First of all, this is not an original headline. I stole it from a play I saw in Massachusetts way back in the early 90s. I don't remember anything about the play except that it featured some Black people and some Korean people and it had a really uplifting message. But I just like the way the two words sound together and the idea captures what I want to blog about today, Black people and Asian people (not just Koreans).
So my question is, why is that the media would like us to believe that Blacks and Asians hate each other and could never just get along? Why do we only hear about the fight over the ghetto dollar, the lingering distrust after the L.A. Riots and the insidious comparisons of the model minority against, well 'those people?' Those of us out on the streets know the truth, that there is a serious mutual admiration society going on between Blacks and Asians. Black people love Chinese food and Kung-Fu movies something fierce. And a lot of Asian people dig fried chicken (preferably Popeye's and KFC). In fact, some of my fondest memories of my 20s involve me, an Asian friend and a bucket of Original Recipe.) Japanese people have gone on record with their passion for Black hair styles and hip-hop fashion. Need more proof? Pick up any hip-hop magazine and find an Asian person listed high up on the editorial masthead. And don't get me started on the Christian churches where Koreans and Blacks are praising Jesus together. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Full disclosure. All of my life, my closest friends have been Asian. Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Filipino...I never discriminated. So I never understood the "animosity angle" the media tried to convey. I thought they were lying. And it's not just me. I swear every Black person has an Asian friend these days, look at Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. And need I even mention the Black male, Asian female romance trend that is sweeping the land? And Asian people, at least the ones I know and see out and about in the hip and trendy places I frequent (NYC, Philly, Milwaukee!!!), always have a posse of cool Black friends. So what gives?
Who benefits from this carefully crafted racial bias between Blacks and Asians? If we banded together maybe we could take over the world. I'm not saying Black people and Asians are so similar that we should just meld our two cultures together and make a bunch of Tiger Woods' to populate the earth. It's just that we seem to like each other a whole heck of a lot and if we took our kimchi and our chitlins and made a stew (which I found out is actually a Korean delicacy served with liver, onions, and some special spices, then drizzled with sesame oil. Mmm delicious!) for the rest of America to sample, we could all be just a little bit happier and at peace. And Asian girls could walk in their front door with pride with Malik on their arm and declare, "Yeah Ma, this is my date to the prom."
So the next time you see some Black and Asian love, even if it is only Rush Hour III, tell the people that that is the real deal. A Black guy and his Asian buddy kicking ass and saving the world. It could happen if we let the fake hate go. Kimchi and chitlins yall!
Peace Out!
P.S. Meltingpot Question: Am I the only one who thinks Race-based Survivor sounds like fun to watch?
2 comments:
Hi Lori, I'm still regularly reading your blog and I'm so glad you're out there saying your thing.
Inspired by you -- trying to keep current on breaking pop culture news -- we now have Tivo (refurbished! the box comes free, but then there's that monthly fee...) to watch, after the kids are asleep, reruns of shows we've missed in the past five years. (OK, so I guess we're not really keeping up with *current* shows but at least we're trying.)
You'd be amazed, or maybe not, at how frequently the internet dating commercials come on. But have you noticed how they never, but never, feature an inter-racial couple, at least not one that's obvious to the naked eye?
So it got me thinking, do you think they use racial profiling for matching purposes to keep people apart or get them together? Or, more likely, do they pair people of different races but would never publicly admit it?
Hmmmmm.....
Asians and other ethnic minorities who come to the U.S. are desperate to ingratiate themselves to Whitey. One of the ways that they demonstrate their slavish fealty is by demonstrating an unfounded animosity for Blacks, Whitey's universal constitutive Other.
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