By Joshua Wu
T
he tragic shootings on March 16 of six Asian women in Atlanta sent shockwaves throughout Asian-American communities. For me, as the initial grief and lament has passed, the overwhelming emotion I feel is anger.
I am angry that a Christian who supposedly reads the same Book as me twisted the Gospel to be motivation for heinous crimes. I am angry that the local police department spokesperson tried to explain away the shooter’s actions as someone having “a really bad day,” and that his removal from the case explained how he “misspoke” as due to it being “one of the hardest in his twenty-eight years in law enforcement,” in other words, that he was having a really bad day. I am angry that so many White Christians, including the shooter’s church, put culpability of the crime entirely on the shooter, overlooking how social, cultural, and even religious systems he grew up in shaped if not emboldened his racist and misogynistic views. And I am angry that despite the much-appreciated solidarity of a few of my non-Asian brothers and sisters in Christ, the apathetic silence of the majority of the Church is confirming yet again how invisible and foreign Asian American Christians are.
But anger must lead to action.
Yes we must acknowledge that we are angry, but let us not be foolish in venting our anger (Proverbs 29:11). We can speak up or stand with those speaking up. We can and must use our voice to reject the false narratives that this is not racism because the shooter said he wasn’t racially motivated, to express lament and demand room that our pain is heard, to voice anew the histories of discrimination that gives context to this specific crime. It is exhausting, but it is necessary.
The account of the twelve spies returning from Canaan can inform how we respond in the current situation. Of the twelve spies that Moses sent to explore Canaan, only two, Caleb and Joshua, believed the Lord that this is the land that will be given to the Israelites (Numbers 13:1). The first ten spies gave negative reports and discouraged the Israelites. But Caleb spoke up against the majority, encouraging the Israelites to boldly go into the land God promised them (Numbers 13:30).
While only Caleb speaks, Joshua was by his side, a supporting presence to encourage Caleb and collaborate Caleb’s account of what he saw. In the same way, some of us will or are already speaking up like Caleb. But for others, we can be like Joshua, standing in solidarity and support with others who are speaking up first.
So what are some spaces and spheres that we can speak up or support others already speaking up?
First, we should start in our places of influence and where we spend the majority of our time. For me, that is the workplace; for you, it may be in your school, your friend networks, your families, or your local church. At work, I had already been working with colleagues on diversity and inclusion efforts to empower Asian American staff. On Wednesday morning after the shootings on Tuesday, I had conversations on ways we could encourage senior leadership to make a statement to acknowledge the tragic events and show solidarity with our Asian American staff. Since then, beyond checking in on one another, I have been working to explore how we might leverage our firm’s research and communication capabilities to partner with other organizations who are responding to continued anti-Asian discrimination and exclusion.
Second, we can use our voice in our local civic spaces. Find ways to get involved with groups that are addressing anti-Asian discrimination locally. Participate in discussions, webinars, outreach, and events that are focusing on Asian American concerns and anti-Asian discrimination where you live. If you live close to Asian American enclaves, see if there are ways you can support or participate in community patrols and similar volunteer opportunities to support and express solidarity. In my town, I reached out to organizers of a series exploring Asian and Asian American communities and issues to see how I can contribute to their ongoing programming. There is almost always a lower bar of entry with local events and groups than with larger national organizations, so I encourage you to participate, sign up, and reach out so that we help ensure our voices, our experiences, and yes, even our faith beliefs and practices, are heard in the places we live.
Third, we should speak up in the political sphere and urge our elected officials to advocate for and support Asian-Americans. Write an op-ed in your local newspaper to highlight the challenge and urge action. Contact your elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. Call or email them (or do both!) to propose and support legislation to address anti-Asian discrimination. Be more educated about local or state efforts to pass resolutions, rules, and legislation addressing this problem. For example, at the federal level, ask your member of Congress to support H.Res.151 proposed by Representative Grace Meng of New York that renews calls for local officials to denounce anti-Asian sentiment and provide better guidelines to mitigate discriminatory language and practices.
In this moment, we must speak up in our spheres of influence, in our local communities, and with our elected officials. Some of us are Caleb’s, and some of us are Joshua’s. But let us together, as Caleb and Joshua do in Numbers 14:6-9, speak up together in the spaces and communities God has placed us. Let us not despair but encouraged by our eschatological hope in Christ, seek to intentionally engage and speak up, especially in such a time as this. The voices of the six Asian women murdered on March 16 are silent. Let us then, as Asian-Americans, as Christians who believe in a God committed to righting injustice and on the side of the marginalized, use our voices to make sure our pain and anger translate into real action that brings healing in a new tomorrow.
Photo by My name is Yanick on Unsplash
Joshua Wu is a husband, father, pastor's kid, and social scientist seeking to faithfully reflect Christ in all aspects of his life. He has a doctorate in Political Science from The Ohio State University, works in data analytics for a global communications firm, and currently lives in Rochester New York with his family. You can follow him on Twitter @joshswu.