By: Ellen Dong
In a world where differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, and other facets of identity can make it so that one person’s point of view can seem totally alien to another’s, uniting together seems to be a more difficult task than ever. Despite these differences, on June 25th, 2022, the Unity March was born.
In front of the National Mall in Washington D.C., leaders from Asian, Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, Latine, Muslim, Disabled, Arab, and other activist groups joined together to bring attention to the wide range of issues affecting their individual communities and to stand in solidarity with the communities marching alongside them. Founded by a variety of Asian-led organizations such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian and Pacific Islander Vote, Gold House, the Indian American Impact Project, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, and the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the march put an emphasis on the intersectionality between the issues Asian American and Pacific Islanders face and how they interact and play off of other social problems. Marchers walked side by side with advocates for organizations championing LGBTQ+ rights, climate justice, Jewish activism, and other causes, but especially present among the crowd were, of course, abortion rights advocates.
Coming hot off the heels of an explosive Supreme Court decision, many protesters gathered at the march holding signs reading “Climate Justice = Reproductive Justice” or “Protect Women.” One of the event organizers, Tiffany Chang, whose also the Director of Community Engagement at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said regarding the recent Dobbs v. Jackson US Supreme Court case result that “These issues are going to affect Asian Americans as well, and there's no way that we can segment Asian issues from the gun violence prevention movement and from the reproductive justice movement.” This quote goes to show the intersectional nature of social issues and how the Unity March event aimed to unite people under this intersectional fight against oppression of all kinds of different people.
The original idea for the march was sparked by the mass shootings of Asian women at three different spas in Atlanta, Georgia last year and by a shooting at a FedEx building in Indianapolis in April of 2021 where predominantly members of the Sikh community were injured. Additionally, July 25th, 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American man beaten to death in Detroit solely for the fact that he looked East Asian. While the blueprint for the organization never initially included advocating for reproductive justice, trans rights, or gun control, all of these issues play into anti-Asian sentiment and Asian-targeting hate crimes, and in turn, Asian American issues play into reproductive justice, trans rights, and gun control too.
Growing up as an Asian American and an immigrant in the US myself, it’s not hard to see how Asian racial stereotypes such as Asians being good at IT and STEM-related jobs feed into the anti-immigrant sentiment of not letting immigrants into the country because “they’re stealing our jobs”. By recognizing and bringing attention to this sort of intersectionality, the Unity March helps to truly fight against these social issues since it takes a look at the full scope of an issue and how it impacts everyone, not just one specific group. By considering every perspective and acknowledging how each social movement affects the other, the Unity March was able to find unity in diversity and bring everyone together to fight against the oppression and discrimination in all of its forms.
While the march was headed in the right direction of how to go about change, the fight against hate is far from over. Just last week an elderly Asian woman was attacked in East Harlem simply for being Asian. Indigenous women and girls in the US are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than the rate for any other ethnicity, and Black and trans lives are under attack every day. Most recently, the fight for reproductive rights in the US has become much more tumultuous now than it has ever been in the last 49 years. Paul Cheung, another speaker on behalf of the Unity March organization writes that “This is not the end. The Unity March is a call to action to advance meaningful change for Asian Americans and other historically excluded communities to ensure the safety, security, and prosperity for all of our communities”. While this march was a step in the right direction, the real work of voting, enacting policies, and speaking out against bigotry must still be done every day, everywhere. By coming together and recognizing the issues facing everyone uniquely and the issues facing everyone together, we can truly change society for the better.
Sources
Unity March with AAPI groups demands an end to anti-Asian violence
A First of Its Kind March on the National Mall Counters Anti-Asian Racism
Stop Asian Hate" -- Asian Americans urge ending racial bigotry, violence-Xinhua
Vincent Chin was killed 40 years ago. Here's why his case continues to resonate
76-year-old punched in back of head by man spouting anti-Asian comments: cops
Asian American-led Unity March a reminder of community's history ...
Cover photo credits: Unity March on Twitter
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