Trust me, there’s no “them”
It’s heartbreaking and absurd that the words “all lives matter” have become a symbol for white supremacy. In a morally just world, these words would stand for equality, for human rights. But this is the world we have to face because these are the class systems that were built before us.
Things like racial equality, gender equality, LGBTQ equality, it’s all one fight—the fight for equality.
The only way to eliminate racism and sexism is to recognize this. I’m not a Asian woman standing with the black community. I am a human standing tall, proud, and unguarded with my brothers and sisters as I say that before all lives CAN matter here in America, BLACK LIVES MUST MATTER. We’ve got to stand together not as different races, but as humans, because the fight for equality is one fight.
Here is one of the most vivid memories I have of my childhood. My Father and I were at a gas station one evening when we saw a group of black men harassing an Asian man. They were pushing him around, chanting racial slurs, and I jumped out of the car to speak up.
My Father grabbed me and told me to get back in the car as he went to check out what was happening. When he came back, I remember asking him why people were so cruel to each other. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why skin color could cause people to do unspeakable things to each other. My Father and I had a long conversation that night about justice and history and government. His opening words were, “trust me, there’s no ‘them.’” And the very last thing he said to me before we went home was—
If you truly want to do something about it, get a good education so you can one day be in a position where you can make real change.
Those words changed the entire course of my life. I wrote in my diary that night,
The only color that matters is the color of your heart and your willingness to open it.
I may have been more naive then, but I meant it. The moment I turned 13, I had my parents sign a work permit so I could start working at the local library. When everyone else was watching TV and hanging out with friends, I was interning at court houses, law firms, and civil rights organizations. I knew what I wanted my life to stand for.
With the heart-shattering murder of George Floyd, I am again reminded of the young girl eager to speak up in the face of injustice. I am reminded that the system is not broken, but was built this way by governments to stay in power. I am reminded that the only way to create a better system is to give people the right thing to stand for, and to give politicians the incentive to stand for the right thing.
Racism is a system. A system invented for control, superiority, ego. Invented to make a group of humans feel “superior” to another human because of the “shade” of someone’s skin. Let’s be frank. If you feel you are better, deserve more, or are entitled to more because of the color of your skin, your mindset needs work.
I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I wish to devote my life to. The past year, I spent a lot of time shaping When Toys Age, and writing “The Revolution on Political Religion,” a political and social discourse—and I realized something. At the core of both messages is this:
The highest advancement of any government is measured by the value placed on each life.
Trust me, there’s no “them”