The Fighting 44s

In May 2004, Bill Cosby spoke at an NAACP Legal Defense Fund event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that desegregated public schools. In his speech, he came down hard on poor Black folks for raising kids who don’t know how to speak proper English.

Then, he did it again in July at a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition event. Cosby criticized certain members of the Black community for blaming the white man for all their problems while letting their kids run around illiterate and calling each other “nigger.” He was absolutely unapologetic about airing their dirty laundry.

I admit that I was appalled at first. It didn’t seem right for Cosby to talk smack about his own people for all of America to hear. It seemed to give even more ammo for whites to use against Blacks - “See! Even Bill Cosby says they need to stop waiting around for their forty acres and a mule” or some shit like that.

There aren’t many parallels that can be drawn between the Black and Asian communities. We’ve got different histories and experiences with white oppression. But I’ve come to believe that inside criticism - though seemingly divisive at first blush - is a good thing, but only if we don’t let it get the better of us. After all, who else is in a better position to hold a mirror up to our faces than one of our own? Yes, as Cosby said, it’s time to turn that mirror around.

So here is my criticism to all of you: cut the fucking intra-ethnic bullshit. Dr. Huxtable would’ve said it more kindly, but he would’ve said the same thing. We’re not all going to agree on how to solve the issues facing Asian Americans, but we sure as hell aren’t going to have any impact on white and Black minds if we can’t even get along with each other. Why the hell do you care so much whether someone is Pacific Islander, East Asian, Southeast Asian, or even South Asian?

This doesn’t mean forgetting who you are, where your parents came from, or the struggles they endured to put your ungrateful fucking yellow/brown ass through school.

Some of your parents may have instilled ethnic pride in you to the exclusion of embracing an Asian American struggle. Many immigrant parents are like that: they don’t understand what it is WE are facing here and now. But you should: you’re Asian American. Be fucking proud of that. Fight for it and fight for all of us. Learn to create that balance in your head and heart ñ to never forget what our parents tried to teach us, but at the same time, to expand the concept of collective struggle against oppression.

So you want to get into a top-notch college? Fine, that’s important, ’cause we all know that’s how you get a good job so you can afford the sub-woofers in your Civic or that shit-brown Louis Vuitton mini-backpack. Is that all you want? What have you done lately to make your community better? I’m not talking about shit you do to pad your college application. How much do you even care about your community, your country, your world? Vote, shout, march, get involved. You’re not a guest in this country, so get your head out of your ass and quit acting like one.

The Asian American community has unity issues bigger than any other colored minority group in this country. We’ve got a wide range of prominent ethnicities, languages, cultures, and socio-economic disparities, many of which are exacerbated by the continuous wave of new Asian immigrants coming into this country. Power in numbers is a good thing. But if we can’t get over inter-ethnic divisiveness and political and social apathy, there isn’t even a glimmer of hope for empowerment.

I’m holding up the mirror, and I am not fucking sorry.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2004 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Comment »

Share