Going There...Black & Asian: Tough Conversations & True Allyship

Hosted by Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE) and California Asian Pacific American Bar Association

In late July, Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE) and California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal -APABA) co-hosted a virtual conversation on Black and Asian solidarity, titled ‘Going There...Black & Asian: Tough Conversations & True Allyship’. The event’s esteemed panel speakers included Hyepin Im (President and Founder of FACE), Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner (Co-Convener of National African American Clergy Network and former Founding Executive Director of Black Congregational Caucus), Bishop Kenneth Ulmer Ph.D (Presiding Bishop at Faithful Central Bible Church), Rev. Dr. Walter Kim (President of National Association of Evangelicals) and Dr. Mark Whitlock Jr. (Senior Pastor of Reid Temple AME Church). 

Facilitating the discussion was Charles Jung, the executive director of Cal-APABA, who framed the hour-long discussion with the following four questions: 1) What about this topic (having tough conversations and true allyship between black and asian communities) got your attention? 2) Each of us hears stories about the other community; what are those stories you heard in your community about the other, including stereotypes that have been perpetuated by those in the political sphere? 3) What fruits have you seen from fostering allyship and solidarity? and 4) What does the path for solidarity look like, and what can we do to walk in that path to allyship and solidarity too?

Below are some of the highlights and repeated themes that stood out to us. We highly encourage you to see the full discussion here! 

The panel, which consisted of black and asian community leaders, first acknowledged the tension and disconnectedness that existed between the ethnic communities. Tension included the killing of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins by Korean store owner, Soon Ja Du, the murder of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee by a black teenager, Antoine Watson, and both communities witnessing divisive stereotypes and violence play out against one another -from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people embracing and perpetuating the model minority myth to a history of interracial crimes (black on asian crimes and asian on black crimes). And more recently, as more AAPI community members showed solidarity with the black community, the lack of reciprocity from the black community when Asian hate crimes became more prevalent than ever in the wake of the pandemic. This was attributed to the model minority myth rendering the breadth and depth of racial discrimination within the AAPI community invisible and the challenge of navigating conversations with the AAPI community in which ethnicity, experience of immigration, longevity in America, language, where one lives in the country make the Asian American experience highly varied. Consequently, the panel acknowledged that the lack of education, communication and trust between the communities dissuaded friendship and united activism. 

Equally powerful was hearing the panel speakers share their individual convictions about their personal biases, and in light of that, their desires to re-examine and live out the challenging yet necessary ministry of reconciliation. Convictions ranged from having a “compartmentalized” or nonexistent relationship -let alone allyship- due to the lack of opportunities -and possibly even disinterest- to share space and conversation; not moving beyond sympathy into effective solidarity and friendship; and recognizing that advocating for justice within one’s racial community can cloud the truth that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. It was striking to see how the hope of the gospel anchored the panelists to admit bitterness and shortcomings, affirm one another’s pain (for instance, several of the AAPI listeners commented how significant it was for them to hear the black panelists call the mass-shooting at Atlanta a “massacre”), and seek reconciliation.

The discussion then concluded with strategies to initiate and build allyship, which included:

• Leaders promoting more interracial discussions and inviting speakers and pastors outside of one’s ethnic community 

• Individuals making the effort to be educated about black and asian culture and each other’s challenges

• Seeking understanding in faith that there is “more in common than what separates us”; having open hearts that give benefit of the doubt to one another when navigating difficult conversations

• Black and Asian activists and community leaders using their knowledge, strategies and resources to support and educate one another 

• Doing the simple act of signing the “Resolution Supporting Black and Asian Community Solidarity” to “help stem the rising tide of Anti-Asian violence and continued systemic injustices against Black Americans”. The resolution was written by Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner and Rev. Hyepin Im and can be viewed here 

• The black community advocating for immigration reform in regards to Asian Americans (and not just the Latinx community) and the AAPI community championing systematic education reform to include and empower black youth and families 

• Demonstrating the good news of Jesus Christ by being serious about the message of reconciliation and “[bridging] gaps that we all yearn to see bridged” 

This courageous conversation was timely and eye-opening. At one point in the conversation, Reverend Dr. Walter Kim pointed out the poignant detail that the phrase “many other people left with them” was recorded in the story of the Israelites’ exodus, which indicated that the “deliverance from slavery included not just the Israelites, but also many other people who had experienced oppression in Egypt and needed deliverance… [T]he story of God’s people right from the very beginning of the Bible is a story of a mixed multitude of ethnicities being redeemed by God.” The hope this conversation produced was well described by Bishop Kenneth Ulmer Ph.D who commented, “It starts with dialogue like this. There is strength and power in Christ that cannot be taken out of the equation. We can start there and infiltrate the rest of culture from the perspective of faith.” The resounding takeaway from this event was that faith in the work of reconciliation must be realized in tandem with initiative-taking friendship and honest conversation. 

‘Going There...Black & Asian: Tough Conversations & True Allyship’ was certainly a bright start to that road.