WHY PEOPLE PROTEST IN USA : Why George Floyd Killed By USA Police?

 Hey everyone! So it's only been a couple of weeks since we last saw you...but so much has happened in this short period that it feels like the world is a completely different place. Our country has been dealing with the tragic murder of George Floyd and the outrage, riot sand protests resulting from yet another example of police brutality toward the Black community on top of Ahmaud Breonna, and far too many others.

 I speak for our small team at Wong Fu Productions when I say without hesitation that Black Lives Matter. I'm not going to spend any time explaining why or defending that statement. If you have a problem with it, please open your mind and take some time to educate yourself with some extremely easy to find resources, explained by those from the Black community, and listen to them. What I did want to spend a moment on, and that might be more difficult to hear, is a message to our Asian American fan base. We know that we have a predominantly Asian audience, and it's important now more than ever to address some big issues within our community. First, we've got to talk about Anti-Blackness. 

There's so much to unpack here and so much to address, and it largely stems from the fact that a significantly large portion of the current Asian American population is made up of first or second-generation Asians in America, starting with your parents and my parents who came over as immigrants in the 1970 s and onward for various reasons. Now were their Asians in America before? Yes, they built the railroads, they served in the military and fought wars, they built communities, they even marched with Black activists. But with the modern wave as a result of war refugees and new laws like the 1965 Immigration Act, millions of new Asians came to America at the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement and entered a highly tense period between White and Black people.

 Our immigrant parents enjoyed the results of the Civil Rights Movement without really seeing the reasons. So they generally wanted to stay quiet and stay out of the ongoing fight. I mean, many of them fled war-torn countries, so they weren't trying to take on any new battles here. Instead, they stayed quiet they stayed out of it. They were fed lies about the Black community and possibly had some bad experiences from which they didn't fully understand the root of, and therefore, a divide between our two communities grew and grew, adding to Anti-Blackness and our families, and ultimately in ourselves, if we were taught this way. 

These days Anti- Blackness persists within the next generation, our generation, in the form of believing the Model Minority Myth and more recently COVID-19-related attacks. With various racial attacks on Asians this year, I've seen many comments respond to Black Lives Matter with, "well they attacked us, so we shouldn't help them." The sad thing here is, they feel the same way about us. This is a vicious cycle of us being hurt, perpetuating that hurt back onto them, thus giving them reasons to continue hurting us—and so on and so on. We must try to break the cycle, in ourselves, and our families, through education and empathy. We have to support them without the condition that we get the support back. This is a centuries-old fight that we are part of and we cannot draw quick conclusions based on a viral Twitter video. The truth is, many Black people and leaders spoke up to defend us when it came to COVID-19 and we must show support and solidarity with them now because no one is healed until we all are. 

That was a very truncate assessment on Anti-Blackness and there are far more qualified people that have spoken on this before. So we're gonna leave links and resources down below. I am still learning, so please don't just take my word. The next issue that we've got to talk about is our Asian American privilege, one that we must recognize to understand the Black community struggle better. Now many Asians will tell themselves that we have no privilege, our immigrant parents came from war-torn countries in poverty. They also faced racism here in America. They worked from nothing to create a stable life. And you're not wrong. And by acknowledging that we have privilege, we're not taking away those struggles.

 All we're saying is that here in America, the situation many of our parents came into, was more stable for Asians having a fresh start than Black Americans, who have been here for centuries. The immigrant struggle is absolutely a struggle, but a separate one and we cannot and should not devalue the monumental hurdles Black people have had to overcome in this land and continue to face as a result. When we get defensive about that, we're buying into the Model Minority Myth. A myth that was created by White people to keep Black people down, essentially comparing selected Asian immigrant success to the perceived shortcomings of other BIPOCs. We must recognize that nobody wins, even Asians, when we believe these lies as truth, and that means we must acknowledge that we do live in a different America than Black people. Do Asians face racism? Absolutely. But is the daily threat to our lives as widespread or as great? No. The last thing we want to touch on is our response. Wong Fu Productions has always been a group of people who are open-minded and inclusive. While we seek to uplift our community and voices, we would never do it at the expense of bringing down another. But the previously mentioned topics are relevant to us as Asian Americans so we must look inwards to see how we can help push for progress. In the past two weeks, you may have seen some of these efforts through our social media. And as a channel, we are currently organizing a video panel to bring together Asian and Black thought leaders and professors to discuss ways that we can work together, find common ground, and show solidarity. This will be on our main channel as soon as possible. But we know that it doesn't just stop there. 

 There are different roles to play here and ween courage you to think about what role you currently have, and what role you can learn more about. As long as you choose a role and keep pushing. This is not a quick fix, there are generations of damage to mend, and we will continue to push ourselves and our audience to find effective roles and be better allies. One final note, please know that I know that I'm not an expert in any of this. Everything I've said here today I've drawn from other leaders, articles, the rest of the Wong Fu team, and my observations. I'm still learning, we're all still learning, so if you see the opportunity for a teachable moment, please do so with kindness. If this video spoke to you and inspires you to look inward or get involved, we've included various links down below with resources to learn and links to support in a variety of ways. With that said, thanks for watching everyone, thanks for listening. Take care. We'll see you real soon.