Educating Yourself About Anti-Racism Part 3: Anti-Racism in the Asian Community, and a Discussion with Tommy Feng

This is The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett, a podcast from the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, an organization dedicated to eradicating racism and hate and spreading anti-racism. Listen as Donzel talks about the relevant topics that will inspire you and help build your capability to take action and change the world. Because none of us are doing enough as long as racism still exists. And now, here's your host, Donzel Leggett.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Hello and welcome to the 10th episode of The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett. In this episode, I will provide more insight into Step 2 of the ARCC process for personal transformation, educating yourself about anti-racism, by highlighting the impact of white supremacy on the Asian American community, exposing the model minority myth for the fraud that it is, and finally, welcoming in fellow ARCC board member Feng Haixiao, or Tommy Feng, to discuss his story and the need for the Asian community to adopt anti-racism. Now let's get started with our show.

So I am Donzel Leggett, host of The ARCC of Change podcast and founder of the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC. Our vision at ARCC is to build a racism-free world and our mission is to provide inspiration, education, and support for you to transform, practice, and spread anti-racism. Now this begins with your personal transformation to anti-racism. Back in episode three, I introduced the process for transforming yourself and your network by first erasing your ignorance about racism, and second, educating yourself about anti-racism. And then third, building the character and confidence to stand up, speak out, and take action to spread anti-racism. And over the last several episodes, we've been working our way through this process. In the last episode, I further explained Step 2 in this process, which is educating yourself about anti-racism. And in this episode, I'll continue to focus on this step. But from a different perspective, we will explore the impact of white supremacy on the Asian American community and how this has influenced systemic racism in the United States.

Now, if you've been listening to this podcast, you know that we have been focusing our discussion as it pertains to racism, mostly regarding racism faced by black and brown people in the United States, most specifically African-Americans. This is the most visible and acute example of egregious, systemic and institutional racism. And although this will continue to be a major focus for ARCC because of the aforementioned reasons, we also must begin to address other forms of racism against other minority groups as part of the overall structure of white supremacy in the United States.

I made a decision to dedicate this episode to understanding anti-racism in the Asian American community. As just this past Monday, I realized that May was Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Now, this is actually a great example of how all of us, including myself, have to continue to grow and challenge ourselves to learn more. To continue our journey to be anti-racist. Remember that our journey to being anti-racist starts with erasing our ignorance about racism. Not just the racism that one group faces or the group that you identify with faces, but all forms of structural, systemic, and institutional racism. And then educating yourself about anti-racism. And what it takes to adopt it, and then building the character and courage to speak out, stand up, and take action to spread anti-racism.

It is important for all of us to continually recognize that we will never know everything, and we'll never be perfect. But if we continue to hold ourselves accountable to learn and erase our ignorance, adopt anti-racism, and most importantly, take action to spread it, we can work together to build that racism-free world.

Last Sunday, I was making a post on LinkedIn for Mother's Day, and I saw something that looked like a post regarding something called Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I didn't know anything about it. I'd never heard of it. I had no idea what it was. I Googled it and realized that it was a formally recognized awareness month here in the United States, and I felt bad. As an anti-racist. That I didn't know about this. That I wasn't familiar with it. But I realized right away that this is again part of our journey to becoming anti-racist. It's about erasing our ignorance.

And you know what? I didn't call any of my Asian friends to ask them, "Hey, tell me about Asian American Pacific Islander Month." That's not what anti-racists do. Remember, we take it upon ourselves to do the research and to hold ourselves accountable to learn. And that's what I did. I started researching it. I learned about it. And it wasn't very long that it took me to say to myself, I have to take action.

Now, for context, I've been working on episode 10 most of Mother's Day weekend, pretty much all Friday and all Saturday, I spent 16 hours researching, prepping, and getting ready for episode 10. But I decided after learning about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, that that was in May, that our May episode needed to honor that. Even though I put in some time on that prior episode, I said, I'm going to scrap it. And I'm going to write a new episode. I'm going to focus a new episode on raising awareness of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage to honor this month, but also to discuss the impact of racism on the Asian community and the need to adopt and spread anti-racism.

So let's get started with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It was first proposed by the U.S. House and Senate in 1977, then signed into law in 1978 as Asian Pacific Islander Week. Then in 1990, then President George H.W. Bush signed a bill extending it to the full month of May. Now it's interesting why May was chosen. It was chosen for two reasons. First, to commemorate May 7th, 1843, when the first Japanese immigrant arrived in the United States. And then, secondly, May 10th, 1869, was intended to also be commemorated because that's when the golden spike, which ceremonially represents the last spike that's driven into a railroad track. The golden spike was driven on that date into the transcontinental railroad on which many Chinese immigrants had helped build.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month was designed to raise awareness and celebrate the contributions of Asians and Pacific Islanders to American history. It also presents an opportunity, like Black History Month, to research and learn about important but little known people of Asian heritage, as well as some famous people who you may not have known had Asian or Pacific Islander heritage. Some examples are the thousands of Chinese workers who I talked about earlier who helped connect America's East Coast and West Coast by building the Great Western Railroad. Or people like Jerry Yang, the Taiwanese co-founder of Yahoo. Or Philip Vera Cruz, the Filipino-American labor and civil rights activist who worked with Cesar Chavez and co-founded the labor movement on farms and agriculture that ultimately became the American Farm Workers Union. Or what about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson of Samoan and Afro-Canadian descent who is Hollywood's highest paid actor for the second year in a row. And here are a few who are not Americans, but I believe are still worth mentioning due to the historical significance of their contributions over the last year.

Youn Yuh-jung, who recently became the first Korean actor—she's an actress—to win an Oscar in 2021.

And Hideki Matsuyama, who became the first Japanese man to win a major golf tournament by winning the Masters in 2020. And then there's Senator Tammy Duckworth, the retired Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel who was a war hero injured in the line of duty in 2004 and who served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois since 2017.

Senator Duckworth has made history on several fronts. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress. The first person born in Thailand elected to Congress. The first woman with a disability elected to Congress. The first female double amputee in the Senate. And the first senator to give birth while in office.

Senator Duckworth is also the second of three Asian-American women to serve in the U.S. Senate after Mazie Hirono and before Kamala Harris.

Then there's Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who is currently one of the leading candidates to be New York City's next mayor. And who, along with the aforementioned Kamala Harris, made history last year as two Asian Americans who made it to the debate stage and several primaries for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

And of course, there's the incomparable Vice President Kamala Harris, who went on to make history and become the first woman and person of Asian, East Indian, and African descent to win a national election and become vice president of the United States.

But also like Black History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month provides the opportunity to learn about the injustices and racism historically faced by these groups as well.

One of the most well-known injustices is probably Japanese internment. Which was the incarceration of about 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps in the United States during World War II. 62% of the internees were actually American citizens.

What you probably also don't know is that Mexico and some other Central and South American countries also sent their citizens and immigrants of Japanese descent to be incarcerated in these U.S. camps. The guidelines varied in terms of defining who qualified to be interned. But as an example, the state of California defined anyone with one-sixteenth or more of Japanese lineage was sufficient to be interned. There were others who went as far as saying anyone with one drop of Japanese blood qualified to be incarcerated.

In the late 1980s, the United States government officially apologized for this racist policy and actually paid, at the time, about $1.6 billion in reparations to survivors. That's about $3.5 billion in today's dollars.

Do you know about the Chinese Exclusion Act?

The Chinese Exclusion Act was an 1882 U.S. law prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers into the U.S. Now, Chinese women had previously been banned from immigrating to the U.S. with the Page Act of 1875. Believe it or not, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first and remains the only law to have been implemented to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating to the United States.

Do you know about the Los Angeles Massacre, otherwise known as the Chinese Massacre of 1871? Well, you probably heard of the L.A. Riots, but I'm guessing you've not heard of the L.A. Massacre. Described by some as the largest mass lynching in U.S. history, at least 19 Chinese were killed, which was 10% of the Chinese population in Los Angeles at the time. Most were shot and hanged. Ironically, the massacre took place on Calle de los Negros, or Negro Alley, as it was called. A mob of about 500 mostly white men went to the area in a murderous fervor on rumors that the Chinese were killing white people. Eight men were convicted of manslaughter for these brutal murders, but the convictions were later overturned on appeal due to technicalities.

What about the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885? Now, this took place in Rock Springs, Wyoming. 28 Chinese mining workers were killed and many others injured. 78 Chinese homes were burned to the ground by a violent, racist mob of white miners who were jealous of the Chinese for their employment. They robbed them, shot them, and stabbed the Chinese. And many Chinese who tried to escape and take refuge in their homes were burned alive. Others who escaped into the mountains starved to death or were killed by predators. Four bodies were found with bullet holes in the face, head, and chest. Nine bodies were found burned. And 15 victims only had bone fragments found, not their bodies, as they had been partially eaten by dogs, hogs, and other animals. No one was ever held accountable for the atrocities committed during this racially motivated massacre. A handful of suspects were arrested, but were released a little more than a month later. And according to the New York Times, on their release, they were met by several hundred men, women, and children and treated to a thunderous ovation, the same broad community consent that lynch mobs often received.

Inevitably, the lack of accountability for this racist, murderous massacre at Rock Springs, led to other incidents of anti-Chinese aggression, primarily in California, Oregon, and the Washington Territories.

What about the Hell's Canyon Massacre of 1887, also known as the Snake River Massacre? This took place in Hell's Canyon, Oregon. It was a massacre where 34 Chinese gold miners were ambushed and murdered in May of 1887. In 2005, the area was renamed Chinese Massacre Cove and a memorial was placed there in 2012. The massacre was committed by a gang of seven armed horse thieves who ambushed and brutally killed groups of Chinese miners across several different locations. And they stole about $4,000 to $5,000 worth of the miners' gold dust. The gold was never recovered. Never even was further investigated.

According to David H. Stratton in his book titled The Snake River Massacre of Chinese Miners, the brutality and savagery of the Snake River atrocity was probably unexcelled in all the anti-Chinese violence of the American West. The mutilated bodies of the Chinese miners were thrown into the river. But since it was the high water stage of the spring runoff, the dead Chinese were found for months later. And on some accounts, years later. And again, as a sad but very common theme across racial terrorism and murder of Asians, and of course African Americans as well, no one was ever convicted or held accountable for this racially motivated massacre. Now, one reason was that the United States and the Western state governments did not want the Chinese there anyway, as evidenced by the Chinese Exclusion Act. And they did not see the Chinese as equal people, but inferior humans. In fact, the state of California actually put this into law when in 1854, the California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Hall that the testimony of a Chinese man who witnessed a murder was inadmissible against a white criminal defendant, chiefly because, per popular thought, the Chinese were a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior. And who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point. East Indians were also not desirable as well, and not considered equal to white people either. Consider the story of East Indian immigrant Bhagat Singh Thind. Thind was born in India but came to America when he was 24 years old in 1913. He applied for citizenship and was granted it on the theory that Indians were not Mongolians, but rather Caucasians. In other words, white, and thus eligible for naturalization. The Supreme Court, however, reversed that ruling, holding that he was not white, because most white Americans would never consider him a member of the white race. After the United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind decision in 1923, 64 other East Indians who had naturalized and had become citizens of the United States lost their American citizenship.

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DONZEL LEGGETT: The horrible atrocities and racist laws that I reviewed in the prior segment were just in place about 100 years ago. In fact, the Chinese Exclusion Act didn't officially end until just about 60 or 70 years ago. This is a far cry from the Asians as the model minority storyline that was created and perpetuates today.

The Asian model minority fraud started in the 1960s as the black civil rights movement was gaining momentum. The country's racist attitudes and policies, brutality was being seen and exposed to the world. The racist cruelty of the Jim Crow South which was not much different as people were seeing than South African apartheid, and the terrible living conditions in the segregated black ghettos in the North, the violence and inhuman treatment that black people were still being subjected to, and the abject poverty that most were still locked into 100 years after slavery was a shame to the country. And black people had had enough and were demanding equality. Black leaders like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panthers were all pushing through different means for change now. It was a turbulent time. So some white intellectuals at the time and media groups started propagating the idea of the Asian model minority. Asians were a group of people who had also been discriminated against, as I just talked about. They had been brutalized. They had been held down. But had appeared to be adjusting and thriving. The Asians as the model minority concept appealed to what many whites wanted in minority groups. To stay to themselves, be industrious, work hard, follow the rules of the establishment, of the land, and most importantly, accept your place and don't complain.

This concept of the model minority actually was not new. It was basically what whites had loved about Booker T. Washington's view for African-Americans. Booker T. Washington was a black leader and educator in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was the founder of the famous Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. His view for black people to successfully adjust to life in the United States post-slavery and collapse of Reconstruction was to stay to themselves. Don't push for integration or full equality. To get an education in industrious careers where you can be doers and skilled laborers and be satisfied with that. Don't push to be the boss. To work hard, stay quiet, don't make waves. And most importantly, accept the rules of the land as unfair as they may be. Live within them. Even if it means that you're kind of a second class citizen. Don't demand full equality, but work to achieve tolerance and acceptance over time.

Essentially, he was a proponent of pursuing economic prosperity while sacrificing full equality for tolerance. Of course, by 1960, Booker T. Washington's views had been rejected by most black people. Based on the extreme disparities and cruelty they were still facing, and the fact that many felt that they had played a significant role in building this country and turning it into the most powerful country in the world and felt they deserved full equality, not acceptance and not tolerance. So another model minority example was needed. And what the white establishment saw with Asians was a people who basically stayed to themselves, are dedicated to hard work and education, do not complain or cause many problems, and are not demanding more from the government or from society. Basically, taking the hand they were dealt and pulling themselves up without needing any support from the government. The direct message that began to be crafted was, was that Asians overcame all their hardships and are now incredibly successful and actually doing better in school and making more money than white people. The indirect message was, why can't black people do that? Why does the government need to help black people? Why do we need affirmative action for them? Why do they complain so much? Why can't they simply pull themselves up out of poverty? Of course, this ignores the 400 years of the institution of chattel slavery, the rape, brutalization, denial of education, followed by another 100 years of state-sanctioned terrorism to keep black people from achieving anything, from owning anything, from building any wealth. It ignored the fact that the federal, state, and local governments colluded with civic organizations, churches, and banks to propagate redlining, to lock black people out of nicer, higher home value neighborhoods where they could build wealth, and later to lock them out of value appreciating suburbs where they could build wealth and lock them into ghettos, resulting in blacks having an average of 5 to 15% of the wealth of whites. It ignored the dramatic inequality of educational access even after desegregation of schools, as schools in black urban neighborhoods are three times as crowded and receive $23 billion less funding than white suburban schools. It ignored the fact that even when blacks have an education and secure jobs, their wages on average were 65% of the wages of their white counterparts.

But the model minority fraud isn't only bad for black and brown people in this country. It's also bad in the long run for Asians. They're expected to be model citizens in a society that never really accepts them into the society. It isolates Asians from other minority groups like African Americans and others and creates tension with them, which accomplishes another objective of white supremacist systems, which is to keep the many divided so that the very few can exert and maintain power over them. The model minority fraud is also intended to make Asians and everyone else think that Asians do not experience racism or discrimination. And for some reason, if they do experience racism, they're expected to ignore it, pretend it didn't happen, and not complain or make a fuss. Because they're allowed to be part of the system. Their success is celebrated. Like Booker T. Washington's model of obtaining economic prosperity while sacrificing full equality for tolerance. But we know that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders experience real racism every day. Approximately 30% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders reported that they had endured discrimination in the workplace. This is the highest reporting percentage of any racial group. Blacks were second with 26%. But Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at 30% was the highest.

One of the primary reasons cited for discrimination is, believe it or not, employment. Look, it's not that Asians can't get jobs. They get good jobs. The issue is they can't get promoted. Asian Americans are often deemed unsuited for high ranking management positions. Look, if you work at a company or you do business with companies, look around at who's running the place. How many Asians do you see in leadership roles? Now, this does not make a lot of common sense when you consider the fact of what this whole model minority myth is supposed to have you believe. Think of it this way. All right. Asian kids outscore almost every other group when it comes to standardized tests. They graduate at or near the top of their graduating classes all over the country. They attend the best universities and they graduate at extremely high levels with not only bachelor's degrees, but advanced degrees. But rarely, if ever, do we see them reaching corporate leadership positions or even middle management positions. Now, there are some exceptions. Don't get me wrong. I mentioned a few earlier in this episode. But the current level of Asians in leadership roles, on average, is certainly not at the percentage you would guess that would be proportional to their outperformance in education. This is white supremacy and the fallacy of the model minority. This is the Booker T. Washington model for what he thought black people should do back in 1900. Take jobs. Work hard. Stay quiet. Don't make waves. Be satisfied. You'll not be the boss, but you'll make a good living. Great followers. Great doers. But not leaders. Because they lack the capability. This is racial discrimination disguised as prosperity. This is racism behind a mask disguised. And the really tough part about this is many Asians can't see through the disguise behind the mask. They don't think that they're victims of racism and they continue to feed the cycle of the model minority even without knowing it. They stay silent about racism against other minorities, which in essence is furthering the advance of white supremacy. But the recent upsurge in Asian hate is beginning to wake some people up to this fact that racism against Asians is real. And no matter how well they're doing, how much they epitomize the model minority to many people in this country, they will still be the other. And they'll only be tolerated until there's a reason to not tolerate them any longer. Hate crimes against Asians are up over 100% in the United States and it's increasing in other parts of the world as well. Mainly due to the illogic of blaming Asians for the pandemic. Even the most successful Asians with strong financial security living in nice homes in the so-called safe suburbs of America are feeling the sting and fear of racism.

An acquaintance I have who is an Asian married to a white executive, she can't go to the grocery store alone anymore because she's starting to feel unwanted and unsafe. A female Asian executive told me she can't jog in her neighborhood anymore because she feels the stares and it makes her feel uncomfortable, unwanted and unsafe. Another Asian executive that I know had to pull her sons out of school because they were regularly told to "go back where you came from. We don't want you here anymore." Now, this isn't new, but it is more overt. It is more acute and it is more aggressive. These aren't the microaggressions that Asians have learned to live with, like mocking accents and butchering names on purpose. This is different. And even status or living in the so-called safe suburbs won't protect you. In the last episode, I explained how we all must adopt anti-racism and reject non-racism. Anti-racism is not only about being conscious of the overt racism and rejecting it, but also the harder to see covert racism. The structural systemic racism that's built into our societies and then standing up, speaking out and taking action to wake people up. To adopt anti-racism. Non-racism on the other hand is about denying or minimizing the existence and or the significance of systemic and structural racism. And thus having an excuse to not do anything. To break that cycle. As I've said this is the biggest impediment to eradicating racism. It's not the racist. It's the non-racist whose unwillingness to see the reality of structural and systemic racism and act to break it down in effect supports the endurance of racism. Many Asians, whether purposefully embracing this model minority moniker or not, have taken a non-racism approach by staying quiet, not making waves, and not speaking out, and believing that by just doing these things, everything will be fine. There's nothing wrong with working hard, striving for success. My life brand is all about strive to be the best to control my own destiny. But it should be clear by now, especially reflecting on both the history of this country and the current divisive and racially charged climate in which we live, that everything is not going to be fine without action. It might have been black and brown people discriminated against and brutalized yesterday. But as we're seeing and being reminded of our past right now, it can easily be Asian people today. As Dr. King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It's time for Asian people to adopt anti-racism and reject non-racism. It's time for Asian people to recognize that racism is not about white and black. It's about white supremacy. There is no middle ground. You're either on the side of racism or anti-racism. Earlier, I provided some examples of prominent Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders like Senator Tammy Duckworth, Andrew Yang, Philip Vera Cruz, and Vice President Kamala Harris. But one of the most impressive to me that I learned about for the first time this week, who personifies what exactly I'm talking about right now in terms of rejecting non-racism and adopting anti-racism and being an anti-racist is Yuri Kochiyama. Yuri Kochiyama was a radical Japanese-American liberation activist and pioneer of the intersectionality movement. Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. I'll have other episodes I'm going to talk more about this. But Yuri Kochiyama was an anti-racist before people even knew what the term was. Along with her parents, she was incarcerated in internment camps. Later, she and her husband and her six kids moved to New York City and lived in the housing projects surrounded by black and Latino communities. Yuri advocated for safer streets and integrated schools and this led her to dig deep into the histories of black Americans and Puerto Ricans. She was erasing her ignorance. Yuri and her husband would take their children to the American South for summer vacation to see the landmarks of the civil rights movement, to learn about the historical struggles of the African Americans and to see the vestiges of Jim Crow for themselves. She was educating herself and her family about anti-racism. Yuri also had a close friendship with Malcolm X. They shared a birthday and incredibly she was in the front row of the event at which he was assassinated and bravely rushed to the stage after he'd been shot to hold his head as he died. Yuri had been an advocate for integration but her friendship with Malcolm X opened her eyes to change the course of her activism. And she began to fight for the total liberation of marginalized peoples all around the world. She built her character and confidence to stand up, speak out, and take action to spread anti-racism. And she made a commitment to do it. Yuri knew even then that it was time for Asian people to adopt anti-racism and reject non-racism. Yuri knew even back then that it was time for Asian people to recognize that racism is not about white and black. It's about white supremacy. Yuri Kochiyama is a name that all Americans should know. I'm ashamed I just learned it because she personified the transformation to anti-racism, erasing ignorance, educating yourself about anti-racism and building the character and courage to do what it takes to spread it.

In the next segment, I'm proud to say I'll be welcoming in a great friend and fellow ARCC board member, Feng Haixiao, also known as Tommy Feng, to share his story and his journey to be anti-racist, as well as his perspective on the need for the Asian community to reject non-racism and adopt anti-racism.

Visit us at https://joinarcc.org/(opens in new tab) to learn more about ARCC. Donate to our cause and join the movement that will change the world.

DONZEL LEGGETT: All right, welcome back to The ARCC of Change. I am here with a great friend and ARCC board member, Feng Haixiao, where he also goes by the name of Tommy Feng. I am so pleased to have Tommy as a guest here on The ARCC of Change.

Tommy, how are you doing?

TOMMY FENG: Very good. How are you, Donzel?

DONZEL LEGGETT: I'm doing well. I'm really excited to hear your perspective and your story as we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but also talk about anti-racism and the direct link with the Asian community. And so, Tommy, thank you for being here. And I just want to start off by just asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself and your first experience with racism or discrimination in America.

TOMMY FENG: Thank you so much, Donzel, for the opportunity. Yeah, very nice to have the opportunity to speak in front of our audience. So here's my experience. My wife and I are first-generation immigrants to the United States coming from China. So before I come, we heard a lot about the racism in the country. We know that there is a white supremacy. There's racism against minorities, particularly African-American. We also know very well about the famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream." Since we came to the United States, we have witnessed a lot of incidents where African-Americans were mistreated. And there are a lot of crime stories on the media. But I was very surprised that the vast majority of those crime stories are related to black people. I was even wondering why there are so many crimes related to black people, not white people. And why most of the black people live in relatively poor neighborhoods. Specifically for myself, I noticed that Asian people and communities are relatively quiet, they're hardworking, relatively successful in household income, but it was never active in the political fields. And in corporate world, I see a relatively small number of Asian employees taking senior management job. They are typically characterized as doers, followers, but never able to take any key leadership role. It seems like Asian people are never part of the mainstream of the society. Then personally, I started to notice more about racism when my daughter went to middle school. I was appalled by the fact that even young middle school students could use graffiti and also racial slur against this minority group. It was so bad that I had to take my daughter out of the previous school to the current school. Then everything changed after the George Floyd tragedy happened in Minneapolis, where I live. So I was so appalled by the fact that African-Americans were so badly mistreated. I simply felt that all these incidents are not isolated incidents. The racism in the United States is personal, and it's much worse than I thought. So I started to show more interest and try to learn more and educate myself into this topic.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Well, thanks, Tommy. That very personal answer. We really appreciate you sharing. And, you know, after George Floyd was murdered, that was even a wake up call for myself. As you know, that was the impetus for starting ARCC. But one of the other things about ARCC that we want to make sure that everybody understands is to learn about other cultures, to understand that America, it's not about black and white, it's about white supremacy. And, you know, I surprised myself earlier this week when I found out that there was something called Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. Shame on me. I had never heard of this.

Tommy, did you know about Asian and Pacific Islander Month? And what does it mean to you?

TOMMY FENG: Well, Donzel, it's kind of a shame on me as well, because this is the first time I heard about this Asian Pacific Islander month as well. So this could be another reflection that there's just so much to learn about American history. But I have to learn about that. I kind of read some of this Wikipedia introduction about this celebration. I do know that, yeah, there's a lot of Asian laborers that come to the United States back in the 19th century, help to build the transcontinental railways. They really work hard and try to contribute to the society. So I feel like as a part of the Asian community, you know, we are an important part of American history. And then, you know, we should be respected. So I feel like, you know, I feel very good about it that we have this kind of a celebration, but I feel like, you know, we should be the mainstream part of American society.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Yeah. Thanks Tommy. And, you know, I mentioned earlier in this episode that in the United States, there has been a history of racism against Asian people and specifically Chinese people. And, you know, some of that was related to, like you said, when a number of Chinese thousands were here helping build the railroad. And part of this, to me, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is not just knowing the good things, but understanding this racist past. And I don't know if you're aware, but there are many racist laws around that were on the books in the United States, and there were many stories of brutality and even massacres in the United States of Asian people and Chinese people specifically. Do you know about any of these? And knowing about them, how does it make you feel?

TOMMY FENG: Yeah, thanks, Donzel, for the question. Yes, you know, through the study, I noticed that, yeah, back in the 19th century, you know, due to large number of Chinese immigrants on the West Coast, particularly near the LA area, there were actually racism and no massacre against Chinese immigrants. Although it's kind of happened a long time ago, but I still feel very sad to know about these kind of racist laws as well as massacres, particularly for the Chinese immigrants. These Chinese immigrants and their families, they experience all kinds of trouble. And come all the way from China and come to the United States, they're hoping for a better life in a new country. And they work extremely hard and contribute to the society. Yet, there was still discriminate against and even suffer from this massacre. I really feel sad about that. They really don't deserve this. This kind of showcase that the racism is some deep-rooted kind of society issue that we should tackle.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Yeah, for sure, Tommy. And, you know, switching topics or switching to a slightly different view as time went on with Asians in the United States. There was a time and I talked about this earlier in the episode as well in the 1960s that as African-Americans were starting to demand equality and be very strong about this. You mentioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. earlier. This is when he rose to prominence. During this same timeframe is where this term model minority was created and started being used in America to describe Asian Americans. Have you heard this term before? What do you think about it? And do you think that it's created tensions with Asians and other minorities who are black and brown?

TOMMY FENG: Yes, I heard about this term, model minority. Personally, I don't like this term at all. Yes, it's true that many Asians were born and educated in a culture where we should abide by the law. We should achieve socioeconomic success through hard work. We should keep low profile, being modest in the society. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with that, but that does not necessarily mean that Asians should be stereotyped in this way. And I also remember lately, two years ago, there's a book and a movie called Crazy Rich Asians. Although it's just a comedy for entertainment, but actually marginalized Asian in a different group from others. I think this is a very dangerous trend. I personally feel that this should be—this become excuse for those white supremacists to legitimize racism against other races, forcing black or brown people not to speak up, not to fight for equal treatment. I'm afraid that if this becomes a norm, the next step will be those Asian Americans will be attacked. Because by that time, nobody wants to voice up, nobody can step up. Then Asian Americans will naturally become the threat to the white supremacy due to their socioeconomic successes, will be the next wave of victim of racism and discrimination. So I really think this model minority is a very dangerous trend. So we need to tackle those.

DONZEL LEGGETT: That's a really, really unique perspective, Tommy, that you're bringing to it. And one of the things that's also misunderstood about this concept is it's a model minority because, like you said, it's a group that's being successful. But a key part of it is they don't complain. They don't say anything. And if they're subjected to racism or discrimination, they just accept it. And like you said, over time, that can create an even worse situation. So that's really unique. And, you know, you don't tell me—I've traveled around the world quite a bit. I've been to a number of Asian countries like China, Korea, Japan, India. And one of the things I noticed, and I've talked to you about this before as well, is there appears to be this preference for lighter skin complexions. I see it on TV, kind of when I'm watching the TV or on billboards for advertisements, Asian movies. I see it in terms of just being there. People try to avoid the sun. They also use camera filters that kind of lighten their skin on pictures. All these types of things. Does this mean there's a prejudice against darker skinned people in these countries and cultures? Do they understand that with this sort of preference for lighter skin, it's in many cases sort of furthering white supremacy in European colonialism past? How do you think about this?

TOMMY FENG: Well, this is a very interesting observation. I wouldn't say that for Asian that the preference for lighter skin is necessarily a prejudice against people with dark skin. In Chinese culture, lighter skin is always deemed as beauty, particularly for women. We have a saying that lighter skin covers all the other ugliness. But lighter may not necessarily mean good. For example, in many of the Chinese opera, people with white facial complexion are portrayed as sly people, while those with dark skin are more trustworthy and dependable. But as I was thinking about what you just said, I think, you know, this using skin color or facial complexion could subconsciously divide people into different classes. I think this could be very dangerous because people will say, well, white people, as they don't have to work outside under the sun, maybe they enjoy high status. While dark-skinned people, as they have to constantly work outside, maybe they are of lower classes, they are low-income people. So I think we need to be very cautious about this, not using skin color, not using facial complexion to classify people into different groups.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Thanks, Tommy. And that kind of leads to what we're seeing right now in terms of classifying people by their appearance. As you know, violence against Asians, specifically Chinese and Southeast Asians, is up significantly. It's up over 100% in the United States, and it's on the rise in many parts of the world. What do you think is fueling this increased outward hate against Asians? And how do you think it is directly impacting you?

TOMMY FENG: Yeah, I was very sad to see this kind of Asian hate. I do feel like the trigger of this Asian hate potentially is related to pandemic. Because, you know, when the first pandemic kind of break out, it's coming from China. So let's decide, you know, which one is the root cause of this pandemic. I think, you know, Chinese people, just like the rest of the world, are all victims of this pandemic world. But I think the root cause of this issue is racism. I think a part of the reason I don't like the term model minority is because Asians are stereotyped as passive. They're less vocal. They don't know what to speak of. Even they are suffering. This has become a field of more Asian hate crime because for those people who commit this crime, they care less about the consequences. I think the racism and Asian stereotype are the root cause of all these Asian hate crimes. Of course, as an Asian, I just feel very sad and angered by this Asian hate crime. I think it's very important for us to understand this root cause. Just by going out to the street to petition to the lawmakers during demonstrations is not going to solve the issue. We as Asians must step up and join the coalition and fight this racism. Only in this way can we reduce these Asian hate crimes.

DONZEL LEGGETT: That's really strong words, Tommy. Thank you for sharing so personally. And, you know, it kind of leads into something you said earlier, which is in the past, we've rarely, rarely seen anyone from the Asian community, you know, some, but not a lot, speak out, you know, stand up, take action regarding racism in the United States. Like you said, it tended to be quiet, remain silent, kind of be invisible and not cause a problem. And you're challenging that. So, you've made that statement here. If you were to explain to your Chinese and Asian friends, your family, why they should learn and care about racism against African Americans and other black or brown people, not just themselves, but against those folks, and why they need to speak up against it. What would you say? How would you say it?

TOMMY FENG: Thanks. If I get a chance to speak to my Chinese friends or Asian kind of community, what I want to say to them is that, hey, you know, it's true that we are educated in a way that we should endure the suffering. We should be keeping low profile. We don't need to speak up, you know, and we should always comply with rules, regardless the rule is good or bad. But I think, you know, the racism against African-Americans is relevant to us because for every human being, regardless of their race, the country, the skin color, they should have this equal rights and should not be treated differently. If we do not behave in this way, we think it's irrelevant. Then it's highly possible the next George Floyd could be one of us. And, you know, the Asian hate crime is already a sign. This could very much happen in the near future. So I think it's very important for us to step up and try to get out of this kind of tradition and then try to voice our concern, take actions against this racism. This is very important.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Tommy, that was a very powerful response. Now, as I mentioned at the beginning, you're part of ARCC. You're on the board. What does anti-racism mean to you? And how does it differ from non-racism? Why did you join the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition?

TOMMY FENG: Thanks, Donzel. I think, you know, this is something I learned from you, Donzel, through your podcast when I joined this organization. I think some of your messages really, really resonate with me. And frankly speaking, it's also kind of a wake-up call for myself. In the past, when racism happens, I say, oh, as long as I show empathy to the victims, I'm doing my job. But that's not enough at all. It is not going to help to heal the pain of black Americans and also victims of those Asian hate. What we need to do is fully educate ourselves out of this ignorance and transform ourselves from a non-racist to anti-racist, and then helping people around us to transform themselves as well. And only in this way can we tackle the foundation and the root cause of racism.

The reason I joined ARCC is I believe ARCC provides a perfect venue and platform to achieve this goal. The key difference between ARCC and the rest of the organization is that ARCC is tackling the foundations. As I mentioned in the past, I was so much appalled by the fact that even young middle school students could use racial slur and racism against each other. Education becomes so much important. So instead of just, hey, going outside, petition to the lawmaker, put some law out there, fight injustice with violence, ARCC is focused on transformation, education. It provides all kinds of trainings, workshops, podcasts, and good reading material to cover the history and how we tackle the racism from the foundation. It leverages social media, extends this kind of influence to audiences all over the world. I do feel this is the right way we can get rid of racism. And I'm proud to be part of this organization. That's the key reason I joined this organization. I'm hoping that we can join coalition with people all over the world to tackle racism and completely eradicate it from the society.

DONZEL LEGGETT: Wow, Tommy, I don't even know how to close this out. That was such a powerful, powerful statement of anti-racism and commitment to our coalition. And it's with your leadership and your courage to appear here on the podcast today. It's that type of leadership, that type of courage, and that type of role modeling that we need from everyone to achieve our vision of building a racism-free world.

Thank you so much, Haixiao, Feng Haixiao, my friend Tommy. I really appreciate you, and I'm sure all of our listeners do as well.

TOMMY FENG: Thanks, Donzel, for having me. Thanks for the opportunity.

Visit us at https://joinarcc.org/(opens in new tab). Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And like us on Facebook.

DONZEL LEGGETT: That was a phenomenal discussion with my great friend and fellow ARCC board member, Fung Hai-Shao, or Tommy Fung. And I thank him sincerely for his passion, commitment, and courage to share his personal story and send a message to the Asian community to adopt anti-racism. Let's also celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by learning both the contributions and hardships faced by Asians in this country, as well as rejecting the model minority fraud as a white supremacist tactic. And as Fung Hai-Shao said, we call for all our Asian brothers and sisters to stand up, speak out, and take action, and join in the fight to end racism and help us build a racism-free world.

To find The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett and learn more about the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC, please visit us at https://joinarcc.org/(opens in new tab). You can also subscribe to The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett on your favorite podcast hosting sites. I greatly look forward to our next episode and opportunity to inspire you to become part of the movement that will change the world by ending racism once and for all. Until next time, stay safe and continue to ask yourself, "Am I doing enough?" And remember that none of us are doing enough as long as racism and hate still exist. Thanks for listening and goodbye.

The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett is brought to you by the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition. To learn more about ARCC, donate to our cause, and join the coalition, visit https://joinarcc.org/(opens in new tab). Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode and share this podcast to help spread our mission to change the world by ending racism once and for all. Thanks for listening. Until next time, stay safe and be inspired.