I’m afraid I should do no good there

I decided to write to 80-20 about what I said in this post. Here’s the text of my email:

Hello 80-20 representative,

I am disturbed by the way of thinking suggested in this email. Let me
tell you why.

You point to people’s willingness to restrict Muslims’ rights, and you
find this unacceptable. Good — outrage is the appropriate response
to such a fact about our nation’s population. But you don’t talk about
Muslims’ rights, or justice, or freedom of religion, or utility
maximization, or any of the dozen appropriate grounds for outrage.
Instead, you warn us that it might happen to US next.

Do you really think that our priority should be ensuring that
*Asian-Americans’* rights are protected? We should care about American
Muslims only because if they’re treated badly, we might eventually be
treated badly? You point to a cause for outrage, but instead of
talking about ways to fix the injustice that is CURRENTLY BEING DONE,
you tell us to take steps to make sure that it doesn’t happen to us
next!

When peoples’ rights are being violated, that comprises a reason to
oppose what’s going on. It doesn’t matter what race they are. And it
certainly doesn’t matter what race we are. 80-20 seems to be trying to
turn persecution of Muslims into an issue about Asian-American rights.
It’s not. The position seems to be summarizable thus: “Muslims are
being treated unfairly. We must take immediate action to ensure that
WE are treated better than they are.” And I find that more than a
little bit disgusting.

The way things stand now, unless I misunderstand you, I cannot be a
supporter of 80-20. I do not believe in racial solidarity of the type
according to which no one else’s opinion matters. The Asian-American
community is a powerful and important force that could do a lot of
good in the nation and in the world, but you seem to be determined
that it only focus on doing good for itself.

If I have misunderstood the position, I should appreciate a reply.

Sincerely,

[name]
[city]

I’m curious to see if I’ll hear back.

Anyway, I’m off for lunch with Alix, then auditioning for Iolanthe with Lauren, with Emily’s help.

UPDATE: Response, and response.

Dear Jonathan:

You are talking about how things should be, and I agree 100% with
you. However, 80-20 is an organization that is “actually in the arena.”
It needs to be mindful of what is practicable.

In the real world, it is so hard to get our folks to do sooooooo
little to gain sooooooo much. For example, $35 is so little and 80-20 has
gotten quite a bit done for the AsAm community. If we talk about high
ideal, we’ll face two dilemma: a) Most AsAms will not be that interested,
and b) others who face more pressing needs will come ask us to do what we
preached. Consider the following. When Arab and Muslim Ams. come ask
for help, and we respond, how long you think 80-20 will survive?

What fraction of AsAms do you think will gladly associate with an
organization that stands four square on civil rights with Arab and Muslim
Ams.? Even NAACP may not survive.

Organizing the Asian American community into a political force is
NOT an easy job. Otherwise, it would have been done a long time ago.
Martin Luther King for one talked about how things should be. Did AsAms
become activists during the civil rights movement? Frankly, I don’t know
of a single AsAm who was active in that movement.

Our community has a very diverse background, ethnically and in the
degree of political maturity. Both are deadly to our becoming a political
force just for the purpose of protecting ourselves, much less an political
force fighting for “liberty & justice for all.” What fraction of AsAms
are members of ACLU, you think? I am a member and given money to it.
However, I leave the big tasks to the big boys.

No one seems willing to battle & suffer for the AsAms. So I’ll do my
share.

“Rome was not build in one day.” “Politics is like surfing. If one
is way ahead of the wave, one gets crushed. If one is too timid, one
is left dead in the water. However, if one measures the wave right then
one may be able to ride it for quite a while.”

Is 80-20 measuring the wave right? You be the judge. Help us if
you think we are the best game in town. If you think you can judge the
wave better, then start your own org. Just don’t sit on the side and be a
critic. That is tooooo easy. Get into the arena, one way or another
please. Then you would have done your share. Thanks.

Regards,
SB

And my response:

Thank you for the prompt and thoughtful response. I now better
understand your motivation — I am, perhaps, not as pessimistic as you
are with respect to how willing Asian-Americans would be to stand up
for what’s right, but I also suspect you’re in a position to know
better than I am how people respond.

I do have a few specific points I’d like to follow up on:

> and b) others who face more pressing needs will come ask us to do what we
> preached. Consider the following. When Arab and Muslim Ams. come ask
> for help, and we respond, how long you think 80-20 will survive?

Obviously, you are an organization that is geared toward
Asian-American interests, and if a Muslim group comes to you for help
unrelated to Asian-American issues (which seems unlikely), then the
appropriate response is to tell it that this is not an issue that is
appropriate for your group to take up.

I am *not* suggesting that 80-20 ought to just be a general group
which stands up for what’s right, wherever it’s needed. There’s
nothing wrong with a group that is dedicated to the interests of a
specific subset of people, and you’re right — you can’t focus on
every problem.

But you have *chosen* to focus on this problem about treatment of
Muslims in America. And once you do that, I think that you belittle
this very real challenge to American decency. It’s one thing to focus
on the things that concern you; it’s quite another to bring up
something that is important, then draw a loose connection to your own
concerns and ignore the real issue. It says, ‘all I care about is me
and mine’.

> What fraction of AsAms do you think will gladly associate with an
> organization that stands four square on civil rights with Arab and Muslim
> Ams.? Even NAACP may not survive.

I really hope you’re wrong about this. Are we really a culture that
would be ashamed to stand up for civil rights for all?

> Organizing the Asian American community into a political force is
> NOT an easy job. Otherwise, it would have been done a long time ago.
> Martin Luther King for one talked about how things should be. Did AsAms
> become activists during the civil rights movement? Frankly, I don’t know
> of a single AsAm who was active in that movement.
<BR

>
I don’t either — but then, I’m no historian and I was born in 1981.

> Is 80-20 measuring the wave right? You be the judge. Help us if
> you think we are the best game in town. If you think you can judge the
> wave better, then start your own org. Just don’t sit on the side and be a
> critic. That is tooooo easy. Get into the arena, one way or another
> please. Then you would have done your share. Thanks.

You’re coming dangerously close to being patronizing, here; I’m in the
arena, and more than a mere critic. I’m active with Oxfam, the ACLU,
and at present, the Democratic Party (although I’m becoming more and
more frustarted with that latest). I will hold off on 80-20 for now,
although I will plan to remain on your mailing list.

Take care,
[name]