Writers: Ngoc Bui, Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
Recently, we examined the conflicting yet intertwined histories of Black/Asian solidarity and anti-Blackness in AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) communities. For a more personal perspective on this topic, we turn to an interview with Yuna Kha, one of our 2020 Summer Organizing Fellows.
Yuna identifies as a child of Hmong refugees from Laos, and has seen how the confluence of the pandemic and the movement for Black lives in this moment has brought about a reckoning for Hmong Americans. They have witnessed how COVID-19 and #BLM have prompted Hmong women and queer-identifying people to start having messy but necessary conversations about identity and solidarity.
“Hmong is an ethnic identity which is often racialized as Asian. But Hmong people come in all races. So how do we support Black Lives Matter without centering Hmongness?”
As Hmong women and Hmong queer folks have sought to call out anti-Blackness in their community during this time, they have been met with attacks by Hmong men.
ManForward, a group organizing Hmong men and boys to end gender violence, wrote a letter to rebuke the behavior by Hmong men they were witnessing.
“We know your families and your loved ones are hurting. … We ask you: at what cost and who are you protecting in the end if you are being violent towards the women leaders who are speaking out about anti-Blackness in our community?” Yuna says.
Yuna connects this toxic behavior to the history of war and displacement experienced by the Hmong refugee community.
“We’re raising boys to become soldiers to fight in some war. We’re not raising Hmong men to be fathers, to come back home. So the challenge I see ahead is: how do we heal?”
Yuna and other young Asian leaders are being challenged on many fronts. They are trying to move through this pandemic. They are trying to show up in solidarity with #BLM. And they are confronting intergenerational trauma, seeking healing for themselves and their communities.
While this list of goals may seem daunting, the intersectional nature of these issues provides an incredible opportunity for Asian Americans to grow and thrive. With George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter uprisings, and the pandemic–we’re seeing our communities come together across racial and economic lines to support and uplift one another.