The Yellow narrative on Black and White

Hong Kong Freedom Protesters carrying US flag. Photo: Reuters

Barack Obama was elected to the office of President of the United States in 2008. I remember the 24 hour news cycle rejoicing the fact that he was the first non-white President. I was 10. I wondered why people made it into the world handline that it became.

I grew up in Hong Kong, one of the most multicultural metropolitan cities in the world, seeing, knowing and making friends with people from all over the world. It wasn’t a “good” thing, it just happened. However diverse the financial district was (where most expats were situated), most local schools were enrolled by ethnically Han Chinese children.

I suppose it is the language barrier that made it happen. Children with Cantonese not as the mother tongue would attend International schools where English was spoken primarily. Anyway, there were always one or two classmates in my school that didn’t speak cantonese well and naturally they congregate and socialize together rather than their other fellow students.

Not until I arrived in Ireland, did I know what a real culture shock was. It was hard to speak 24/7 a language which was not my mother tongue, hard to learn their culture, know their slang, eat their food and make friends in college. I kept trying to learn the accent, listening to Pat Kenny, watching Foil Arms and Hog, all the time bearing in mind what my father proudly said to me – I’ll try to paraphrase – you don’t deserve something because of your skin colour but your skills.

The world has rightly recoiled in horror at the murder of George Floyd. Right, I called it a murder because that was an unnecessary and deliberate action that brought about his death. As a Hong Konger, I can very much empathise with those suffering at the hands of police brutality.

Hong Kong citizens protesting in defiance of Communist backed regime. Photo:fairway.com

In the United States clips are circulated on social media to put a spotlight on those ruthless acts of a small minority of police officers and protests inevitably ensue. I have likewise myself participated in various protests in my native Hong Kong. It is right and just to peacefully go on streets and make your voices heard and opinion known to the government.

Hours into the protests across various american cities, peaceful attendees would be gradually drowned out by some violent members of the crowd. At that moment, I would yet not dare to condemn any movement because I have seen myself in Hong Kong how causes can be hijacked by extremists.

It was until I saw the looting and bizarre destruction carried by the mob, that my opinion changed. Compared to what had been happening for around half a year ago in my homeland, the moral ground in the US was completely off colour.

It was partially notable for me coming from Hong Kong, that while my fellow countrymen were rallying behind the Union Jack and Star Spangled Banner to fight for their freedom, Americans already enjoying a level of freedom unparalleled in human history, were embracing the hammer and sickle, the very symbol that we in Hong Kong are trying to escape from.

There were groups that were not directing the protest against police brutality per se, but on the racism manifested by Derek Chauvin. The death of Floyd triggered a society wide discernment on racism. Wrapping my head around the incomprehensible nine-minute kneeling of the cop, alongside what my father said, I have still yet to come into a conclusion that racism caused the tragedy.

I fell back on my three years of liberal social science education and in the next few paragraphs to dive into the concept of racism and its impact on the social and political realm.

No one ought to tolerate racism. Just taking in account the race as the sole factor to formulate a decision is unthinkable in 21st century society. As I once argued in one of my college essays, backed up by Prof. Fanning (2012), the term racism was used to describe the negative attitudes and practices towards members of a group who differ physical and cultural characteristics from the perceiver. The starting point of view is that the member of the ‘race’ is innately superior or inferior.

The concept of race starts from applying the difference in genealogy of people “with common ancestry, customs and a common native history”. However, it then develops to a form of social identity and emphases the differences in different groups, for example ‘the west and the rest’, with prejudices against people of different skin colours.

We are motivated to do things by either intuition or observation. While many tasks require us to use both, some scenarios do not allow you to ponder too much on your statistical and qualitative research but act out by your intuition, with your experiences.

Studies have shown that in the US black people are more likely to get pulled over by police than white people per capita (Contacts Between Police and the Public, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2015). At the same time, statistics also tell us that there are 10 times more crime committed by black people on white than vice versa (Table14/15, Criminal Victimization, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018). The point here being is that numbers have NOTHING to do with racism.

Racism is a fight everyone should engage in on a personal and societal level.

Racism, first and foremost, came from a personal point of view from the perceiver as being “superior”. Thus, to accuse someone as racist is to judge the intention of that person. No one is called to be anyone’s judge. That no one should be called out as racist does not mean racism does not exist.

Since we are all called to be charitable, the root of racism must be eradicated and the root is in everybody’s heart and intention. The phenomena which we have witnessed in the past weeks has helped each one of us to examine our daily thoughts and acts – as small as some racial jokes which you think are “for the craic” (ment in well intended jest). No. We do not laugh at people but laugh “with”.

We improve by simply abstaining and making progress from a personal way, we don’t need any more virtue signalling derived from a group-think mentality.

Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP) — Aftermath in rioting in US. Photo: Ricardo B. Brazziell via AP

A month ago we saw marchers chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe” on the streets amidst of Covid-19 lockdown. Apart from the double-standard sympathy conferred to the protesters, it certainly gave a strong message of the desire to eradicate racism in the society.

However naive they might be, these protests, which often turn into iconoclasm, would not remove the systemic injustice people of colour are experiencing, but in fairness, could be an alarm to the conscience of each individual.

We all ought to be tired of identity politics by now. He ought to think as and treat others as individuals not groups. The mob behaviour of segregating and intensifying the polarisation needs to stop.

Extremists on the left who see everyone not endorsing the protests, albeit severity, as racists, are clouded by their own ego and passion. Those on the right who try to ignore the reality of racial barriers that people of colour experience, are living in their own convenient parallel universe.

However it is a sad day when one feels it necessary to state the obvious, that taking a political stance on either side of this delicate issue does not justify the looting nor casual prejudice.

If everyone commits himself to equalise opportunity rather than outcome, examines his own conscious rather than others’, values competency rather than colour and loves everyone not just his own group, then we do not need any protests to achieve the universal value of human dignity, a value that is innate and unalienable, coming not from any earthly authority but rather from our Creator, all the way from womb to the grave.

Samual Chan

July 2020