Solidarity in Times of Racism

On February 21, three weeks before a man murdered eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian women, Bekkah Scharf, a Jewish Asian American woman, published an article in Lilith Magazine titled “Where are the Jews?” In response to a sharp rise in hate crimes against Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the Bay area, the community organized an interfaith vigil and solidarity rally in Oakland’s Chinatown. Bekkah immediately decided to attend. She called people and made several signs on which she wrote, “Asian Jews Say __________”. Bekkah intended to hand out the signs to her fellow Jews so they could fill in the blank for themselves, however: 

“After an Huichin-Ohlone land acknowledgment from a local indigenous leader, city council members and community leaders spoke about their work and visions for true public safety. Black community leaders voiced allyship and solidarity with the Asian community. There were several pastors present, a visibly Muslim speaker, and a sizable group of young Muslims holding signs in solidarity. I was proud to show up for my AAPI community with other Asian Jews. I gladly spotted one Asian and Ashkenazi family from my synagogue at the event. However, a question kept crossing my mind: Where are the Jews?” 

We don’t have a Chinatown or Little Saigon in our back yard, but it doesn’t mean that we are free to be oblivious to racist and xenophobic incidents directed at AAPIs in our country. We, Jews, more than any other group in the world know what it is to be the object of hate, and therefore we must stand with any community that experiences racism. When it comes to anti-Asian hatred in the U.S., we, Jews, have a lot in common with them.

Racists typically punch down at their subjects of hate, as they perceive them as inferior, unintelligent, and lazy. But when it comes to the Jews, the punching is “up” since the Jews are perceived as being smarter than they are and as harder workers. The reason for hating us is that we use our skills and intelligence in a cunning and manipulative way to exploit and rob off the communities in which we live to benefit only ourselves and other Jews around the world. Members of the AAPI community, too, are perceived as smart (unless they are perceived as sex objects). They are all math geniuses who steal our kids’ places at the Ivy League schools. They, like the Jews, don’t benefit their communities in America.  

When disagreeing with Israel’s actions, the anti-Semite holds all the Jews around the world accountable, and therefore all Jews deserve to be punished. The anti-Asian doesn’t bother to recognize the diversity within the AAPI community. For him they are all Chinese, even though many come from countries that are oppressed by China. And since China’s relationship with the U.S. is tense, and especially in the past year as China is blamed for COVID-19, all the Asians in America must pay.  

During the Passover Seder we recite from the Haggadah, “In each and every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt.” It is not only a sentiment about our unbroken link to our oppressed ancestors, but also a reminder of our obligation to empathize and support anyone who stands today in the dark place that we stood in so many times before and extend our hands to pull them out.  

Happy Passover.