nwasianweekly.com
May 3, 2008

Jane Mee Wong

Smashing the model minority myth at UW

By Jane Mee Wong
Northwest Asian Weekly

On April 24, I was a loud and proud Asian woman.

Chanting “From Asia to the Middle East, white supremacy must cease!” alongside a multiracial group of 30 energetic students and community members at the University of Washington brought the sun out on a cloudy Seattle day.

We were part of a rally organized by the anti-racist group, March 1st Solidarity, calling for the UW to withdraw any investments it may have in U.S. military contractors that produce items used by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

I was proudly marching alongside Asian/Asian Americans of various ethnicities, united in our hopes that Asian countries will no longer be subordinate to U.S. imperialism. The most vivid representation of U.S. domination over Asian people is the presence of U.S. troops in Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines and Guam, to support the U.S. war effort in the Middle East. The chalking on pavements around the UW that read, “U.S. troops out of Korea!” delivered the sentiments of the rally organizers.

March 1st Solidarity (M1S) is a new anti-racist group on the UW campus that consists predominantly of Asian Americans. It is named after the 1919 March 1st Movement in Korea, where thousands of Koreans protested against Japanese colonialism. The campus group is strongly inspired by the contemporary movements of Korean workers who have mobilized against U.S.-backed South Korean dictatorships, the ongoing Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, as well as the increased casualization of labor in South Korea.

On April 7, M1S formally submitted a proposal to the university administration demanding divestment. Members of the group believed that the university should be a democratic institution where students, staff, faculty, community members and fellow citizens have the right to make decisions regarding investments, foreign policy and public ethics. M1S and its supporters did not want tuition and taxes supporting the production of weapons used to maintain U.S. imperialism.

The university responded by arranging a closed-door, private meeting with the members. An e-mail by the university administration also claimed that it would “base investment decisions on potential return, not social policy.” It appeared that it did not matter to the university that its investments in U.S. military contractors, such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, could facilitate the oppressions and murder of communities of color worldwide.

I realized that short of a rally marching into the administration office to demand a public meeting, the powers-that-be will always hesitate in responding to community members and students as equals. The much-hoarded investment portfolio of the university was released to M1S the day following the rally, and the group is waiting to hear back on a public meeting with the university.

Whereas many times before I have felt the need to choose between being Asian or American, the April 24 rally opened up a new vision of being Asian American.

For me, the breakthrough was the ability to connect the struggles of people of color in the U.S. with those who live across the Pacific Ocean. In reality, U.S. imperialist endeavors have extended attacks on people of color on both sides of the Pacific. While Chinese workers were lynched and racially targeted on the West Coast in the 1900s, the U.S. was carrying out its missionary project to “civilize” presumably inferior Asians in the Philippines with guns and battle cries.

Our calls for democracy and transparency within the UW and its ties to the U.S. war machine resonated strongly with the Korean anti-war and labor movements on the ground. These movements were resisting not only the expansion of the U.S. military base in the Pyeongtaek region, which caused the displacement of farmers and elderly, but also the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. In fact, the M1S action was supported by South Korean organizations such as the Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements and Korea Alliance Against FTAs.

Too many times, Asian Americans have been told that we are the model minority. The model minority myth depicts Asian Americans as the “good” minorities, in contrast to the “trouble-making black and brown” people. In a similar way, South Korea has been hailed as an “Asian Tiger,” a model minority nation that had grown out of its rebellious Third World origins. South Korea received economic stability and aid from the U.S. but this came at a price: This “Asian Tiger” was kept on a short leash.

In return for this aid, it was obligated to support the U.S. and its politics. The most recent example is South Korea’s military commitment to the Iraq War. The model minority myth, whether applied to people or to nations, is used as a device to divide and conquer people of color.

What I saw around me on April 24, however, were not docile, goody-two-shoes, model minority Asians. What I saw were passionate and politically sharp Asians and Asian Americans who sought their own liberation alongside their brothers and sisters in Asia and the Middle East. I was hoarse from shouting the chants, but louder and prouder than ever.

Jane Mee Wong can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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