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Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR
A letter to our South
Asian community
SUNITHA PALAT & PRISHA GROVER
MiC Staff Writers
Black Lives Matter is a peaceful organiza-
tion — created after the killing of Trayvon
Martin in 2013 — that fights to support Black
innovation and excellence and combat acts
of violence, which are the result of systemic
racism. While the recent protests are cer-
tainly sparked by George Floyd’s killing, this
is not what the fight is about nor does it end
with the conviction of his killers — Derek
Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Keung
and Tou Thao. And Black Lives Matter
doesn’t end with Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud
Arbery either. Activists are seeking a disrup-
tion of the system that has been working to
appease the white supremacist narrative
and society. Black Lives Matter is seeking
freedom, an end to police brutality and the
inequalities in the justice system, brought
about by the violence against Black people on
the basis of their skin color.
According to a study conducted by the
Proceedings of the National Academy of the
Sciences of the USA, Black men and women
are 2.5 and 1.4 times respectively more likely
to be killed by police over the course of their
life than white men and women. Addition-
ally, several white police officers and white
perpetrators, in general, have gotten away
with killing black men and women despite
the existence of evidence that could con-
vict them. For example, Philando Castile
was killed at a traffic stop and his killer
was caught on tape, and instead of his killer
being convicted, the city paid Castile’s fam-
ily a large settlement. Terence Crutcher was
experiencing car trouble, and officer Betty
Shelby said she shot him because she “feared
for her life.” A video showed he had his hands
in the air and made no threats towards her.
Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun when
an officer shot him for allegedly pointing his
pistol at people. The officer was simply fired.
The Black Lives Matter movement is a peace-
ful and legal movement, currently pushing
for change in our policy about excessive use
Protesting racism: A
first-person perspective
AAKASH RAY
MiC Staff Writer
Provided by Aakash Ray
With the Black Lives Matter movement
gaining momentum in the last couple weeks,
it has become routine to wake up to social
media feeds brimming with infographics on
“the history of racism in America,” “defund-
ing the police” and other ways to support the
cause. We scroll away on our phones, reading
relevant articles and casually sharing sensa-
tional stories of police brutality as regularly
as we once broadcasted our weekends at the
lake. What was once the outcry from primar-
ily Black Americans has transformed into
a nationwide pursuit for systematic racial
justice. Yet, as with any movement, I predict
media attention will subside, people will stop
posting and other news will take greater pre-
cedence.
The backdrop of “quarantine life” present
within our daily lives, has left people with
the easy excuse to digress from in-person
activism. Reading experiences from behind
a screen and having conversations within
the comfort of our homes is far less engag-
ing than hearing the voices of those in pain
amplified in person. I decided to attend a
protest in Detroit this past weekend to empa-
thize, to grieve and to fight alongside Black
Americans.
As a non-Black POC, I have always shied
away from discussing anti-Blackness within
my own South Asian community. As an indi-
vidual with few Black friends, it has been dif-
ficult for me to confront the racial prejudices
within my own social circles and feel confi-
dent that I was being the best ally that I could
be. Trying to overcome this doubt, I felt a pit
in my stomach as I traveled to Detroit know-
ing this will be the first time I face this dis-
comfort in-person.
Arriving at Eastern Market, I felt the thick
heat in the air as I positioned my mask. I felt
a bit disoriented and lost at first not know-
ing where to begin. I was met with hundreds
of other individuals ready to march down to
the riverfront, carrying all types of signs,
from “Black Lives Matter” posters to ones
donned with the names of dozens of Black
Americans who died at the hands of police
brutality. One sign in particular relayed the
words of human rights activist Malcolm X
who said, “I don’t see an American dream; I
see an American nightmare.”
As the words circled in my head, I was
overcome with deep sadness. Why is it that
thousands needed to gather together to
prove ending racism isn’t controversial? Why
must it take outcries from across the world
for the systems in power to pay attention? Is
there any American dream at all for margin-
alized communities in this nation?
With these thoughts lingering in my
mind, we slowly began to march. Initially,
we walked in silence and spread out far
apart from others; however, as time went
on, we began to draw closer together. With
this cohesion came synchronization, and the
once muffled chanting became strong and
melodic.
“No justice” was quickly followed by a
powerful punch, “no peace.”
“Hands up!” “Don’t shoot”
“Say their names?” “Which one?”
The sun was beating down and I could
feel my voice being strained from chanting
through my mask for hours. Sweat had begun
to drip down the side of my face along with
tears, racing towards the sides of my mouth
where I could taste a faint saltiness. The
efforts were largely led by Black Americans
whose voices echoed the pain and injustice
of the past 400 years — reminding myself
and other protestors to continue pushing
through the heat and fatigue. Alongside the
pathway, volunteers of all ages, including
young boys and girls, hung “BLM” signs off
the side of their coolers as they lugged...
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of force in law enforcement on the basis of
race. This also points to outrage over the
overcriminalization of Black people and the
decriminalization of caucasian people by the
justice system, as according to the United
States Sentencing Commission, “Black male
offenders received sentences on average
19.1 percent longer than similarly situated
White male offenders.” Additionally, a study
conducted by the Sentencing Project shows
how implicit bias has led people to associate
criminality with Black and Hispanic people.
We want to express how we, as South
Asian Americans, can help, because being
South Asian or any other NBPOC [COPY:
maybe spell out] is not an excuse to dismiss
this discussion. We, as a community, benefit
from this oppression and if we do not inform
ourselves and our peers to create change, we
remain a perpetrator of the problem. Being
brown can sometimes feel like a get out of jail
free card — I’m not white, I’m brown, how
could I be racist to black people? You’d be
surprised; a lot of this is due to the “model
minority” myth.
For those who are unfamiliar, the “model
minority” myth is the idea that certain POC
groups (like East Asian and South Asian
Americans) are the ideal immigrant group.
If you have parents with the immigrant suc-
cess story, you’ve probably heard the age-old
tale: “We came to America with so little, we
worked hard, climbed the ladders, ignored
discrimination and are now well-off in the
land of dreams.” But some who tell this tale
do so by putting down other POC: “If I did it,
why can’t they?”
The success of minority groups in Ameri-
ca is largely a result of Black activism in the
1960s, but also the stark difference in treat-
ment in this country in the modern day. Yes,
Asian Americans and South Asian Ameri-
cans have faced horrible discrimination in
this country — the Chinese Exclusion Act,
internment camps and the fears of...
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Graphic by Hibah ChughtaiI