even liberal white people participate in racism. It also explains how white defensiveness and aversion to discussing race allow the perpetuation of white supremacy (CNN). Last spring, sales of White Fragility jumped 2264% in just two months (Forbes), becoming the fastest-selling Beacon Press release since the publisher was founded in 1854 (Slate, Beacon Press). The book, which spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list, has received both acclaim and criticism. White Fragility recommends white introspection and diversity trainings as the way to undo racism (The Bellows), though empirical evidence shows diversity trainings in isolation don’t actually work (The New Republic).

“Ultimately, the result of what she would create is a certain educated class of white person feeling better about themselves,” said John McWhorter. “You can say that all of this is a prelude to changing [racist] structures. But the question will always be, why don't you just go out and change the structures? And why do you think that you couldn't until doing this?” (NPR).

There’s also the irony of a white person deciding “the key things white people can do” about racism (CNN). DiAngelo now receives tens of thousands of dollars for each speaking engagement (Daily Mail). Few writers of color receive such attention or money as she does from her white, relatively affluent customer base (Daily Beast). Some aspiring white anti-racists promote a white author as a genius while authors of color are ignored.

The flipside to only accepting anti-racist advice from white people is arrogantly demanding it from people of color. White people sometimes expect people of color to be “patient and polite racial and cultural ambassadors.” Instead of being ignored, people of color are in this case unwillingly conscripted as unpaid anti-racism educators and coaches for the benefit of white people. “It would help if you gave specific, actionable steps we can take instead of just voicing the problem,” “teach me what to do,” “help me to be better”: though not always ill-intentioned, statements like these often put the responsibility for fixing racism back onto people of color (Medium).

As Kronda Adair says, “You expect people of color to explain to you What Is Really Going On And How To Fix It™. Guess what? We’re busy. We’re busy trying to live our lives, keep our houses clean, do good work, get good grades, play video games, go to the beach and keep mentally sane despite dealing with at least one bullshit *ist incident per day” (Kronda).

If we don’t set aside our lives to educate a white person, then we’re supposedly responsible for that person’s ignorance. “It’s a classic tool of derailing, this feigned helplessness and subtly accusatory question of, “If you don’t teach me, how can I learn?” (Implied answer: “I won’t, and it’ll be all your fault!”)” (Salon).

One frequently-recommended book from a white author won’t “fix” your racism. One instructive lesson from a person of color won’t, either. Anti-racism is a lifelong choice you make each day (Medium). It means relating to those around you and your own privileges in a different way. It means taking risk to dismantle unjust systems. It means doing your own introspection, taking your own initiative, and making your own sacrifices. It means work, and that work isn’t something that someone else can do for you.

There are many resources like the Anti-Racism Daily where people directly affected by oppression break down what that means. There are community organizations of color across this country asking for solidarity and support. Instead of imagining anti-racist education as a certification you complete or a private tutoring you contract, “think of it as continuing education or an independent studies class where you need to proactively seek out the content. Don’t ask us to provide the information for you. Instead, participate in your own education. We’ve already given you enough of our free labor. Don’t ask us for anymore” (Medium).

In the process of building a better world, we all start somewhere. As we move forward, the most important thing is to approach social change with an attitude of responsibility and humility.

Key Takeaways

Some white allies privilege white authors who center the ways white supremacy harms white people psychologically rather than the harm it inflicts on people of color both mentally and materially.
Other white allies demand explanations and personalized instructions to do better from people of color.
Anti-racism is a lifelong practice, especially for the privileged. It requires time, commitment, and sacrifice as well as personal initiative and critical thinking.

Nicole Cardoza 8/4/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/4/21

Support Asian American athletics.

Last Thursday, American gymnast Sunisa Lee won the women’s all-around title in the Tokyo Olympics. She overcame injuries and personal tragedies to win her gold medal, which means the United States is now tied with the Soviet Union for most total wins in the category (CNN). Her win has been overshadowed by her teammate Simone Biles’ decisions to withdraw from the event to focus on her mental health (CNN). As an Asian American athlete, Lee’s win was also met with outright racism.

TAKE ACTION

Follow the Asian American & Pacific Islander Athletics Alliance on Instagram and Twitter.
Follow and support the Asian American Justice + Innovation Lab.
Practice solidarity with Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

Last Thursday, American gymnast Sunisa Lee won the women’s all-around title in the Tokyo Olympics. She overcame injuries and personal tragedies to win her gold medal, which means the United States is now tied with Russia for most total wins in the category (CNN). Her win has been overshadowed by her teammate Simone Biles’ decisions to withdraw from the event to focus on her mental health (CNN). As an Asian American athlete, Lee’s win was also met with outright racism.

Replies to a SportsCenter announcement of her victory (Twitter) included, “Isnt [sic] she chinese,” “Made in China,” “You wouldn’t guess she was an American based on her appearance and name, but go USA,” and “Is is legal for someone with her name to claim to be an ‘American’? I think so, but what to [sic] the Trumplicans think?” Confused non-Asian viewers presumably comprised most of the 19,300 people who viewed an article entitled “Sunisa Lee Ethnicity” (Heavy). Lee is from St. Paul, Minnesota, born to Hmong immigrants from Laos, a community displaced by the U.S. “secret war” in the country during the occupation of Vietnam (MSNBC). But many Asian athletes in the United States find they can never be American enough.

Taiwanese-American professional basketball player Jeremy Lin famously endured racist media coverage and fan commentary while playing in the NBA (MSN). A few weeks ago, Stephen A. Smith made controversial remarks that MLB player Shohei Ohtani’s use of a translator “harms the game,” as we discussed in our piece on language justice. And last Monday, the World Archery Federation shared a video with the names of South Korean women’s archery team members written out in a “chop suey” font (Yahoo, NextShark).

Racism in sports doesn’t start at the professional level, either. Asian American kids are stereotyped as good students but poor athletes. “Asian American men are often seen as effeminate or asexual,” one report stated, while Asian American women are seen as “passive” or submissive (APA). These aren’t the characteristics that come to mind when you think of aspiring athletes. As a result, sports organizations fail to provide Asian athletes mentoring, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) kids quit sports sooner than kids of any other race, and AAPI players are “vastly underrepresented” in American professional sports (Yahoo). Seeing that there are few avenues for Asian American success in sports, parents are more likely to encourage their kids to pursue other avenues such as academics.

This is one example how the back-handed "compliment" of the "model minority myth" hurts Asian people. The model minority myth states that Asians are exceptionally hard-working, rule-abiding, and intelligent. It’s harmful because it paints Asians as a monolithic block and because it was developed as an anti-Black stereotype to be used against the Civil Rights Movement (Anti-Racism Daily). It also hurts Asian Americans, who are dissuaded from participating in sports because athletics doesn’t fit the narrative of Asians as studious nerds.

Fortunately, people are coming together to change this dynamic. This past March, the National Organization of Minority Athletic Directors and the Asian American Justice + Innovation Lab hosted a workshop exploring the intersections of Asian identity, athletics, and anti-racism (NOMAD). And in May, the Asian American & Pacific Islanders Athletics Alliance, 4AAPI, was founded to create a community for AAPI people in college athletics. “The creation of 4AAPI is long overdue in college athletics,” said 4AAPI cofounder Pat Chun. “AAPI individuals have a long and proud history of impacting college athletics and I’m proud that this community will finally have a home” (4AAPI).

Sports should be an opportunity to come together and witness athletic excellence. It's unfortunate that backwards stereotypes exclude some while souring the victories of others. The Olympics are an opportunity to reflect on the importance of changing this fact. We need to denounce racism in sports and support Asian American athletics.

Key Takeaways

Asian American athletes often face racist abuse.
At the same time, Asian American student athletes are discouraged by stereotypes and lack of support.
These attitudes are some of the many harmful consequences of the model minority myth.

Nicole Cardoza 8/2/21 Nicole Cardoza 8/2/21

Uproot workplace racism.

On Friday, NBC reported on a Glassdoor survey, which found the primary reason workers are excited to return to their workplaces is the opportunity to socialize with their coworkers (GlassDoor). But for employees of color, workplace socialization and communication are often taxing rather than restorative. Just 3% of Black remote workers want to return to the office, compared to 21% of their white peers.

TAKE ACTION

Recognize racist microaggressions and intervene when you witness them.
Subscribe to Anti-Racism at Work, our weekly email that offers tactical ways to transform the workplace.
Consider: How do I feel about my work environment? Could my coworkers with different identities feel differently? What kind of support do I and others need? How can I practice active solidarity with the people I work with?

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

When one Black web developer learned of plans to work in-person again, she thought back to the “snide remarks, almost always about race” she endured before a year of remote work. “Some of it was intentional. Most of it was. A little of it was just sort of unconscious. All of it just wears on you. I was really upset.” Rather than return to her office to face more “jokes” about affirmative action and boats back to Africa, she decided to quit (NBC).

The microaggressions faced by employees of color include bigoted jokes, backhanded “compliments,” and offensive nicknames (BuzzFeed). See our previous piece on microaggressions. The psychic toll of such exchanges mean that workplaces can feel very different for white people and people of color. 21% of white workers wish to return to the office. In contrast, only 3% of Black workers want to do the same (Future Forum).

White workers are seven times more amenable to returning to office work than their Black colleagues because “they don’t have to deal with the microaggressions we do,” said marketing and public relations specialist Crystal Lowe. “Who wants to work in the office? I’d rather clean up dog poop” (NBC).

“Working from home has provided a sense of freedom from that,” explained Joseph B. Hill, managing partner of a diversity, equity, and inclusion firm. “But what this has highlighted is that some bold and courageous conversations have to take place inside these offices to make them welcoming for Black people” (NBC). Maybe your job is considering a return to in-person work. Perhaps your job falls within the half of American jobs that can't be performed remotely (Global Workplace Analytics). In any case, the wild disparities in attitudes towards returning to the office between Black and white workers demonstrates the urgency of starting such “bold and courageous conversations” in workplaces of any kind.

We should all feel compelled to intervene when we witness microaggressions on the job, especially those that don’t affect us directly. It can be tempting to avoid responsibility by second-guessing yourself about what you witnessed. You may wonder if you heard it correctly, if you have the authority to respond, or what the negative consequences might be for you should you decide to get involved (DiversityQ). But if a workplace is good for you only in equal measure to it being harmful to your coworkers from marginalized backgrounds, you’re already involved. In each instance, we all need to question, interrupt, and denounce discriminatory behavior while supporting those against whom it is directed. Rather than creating a culture of blame, responsible bystander intervention instead “creates a culture of accountability, and one that doesn’t tolerate harassment, microaggresions, or discrimination of any kind” (Idealist).

Ultimately, rooting out workplace racism requires structural change, as well. Workers of color also face longer commutes than white workers (Grist) because of economic inequalities, housing market racism, and gentrification (Teen Vogue), so returning to work in-person requires a greater sacrifice of unpaid commuting time each week for non-white workers. In the workplace, equity may require systemic changes like labor protections for marginalized workers (The Progressive, UCLA) and initiatives to create actively anti-racist workplaces at all levels (Times Up). We should demand that the places we work view anti-racism as integral to the work itself, and we should insist on racial, economic, and housing justice in the places we live. But while we should advocate for large-scale change, we don’t need to wait for it to take action ourselves. We can look the other way in the face of workplace microaggressions, or we can instead choose to advocate for ourselves and coworkers of marginalized backgrounds. We have a collective responsibility to uproot workplace racism.

Key Takeaways

Just 3% of Black remote workers want to return to the office, compared to 21% of their white peers.
Many workers of color face racial microaggressions at their jobs from co-workers and supervisors alike.
We need to take the initiative to disrupt racial microaggressions whenever we see them, including on the job.

Nicole Cardoza 7/29/21 Nicole Cardoza 7/29/21

Supporting organizing beyond nonprofits.

In many parts of the country, nonprofits are the only place to gain access to essential products and services. Sometimes, nonprofits fill in gaps in the state safety net. In other times, they work in coordination with governments to deliver necessities. Often, nonprofits organize and advocate for marginalized communities. Many of us donate time or money to these organizations because we’re compelled by the work they do to feed the unhoused, bail people out of jail, or provide vital healthcare services. We depend on nonprofits to advocate on behalf of a righteous cause or uplift the plight of a community. As we do, it’s important to understand the expanding nonprofit sector has limitations as well as strengths.

TAKE ACTION

Look into grassroots frameworks like abolition, bottom-up mutual aid, and freedom of movement across borders.
Understand the limitations of nonprofits, and support other kinds of community organizations.
Look into grassroots frameworks like abolition, bottom-up mutual aid, and freedom of movement across borders.

GET EDUCATED

Nonprofits are tax-exempt organizations. Unlike for-profit companies, they don’t accumulate and distribute profits to their investors or owners. Because of this, they aren’t required to pay income tax. Like for-profit companies, many nonprofits have CEOs, boards of directors, and paid staff, but often depend on grants from charitable foundations or well-off donors to cover operating expenses. Homeowners associations, chambers of commerce, and fire companies are all usually nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, but the word “nonprofit” commonly invokes 501(c)(3)’s: charitable, service, and community organizing groups (National Council of Nonprofits, IRS).

Back in 2014, I ran an afterschool program for working-class Latinx youth for a nonprofit that provided services from immigration legal support to food distribution. As someone from a working-class immigrant family myself, it was really exciting to be able to support students coming from very similar backgrounds and I was proud to do such crucial community work.

When local police violently arrested presumed gang members with no evidence, my nonprofit’s director coordinated a town hall with the police department. The town hall was an attempt by the police department to quell the residents’ outraged questions and restore the department’s legitimacy in the community. Since many of the people we were working with had been victimized by the police, this was confusing and concerning to me and many of my coworkers.

We later found out that the nonprofit ultimately had no choice but to host the event. Much of its funding came from the city government, which insisted the police be invited to the town hall to “mend relationships” with the community. The organization ultimately had to be accountable not to community members but its funders, despite how the police had discriminated against the community we served.

Many groups have grappled with this tension. INCITE, an intersectional feminist organization, filed to become a nonprofit so they could more easily receive grants from donors and foundations. In 2004, they received a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation which was later withdrawn when the foundation found out that that INCITE supported Palestinian rights. INCITE learned that “foundations indeed can control your organizing, and on the other hand, there are other ways to resource movements when we think outside the foundation universe” (INCITE).

INCITE ultimately decided to stop being a nonprofit and depend on financial support from their communities instead. As a nonprofit, the professionalization of activism shifted their priorities to reporting to donors instead of organizing to end violence. They found that much of their vision for change had been limited by the strings these donors attached. INCITE decided to abandon their 501(c)3 status and forego funding to focus on organizing against violence on poor, immigrant, women, BIPOC, and queer communities, whether in the U.S. or Palestine (INCITE).

Because government contracts and donor money are major sources of funding for non-profit organizations, they often need to prioritize their relationship to politicians and wealthy donors. In another example, many community-oriented Silicon Valley nonprofits deal with the effects of the housing crisis like homelessness and displacement. Confusingly, many of these same organizations support tech developments projected to make the crisis worse. Many nonprofits endorsed a new Google megacampus, hoping to benefit from generous grants the company was offering in exchange for support (KQED, CNBC). These nonprofits’ public support of a project likely to harm the communities they worked in was crucial to the development’s eventual approval by local government (San Francisco Chronicle).

The nonprofit model resources important and sometimes crucial work, but there are limitations on how much these organizations can demand structural change for a more profoundly just world. Whether it is opposing gentrification, policing, racism, incarceration or any other cause, we should uplift grassroots efforts that empower poor, immigrant, queer, and BIPOC communities with explicitly anti-racist, abolitionist, and anti-oppressive policies and practices. Organizations like INCITE that are committed to movement building are always in need of funds or promotion. A movement needs all of us. We need to support organizing beyond nonprofits.

Key Takeaways

Nonprofits have strengths but also limitations that grassroots organizations do not. Sometimes, these limitations can lead to harm the communities they serve.
Nonprofits should build collective movements to make lasting transformation.
People with direct experience of oppression should determine how resources should be allocated to undo these oppressions.

ARCHIVES

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

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TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

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Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

TAKE ACTION

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Key Takeaways

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