The Tale of a Mouse
By: Conder Shou
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Civil Rights, Asian American, Humanity, Equality

There is something wrong.

To my Asian-American friends and public figures, you and I should admit this fact: we have already known for much of our lives — consciously or subconsciously — that we are viewed differently from the lens of anti-Black racism. And for that exact reason, we have rarely ever thought about, and have rarely ever discussed, our role in it outside the eruption of tensions George Floyd was only one victim of out of many, many more.

We have spoken out in the past against the model minority myth because it reduces our individuality to a few specific traits we know capture so little, and often nothing, of who we actually are. This is important.

And because of how important we felt this was, it also became a part of the reason for why we so easily forgot why this myth was first perpetuated, and how it’s still used to this day: as a justification for why racism does not exist in this country. As a statement on black people.

“See, why aren’t they doing well, when Asian-Americans are?”

The Civil Rights Movement, a decades-long struggle initiated, pushed forward, and realized by Black Americans, opened the doors for many of us and our families to immigrate to this country. And in our arrival, we received better treatment (not perfect, but better), and benefitted from a system that was institutionalized specifically against Blacks. And in our arrival, made possible by the Black community, the successes we reaped from our privilege was used as more fuel for anti-Black racism. This fuel, is the model minority myth.

And we had forgotten this.

What a privilege it is to forget. We’ve criticized this notion of the model minority so frequently, and in so many different ways. We make movies and celebrate them as milestones partially because they fight against it. We make memes and music to criticize it in one of the largest Facebook groups to currently exist. And we discuss this idea frequently, privately and publicly, amongst ourselves.

We talk first about the expectations it puts on us, then its effects on our mental health, its ignorance of our diversity, and then how it seems to create a view of us as a perpetual “otherness” in mainstream society. And we leave it at that.

How terrifyingly ironic that is. We’ve participated, even encouraged the reasons for why this exists and in the same breath, have complained about how it affects us. Because why it exists, doesn’t actually affect us, not negatively.

But how it does affect us negatively, we can go on about how unfair it is.

How unfair for us, it is.

I’ve seen many of my friends speak out and act during these extremely troubling times, Asian-American or not. And I’ve been inspired, educated, and enabled to act because of it. It has motivated me to take a lot of time to learn and reflect. And it’s why I really want to share this message with you today.

Speak out, act, and be angry as you are, and should be, right now. But most, most, most importantly. Remember.

When these protests eventually end, hopefully for the absolute best of reasons, weeks, months, or years from now, and we go back to creating movies, music, books, memes, and discussions around our own Asian identities: remember what you are doing and feeling right now, and create and celebrate intentionally, sincerely, with this purpose at the very front of your mind. Whether you are an Asian-American painter, actor, teacher, astronaut, bartender, politician, filmmaker, student, poet, engineer, journalist, or otherwise — there is a role your work can play here. You must find it. We can only dismantle the myth of the model minority and the flawed comparisons made between minority groups, if we begin by dismantling systemic anti-Blackness. Society only focuses on what it perceives of us, because of what has been denied for others.

Remember, that this mold we try so hard to break out of will always exist until we elevate others to equal opportunities, treatment, and humanization.

Until they are equally rewarded by hard work, equally innocent until proven guilty, and equally incentivized to abide by the system that has so far only disregarded its own rules at their expense.

Until they are able to create and celebrate their identities as freely as we hope to.

Until one day, their lives finally matter.

And we remember.