With Black History Month coming to an end, I felt it was important to remember the purpose of the month: to explore the history of Black Americans and the African diaspora. For me, the most important topic to think about was the importance of Black history to Asian Americans. For many Asian Americans, the status quo is living in cultural enclaves, with a potential for multicultural drought. It can even be seen at Andover, where Asian monoracial friend groups exist. These friend groups, while not explicitly disliking Black history, may lead to a blind spot in Black history. Further, this may lead to a fogging of the importance of Black History in our own stories. For example, a perception of Asian American progress could be looked at just by itself, as a sole cause and effect pathway of merit. However, as a community, we have to promote a proactive understanding that Black History Month should matter deeply to us because our legal rights, cultural influence, and social mobility were built in part on the struggles and victories of Black Americans. Social flourishing for the Asian American community necessitates the acknowledgement of the intertwined history between our foundation in America and Black liberation.
While the current American immigrant mix largely consists of Asian immigrants, this is a relatively new process, with the majority of Asian Americans coming after the 1960s. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed nationality quotas that favored Northern and Western Europeans’ immigration, grew out of advocacy by Black civil rights activists. Therefore, without the help of courageous Black activists, the possibility for many of our Asian American families would be impossible.
Similarly, in the 1900s, so-called “Oriental Schools” were created to separate Asian American children from white children, mirroring the separate and lower-quality schools forced onto Black children. However, the legal segregation in schools that oppressed both Black and Asian Americans ended with Brown v. Board of Education, where Black lawyers were able to systematically end racial segregation in schools. With this protection, Asian Americans were also able to access the right to equal education. Additionally, for many of us who went to public school, we should deeply appreciate that protection because, without the consideration of the Black Activists, our first learning opportunities wouldn’t have been possible.
More recently, modern East Asian culture has been greatly accepted into American culture, mainly through aspects of pop music. One genre is K-pop, a style with exceptionally large ties to Black History. The roots of K-pop started through the inspirations of Black music. Due to the importance of Black music to American popular music, Black musical styles, like Hip-Hop, R&B, and soul, were also emulated in Korean music, eventually culminating in modern K-pop. Additionally, the aesthetic K-pop tries to portray occasionally leads idols to wear fashion akin to popular Black imagery or have lyrics containing African American Vernacular English (AAVE), but often without the right cultural context. The simulation of Black culture isn’t inherently problematic, but it becomes a problem when said culture, the fashion, and the vocal stylings of Black artists are used without acknowledging the history of resistance that produced them. When that happens, we risk cultural appropriation and cultural erasure. Black History Month should be a call to recognize that the art we use to express our modern Asian identity was largely forged in the fire of Black struggle.
The journey of Asian Americans in this country has been largely influenced by the path made by the Black community. From the century-long process of Black liberation, from emancipation to legal safeguards for protection, Black political activists laid the foundation for many more people of color, including Asian Americans, to exist and thrive. Furthermore, Asian Americans relied on Black culture to compete in the global cultural stage through musical inspiration, which should come with a holistic embrace of the culture. As February comes to an end, we need to understand that the benefits we received in history can still be appreciated. As we are also people of color, political threats against Black Americans today affect us, and that necessitates solidarity between cultures. In a larger context, our future as Asian Americans depends on the same courage and coalition-building that Black history has taught us all along.
