To My Parents’ Generation of Chinese Immigrants: A Way to Better Understand Why Black Lives Matter by Jasmine Huang
Commissioned by Kate Barris & Jim Betts
The Artist has chosen to donate part of their fee to support The Grassroots Law Project
Artist Statement
There was recently an open letter written by a first generation Chinese immigrant in the US, around my dad's age, that really shocked me.
The author's view (and to my dismay,... the view of many Chinese people) on the Black Lives Matter movement can be summarized in the following points:
1. All Lives Matter.
2. Black people deserve what they get. North America is the "land of the free". If we were able to move to a new country with nothing and succeed, they should be able to. The fact that they haven't for 400 years just shows that they have a problem.
After having conversations with those close to me, I was outraged to find that there were some similar sentiments amongst them. Even moreso, I was deeply saddened. One reason they have this view is because they were severely oppressed in their motherland, and they want to believe in the idea that they are "free (wo)men" in their new country. As a result, they've avoided learning about the history of anti-Black racism and oppression in North American and bought into the "Model Minority Myth".
I hope this video helps to start conversations in Chinese households across Canada and the US. Thank you, mom, for filming the entire video and translating my poem from English into Chinese. Thank you, dad, for your openness to learn. I am so grateful that you are both willing to have tough conversations, to listen, and continuously become better people everyday.