龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese
龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese = Enter the Dragon
Introduction
Part 1 How Malik defines the debate
Part 2 What my peers are saying
Epilogue – Enter the Dragon
Introduction
About three hours of Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) training are required every semester for teachers at Pikes Peak State College. DEI has its roots in the 1960’s anti-discrimination legislative movement when laws like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 addressed labor issues based on protected classes… Every DEI initiative may be run differently, experts say, but the overall goal is to make companies and leaders examine the way their company treats or serves marginalized groups.[1]
At first the idea of equalizing marginalized groups sounds great. Providing justice in an unjust world appears to restore balance. However, the pendulum has swung wildly in both directions. Kenan Malik’s book, Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics tracks the U.S. and U.K. path that has resulted in identity politics. [2]
What’s wrong with Identity (and Identity Politics)? Francis Fukuyama in his book, Identity writes, “The rise of identity politics in modern liberal democracies is one of the chief threats that they face, and unless we can work our way back to more universal understandings of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continuing conflict.” [3]
Fukuyama understands that there needs to be a balance. Rectifying social injustices based on race are desired, however, he highlights the need for the cultivation of a shared identity (We the people?). Otherwise, we are doomed to continuing conflict.
Part 1 How Malik defines the debate
Malik brings out many great points, two stand out to me.
One: Malik writes, “We live in an age in which in most societies there is a moral abhorrence of racism, albeit that in most, bigotry and discrimination still disfigure the lives of many. We also live in an age saturated with identitarian thinking and obsessed with placing people into racial boxes. The more we despise racial thinking, the more we seem to cling to it.[4] This feeds identity politics which takes away of our shared identity (Americans?) and makes conflict easy to justify.
Two: Maliks discussion of class is enlightening, he writes, “That is, racial divisions don’t arise from the objective circumstance of a species divided into different races, but in a society in which the idea of race has been fostered to enable those racial divisions. As Malik sums it up, ‘race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race’. [5] The idea of stratified classes across the color spectrum impacting racism was profound. A revisiting perhaps to the aged old problem of “have’s versus have not’s?”
Malik shares an example of how racism exists today. In an interview with Trigger-omentry he states that today’s generation faces a different kind of racism. For instance, in the job market structural racism continues. At (Minute 7:07) he refers to studies where identical CV’s (Curriculum Vitae’s) with white names versus Asian names seemed more likely to get interviews.[6]
Part 2 – What my peers are saying.
Frequently, I encounter new insights from my peers. Their perspectives allow me to view the authors from a different aspect.
DLGP 02 Adam Harris writes, “We are realizing that society both right and left, is encouraging us to quickly identify as black, brown, white, male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, etc. without acknowledging that there is something about us that is deeper than our physical categories.” In his post, Harris calls us to look deeper than the color of our skin.
DLP 02 Esther Edwards writes, “This was the work of men and women who truly did not see African slaves as deserving the same freedom that they had in Christ. Any reference to freedom was deleted. This gives an understanding that much of the Bible speaks to freedom for all, not just some….In closing, I do agree with my uncle. It is not like it used to be. On the other hand, maybe our diverse culture is a truer reflection of what the broader Kingdom of God looks like. There is no doubt racism is still alive and well and remains a wicked problem. However, there is much opportunity for us to make a difference right in our own backyards.
I lived in Germany for 15 years. Racial slurs sometimes crept into random acts of ignorance, but no more than in the U.S.A. (For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God). I think one has to develop a thick skin and forgiving heart.
Epilogue – Enter the Dragons.
This is the year of the Dragon, and it is hard for me not to look at the history of Chinese Americans. Historically, the United States has a mixed history with other ethnic groups.
- Anti-Coolie Act (1862): Aimed at reducing the competition between Chinese laborers and white laborers by imposing a tax on Chinese workers.[7]
- Page Act of 1875: Considered one of the earliest immigration laws, it effectively prevented Chinese women from immigrating to the U.S. by classifying them as “undesirable,” targeting those suspected of prostitution or being brought for immoral purposes.[8]
- Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943): This act was the first and only major federal legislation to explicitly suspend immigration for a specific nationality, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years, which was later extended.[9]
With that being said there has emerged the Model Minority Myth, “The myth of the model minority is based in stereotypes. It perpetuates a narrative in which Asian American children are whiz kids or musical geniuses. Within the myth of the model minority, Tiger Moms force children to work harder and be better than everyone else, while nerdy, effeminate dads hold prestigious—but not leadership—positions in STEM industries like medicine and accounting.“[10]
Buried under these stereotypes, the message is clear: Asian Americans are all the same—and all different from other Americans. On one hand, Asian Americans are often perceived as having assimilated better than other minority groups. On the other hand, Asian Americans are seen as having some foreign quality that renders them perpetual outsiders. It’s a paradox familiar to every Asian American who regularly faces the question, “But where are you from, originally?” [11]
Engaged in three wars on behalf of U.S. Foreign Policy and I still get the above question. Sigh. I simply answer that I am from Hawaii. For some reason that works.
But I have to end with….EVERYWHERE I go, I am embraced by the “body of Christ.” This identity in Christ reflects, as Esther says, the true Kingdom of God.
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[1] A. B. C. News, “DEI: What Does It Mean and What Is Its Purpose?,” ABC News, accessed February 29, 2024, https://abcnews.go.com/US/dei-programs/story?id=97004455.
[2] Malik, Kenan. Not so Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics. London: Hurst & Company, 2023.
[3] Fukuyama, Francis. Identity. S.I.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018. 116
[4] Kenan Malik, “Racism Rebranded: How Far-Right Ideology Feeds off Identity Politics,” The Observer, January 8, 2023, sec. World news, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/08/racism-rebranded-how-far-right-ideology-feeds-off-identity-politics-kenan-malik-not-so-black-and-white.
[5] Ibid., 13.
[6] What We Get Wrong About Race – Kenan Malik
[7] “Act to Prohibit the ‘Coolie Trade’ (1862),” Immigration History (blog), accessed February 29, 2024, https://immigrationhistory.org/item/act-to-prohibit-the-coolie-trade-2/.
[8] “Before the Chinese Exclusion Act, This Anti-Immigrant Law Targeted Asian Women,” HISTORY, September 28, 2023, https://www.history.com/news/chinese-immigration-page-act-women.
[9] Chinese Exclusion Act,” in Wikipedia, February 22, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Exclusion_Act&oldid=1209557202.
[10] What Is the Model Minority Myth?,” Learning for Justice, March 21, 2019, https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/what-is-the-model-minority-myth.
[11] [11]What Is the Model Minority Myth?,” Learning for Justice, March 21, 2019, https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/what-is-the-model-minority-myth.
About the Author
Russell Chun
interlinkt.org is now ready for your Refugee Resettlement needs. 15 tasks, languages ESL plans coming5 responses to “龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese”
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The two things that stood out to you in the first section of your post — identity politics (you reference Fukuyama) and have’s vs. have-not’s…both of which emerged in Malik’s writing — make me ponder what other authors, including Malik, seem to be saying in our readings this semester. Humanity tends toward tribalism (Jonathan Haidt’s reference in the his foreword to Lukianoff’s and Schlott’s book), and humans are groupish (Mounk talked about this). We have a knack for settling into us vs. them camps.
Regarding your comments about Asian Americans, I wonder to what degree the South Asian families and their students have navigated the “perpetual outsider” framework in my context. My wife and I live in a community near Atlanta that has seen it’s schools (in our part of the county) become minority majority, a majority of whom are Asian, particularly South Asian. I highlight this in my blog post.
Hi Travis,
It was interesting to discover that Atlanta has a high population of Asians (formerly known as Orientals – the label I grew up with).
After my move from Hawaii (1981) I have never lived in an Asian community. Actually mostly white/black (can I just say – U.S. Army places in Germany, Italy, Slovakia, and Turkey). I did spend three years in Korea (but then I lived on a base returning to the flavors of Army green).
My wife is a red haired rose from Texas (a haole – Hawaiian word for visitor that has come to mean white), one hapa child (Hawaiian word for half breed – I don’t like the word) and two ethnically Hungarian children.
I have always been an outsider ethnically, but in the spirit of U.S. Army equality, I was basically green. Proving my worth every 3 years (the basic rotation for GIs). I missed the black white issues of the Vietnam war.
I guess I am pre – identity culture. There are the odd moments where I am called “chink” or some other weird title, but those ignorant moments are anomalies in the sea of general human acceptance and kindness.
My CHRISTIAN world view has given me a world wide family that supplants any other identity.
Praise God.
Shalom…
Hi Russell,
I really enjoyed reading your post and I appreciate what you said on all points. Through your post and our chat this morning I am pondering your thoughts on “perpetual outsider.” While my experience of that is quite different it feels like an identity all on its own. I wonder if we all don’t feel that way just for very different reasons. I love how you ended your post that our identity is in Christ and within His body. What helps you feel less like a perpetual outsider both within Kingdom of God and within our messy world?
Hi Jenny,
I wonder if we, as Christians, are called to be perpetual outsiders? Set apart to do God’s work.
Russ
Hi, Russell,
I appreciated your connection with Fukuyama and his take on shared identity. It does help to have common ground but it all has its challenges.
I appreciate your statement “I think one has to develop a thick skin and a forgiving heart.” I’m sure it wasn’t easy when you lived in Germany. With more growing diversity, it probably is less offensive now. I’ve had to forgive my family many times for how they view other cultures. It’s funny. My relatives would always talk about “foreigners” but they were also foreigners here in the US. So ironic. We all have our own blind spots.