This survey examined relations between Asian Americans and Black Americans. Over 300 people responded, most identifying as female, Asian, and between 18-21 years old. Key findings included: - Respondents felt relations have gotten somewhat worse due to media portrayals exacerbating tensions. - Currently, the relationship is described as neutral or indifferent, with some tension and lack of understanding between the groups. - Stereotypes exist within both communities, and appropriating each other's cultures was a complex issue. - Most would support protests for their own race, but solidarity could be improved through education on each group's issues and experiences.

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Hillary Hui
Asian Studies 491A
May 4, 2015
Asian American and Black American Relations
Introduction
Asian Americans and Black Americans have a long and relatively similar history with
this country and white supremacy. One would think that in order to work against the dominant
group, the two groups of color would work together to form a bond over a common struggle.
This was true in the past when prominent Asian Americans like Yuri Kochiyama and Richard
Aoki joined in solidarity with Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party. However, recently, due in
part to the media’s portrayals of the L.A. Riots in 1992 as mainly a conflict between Korean
Americans and Blacks and Latinos the perceived race relations have been negative. The focus
was taken off the police murder of a Black man named Rodney King and instead put it on the
destruction of Korean American owned stores by Black people to aggravate the dislike between
the groups. Additionally, the constant appropriation of Black culture by Asian Americans in
combination with the virulent anti-blackness in the Asian community helps to further the
conflicts between the groups. Coalition and solidarity is an important stage that Asian Americans
and Black Americans need to reach in order to more successfully dismantle the systemic
structures of racism working against them in this country. This study will work to look at the
relations to see where they can go from here.

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Due to growing up with anti-blackness in the Asian community, I have struggled with the
conditioned negative thoughts against Black people. From telling me that I should not date Black
men to open stereotyping, I have heard the worst from the Asian community and want to do
something about it. This issue is important to me because I cannot stand by while an entire group
is marginalized by my community.
Hypothesis
The problem in the Asian and Black American communities is that our movements,
especially the recent Black movements against police brutality, do not gain much traction due to
the fact that they are barely supported by other marginalized groups. In particular, Asian
Americans. In order for movements to succeed and problems to be solved, they need to garner
enough attention from unaffected groups to show that the issue is important enough to gain the
support of outsiders. As people of color who have an extensive history of racism and
stereotyping in the United States, we should be the first to stand up and join Black Americans in
their struggle. As much as the solidarity between Asian and Black Americans is necessary, the
differences and animosity between the two groups is not something to be ignored. They must be
addressed in order to move towards the coalition that is so needed. This paper will be studying
what the general feelings of the Asian and Black American populations are towards the other
group and if there is any hope of a large, joint group that endeavors to solve the problems we
struggle with.
Literature
Daryl J. Maeda

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“Black Panthers, Red Guards, and Chinamen: Constructing Asian American Identity
through Performing Blackness, 1969-1972” focused on the history between Asian and Black
Americans, specifically, the Black Panther Party and the Red Guard. He discussed the
appropriation of Black culture in a positive light by saying that it led to a more concrete Asian
American identity. “Asian American adaptations of black power’s emphasis on race and racial
identity not only contributed to the construction of Asian American identity, but also provided
points of conjunction around which African Americans could connect political and cultural
movements” (pg 1082). To make the conclusion that Asian Americans and Black Americans
cannot find similarities with each other unless one is appropriating the other is a backwards
thinking. One does not need to be in another’s shoes to sympathize with the struggles they face. I
feel that instead, education about issues specific to each group and connections that they have
with the other is the best way to create links between political and cultural movements.
Maeda also mentioned the time around when a significant number of Asian Americans
began appropriating popular Black culture in addition to the activist strategies. “Chin credits the
‘sixties and the civil-rights movement’ with making Asian Americans ‘aware that we had no
presence, no image in American culture as men, as people…So a bunch of us began to
appropriate ‘blackness’. We’d wear the clothes, we’d affect the walk and we began to talk black”
(pg 1086). He mentions that this is one of the several areas that Asian Americans interacted with
Black culture in a positive way. Maeda’s main point was that due to the shared support and
history between the Black Panther Party and Red Guard, there should be solidarity between the
two to overthrow whiteness. He also did not denounce the appropriation of Black culture because
according to him, the exchange of cultures was relatively equal. For example, the Black Panther

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Party referred to Mao Tse-Tung’s Red Book in their activism and the Red Guard regularly
appropriated the Black Panther Party’s strategies and community plans.
Maeda lays out a thorough explanation of the history and relations between Asian and
Black Americans but I disagree with the interpretations he took. Unfortunately, the only point I
agreed with was that he believed the Asian portrayals of Black masculinity was problematic. It is
not to the benefit of race relations if we ignore the disproportionate amount of appropriation of
Black culture compared to appropriation of Asian culture.
Kevin R. Johnson
“Law and politics in post-modern California: Coalition or conflict between African
Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/os?” discussed the reasons behind solidarity between
different racial and ethnic groups. My one problem with the language used was that he kept
referring to Latinos as a racial group, which they are not. A white Latino will have a different
experience in this country compared to a Black Latino or an Asian Latino. They are a
marginalized group in the United States so they should be talked about. Due to the topic of my
paper, I will be focusing on what Johnson says in general about race relations.
Johnson focused on race relations in California since they have the highest number of
people of color and Latinos in the United States. He considered these race dynamics in relation
to how they could affect social change in the state. “Racial justice requires political coalitions to
bring about social change. The choice is between whether we work together or allow the status
quo to remain” (pg 385). This really emphasizes what was said in my hypothesis. If we do not
combine effort and stick our necks out to bring about change, we will not get anywhere. He also
talked about the racism that plagues our communities and bars us from having a solid foundation

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for social movements. “Racism within communities of color causes tension that hinders political
cooperation, generates suspicion, and flares up in times of social turmoil. Those communities
must squarely address it” (pg 384). I appreciate the fact that in addition to acknowledging that
racism exists even among people of color, he said that we must do something productive about it,
unlike Maeda. For too long, communities have let slide the racism because the majority of it is
micgroaggressions or stereotyping jokes, which are unnoticeable within a culture that is rife with
them. Johnson’s main argument is that “For successful cooperation in the future, community
work will be necessary to identify and build common ground on some major issues, such as
discrimination, immigration, employment, criminal justice, and voting rights” (pg 394).
Communities of color have so much in common regarding the struggle we face, despite being
slightly different for each race, that we must join together to get rid of our problems.
Elaine H. Kim
“"At Least You're Not Black": Asian Americans in U.S. Race Relations” was an
interesting piece that talked more extensively about the racism and privileges in communities of
color than Johnson did. She does not place the entirety of the blame as to why racism exists in
our groups because those are side effects we receive when living in a society that hates people of
color as much as they do. “Since their information sources are primarily from the dominant
culture, people of color are almost as perceptible to racist stereotyping as anyone else” (pg 9).
When people absorb as much racist media, conversations, etc as much as we do, there is no way
to not ignore those messages. Just as people of color internalize the racism about themselves,
they can easily succumb to stereotypes of other people of color. It is our job to break down and
analyze the messages we receive and work towards combatting them, whether within ourselves
or in our community. In addition to this internalized racism due to society, we are also always

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pitted against each other to be the better minority. “In a society held together by hierarchical
arrangements of power and the privileging of competitive individualism, it is difficult for groups
of color to deal with each other on an equal basis, without falling into competition, ranking and
scrambling around hierarchies of oppression” (pg 8). Specifically, Asians have been cast as the
“model minority” as being the example of how other people of color should be: successful,
educated, silent on matters of oppression. This myth however, goes to our heads and in
combination with the anti-blackness in our community, helps us put down Black Americans
while also hurting ourselves. “While being encouraged to feel superior to African Americans,
Asian Americans are being positioned in a racial hierarchy meant to perpetuate white privilege at
the expense of both Asian and African Americans” (pg 4). Nobody benefits from this battle
among people of color except white people.
A thought-provoking point that Kim brings up is that similar to the “model minority”
myth, Asian Americans are always in this middle position between Black and white people. We
have the choice to pick a side to support but too often, we do not. “In many ways, Asian
Americans are positioned on the in-between – on the cusp, at the interstice, in the buffer zone –
of Asian and America, between black and white, between old-timer and newcomer, between
mainstreamed and marginalized. Yet the in-between is a precarious and dangerous position to
occupy if we are not fully cognizant of where we are and what our position means in the larger
picture” (pg 3). Typically, this position of precariousness confuses us and our response seems to
be to stay silent and not support either side. However, as Ginetta Sagan said, “Silence in the face
of injustice is complicity with the oppressor.” If we do not choose a side, we are seen as going
along with white supremacy even in the face of police brutality and lynchings. This obviously
has a negative effect on Asian relations with other groups. “It has been suggested that other

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people of color have good reason not to trust Asian Americans, who have been widely known in
this country for risking our own hides or sticking out our own necks for someone else” (pg 9).
The United States is where our dreams are supposed to come true but we need to realize that
keeping silent to realize our dream helps others’ dreams get destroyed again and again. Kim
wants coalition between groups but Asian Americans must resist their levels of privilege and
support other people of color who are perceived as farther from whiteness than us.
Michael C. Thornton
“Meaningful Dialogue? The Los Angeles Sentinel's Depiction of Black and Asian
American Relations, 1993-2000” studies a newspaper’s portrayal of our relations over some
years to see if anything changes by the end. Similar to what Kim brought up, Thornton also
mentions that Asians are viewed as somewhat of an in-between of white and Black people and
expands on the idea. “’…Korean merchants are viewed as a layer of the white power structure
that African Americans view as racist and oppressive and thus become targets of rage.’ As
middleman minorities, ‘they are places between the dominant and subordinate populations’” (pg
1283). Due to the fact that we are seen as part of white supremacy because of our closeness to it
compared to Black people, we are viewed as enemies who should not be in coalition with them. I
think that Asian Americans are then turned off from Black people when they are met with this
hostility and turn their backs without understanding where they are coming from.
Thornton concludes from his study of the newspaper that race relations are too often
perceived as black and white but that is gradually changing to become more inclusive.
Especially, in media run by Black people, the language used is turning into people of color and
white people instead of Black people and non-white people. “…the results here suggest how race

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is not a coherent category but a dynamic system of affiliation, exclusion, and disavowal,
constantly reinvented and part of an emergent self-identity” (pg 1294). Race relations is not
something that is set in stone. It changes and morphs to accept different people and according to
Thornton’s research, the relations between Black and Asian people were changing for the better
back in 2000.
Methodology
The method chosen to study the relations between Asian Americans and Black
Americans was an anonymous, 19 question survey. It was distributed solely online on social
media. Specifically, Facebook and Tumblr. The survey was live for exactly one month, from
March 9th, 2015 to April 9th of the same year. It was open to all races because I was interested to
see if non-Asian and Black people had significantly different answers compared to the two
groups I was looking at. The only requirement of the survey was that respondents had to have
lived in the United States for the majority of their lives since I was only looking at American
race relations.
Questions
The following questions were all required in order for respondents to complete the
survey:
 What is your racial identity?
 What gender do you identify as?
 How old are you?
 Which state have you lived most of your life in?
 How many of your friends are Asian?
 How many of your friends are Black?

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 As an Asian person, do you notice what happens in the Black community? Vice
versa, as a Black person, do you noticed what happens in the Asian community?
 Have Asian and Black relations gotten better or worse over the years? Please
explain your answer.
 In your opinion, how would you describe the current relationship between Asian
and Black people in the U.S.?
 As an individual, how would you describe your personal relationship with the
other race?
 Please check all of the Asian stereotypes you agree with.
 Please check all of the Black stereotypes you agree with.
 Do you think it is a problem that Asians take part in Black culture? e.g. use
AAVE (African American Vernacular English), rap, say n***a, do hip hop, have
dreads/locs/afro. Please explain your answer.
 As an Asian or Black person, would you go to a protest/rally supporting Asian
people?
 As an Asian or Black person, would you go to a protest/rally supporting Black
people?
 What do you think could be done to improve Asian and Black relations?
 How do you think Asian and Black relations will be in the future?
Drawbacks
A few flaws of survey was that I did not ask what generation they were, if they were
adopted by people of a different race, and that I distributed it only on social media. Especially for
Asian Americans who have high population of recent immigrants, whether they are children of
immigrants or their family has been in this country for centuries can affect how they perceive
race relations. I tend to feel that children of immigrants are more in touch with their Asian
culture and thus may not be as assimilated which could lead to more racism and xenophobia,
compared to other generations. Also, if a Black or Asian person was adopted by someone of a

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different race, especially white, they would most likely have at least a slightly different view of
race relations because the race of their adopted parent(s) could affect what race they spend most
of their time with. Lastly, the reason why distributing this survey solely on social media could
affect the data is because the circles within which I posted it were mostly social justice
advocates. I feel that the fact that the majority of the respondents were at least slightly socially
aware of race problems skews the data since most of the American population is still ignorant of
many of these things. Despite these faults, I believe my survey received enough responses to
have gotten a decent grasp of race relations between Asian Americans and Black Americans.
Results
The survey received more responses than was expected. There were a total of 300
responses with 37 non-Asian and Black responses and 263 Asian and Black responses. The 263
responses included Asian and Black people who were mixed with other races and ethnicities.
The following demographics will only be about those 263 responses.
The respondents were 78 percent female, 12 percent male, and 10 percent non-binary. 61
percent were Asian, either mono-ethnic or multi-ethnic. 18 percent were Black. 13 percent were
mixed Asian and white. 6 percent were mixed Black and Asian. 2 percent were mixed Black and
white. The ages were split according to ages of education. 23 percent were under 18 years old, 45
percent were 18 – 21 years old, 28 percent were 22 – 30 years old, and 4 percent were above 40
years old. The regions of the United States that respondents were divided into were the ones used
by the Census Bureau. I only had 1 Pacific region response so I placed it with the Southern
region. 38 percent were from the East, 33 percent were from the West, 15 percent were from the
South, and 14 percent were from the Midwest.

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The responses did not vary much across gender, age, and region. The number of Black
and Asian friends also did not appear to affect anything except for what they thought Black and
Asian relations were like. It seemed the only deciding factor that changed the responses was race
so I will be looking specifically at that factor.
Do you think it is a problem when Asians take part in Black culture?
For the question, “Do you think it is a problem when Asians take part in Black culture?”,
I had a surprising response. 37 percent of Black respondents, mixed and full, answered with
either no or I don’t know. This was slightly lower than the 39 percent of Asian respondents,
mixed and full, that answered with no or I don’t know. There were a few patterns among the
Black respondents’ answers. They thought that the n-word is off limits for everyone, including
Black people, because of the terrible history behind it. Then, respondents felt that certain
environments surrounded people with Black culture, like AAVE, while they grew up so it was
every bit part of their culture as Black people. Lastly, they said that hip hop and rap were
generally acceptable for other people to take part in because it was an art form. Despite these
allowances and exceptions for non-Black people, the majority (63%) still said that yes, it is a
problem when Asians take part in Black culture. One person stated “Everyone wants to be Black,
but no one wants to be Black” meaning everyone wants to be able to have Black culture but they
do not want to deal with the stigma and racism they face.
As said earlier, 39 percent of Asian respondents felt that it was a problem when Asians
took part in Black culture. The majority of them agreed with the trends of Black people’s
responses in the previous paragraph. After reading the explanations behind their answers, I felt
that some Asians did not look as deep as they could. One quote from someone who said No, “It’s

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fine if it comes from a place of understanding and communication, and is done in a conscientious
way. The problem is that it so very often is not.” This person does understand that a lot of Asian
participation is done in an offensive way yet they are still fine with them taking part in it. Many
other responses were similar in that Asians can do things associated with Black culture, but they
need to be careful. I wonder why they still gave the overall Asian community a pass at Black
culture despite the problematic participation. Even if it was only one Black person getting
offended by Asians’ participation, that is one person too many. To sum up the thoughts of other
61 percent of Asians who said that Asian participation was problematic, “Black culture has been
appropriated by the white mainstream society and exploited for profit. As a non-Black PoC
[person of color], it is necessary for us to take a stance in solidarity with Black folks by not
perpetuating the same violence if we seek to achieve racial justice.”
Discussion
What do you think could be done to improve Asian and Black Relations?
The majority of the responses, both Black and Asian respondents had similar thoughts on
how to improve relations. Most of them said more education and interaction between races
would ease the tensions and help debunk the stereotypes that are said about either side. Both
groups also said that Asians need to do their part in working against the anti-black mentality in
the Asian community and mainstream society. As one Asian woman said, “Asian Americans
need to be more proactive in confronting the anti-Blackness that exists in all of us and in
unlearning it and supporting Black people in the ways that they want and need.” There were a
few misguided responses suggesting interracial dating and ignoring the problem would solve the
issues. Neither of those solutions fix the heart of the problem but the fact that some people think

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those are viable answers to the race relations right now highlights the need society has for proper
race education.
Please check all the stereotypes you agree with.
This section of the survey was difficult to read because even though majority of the
people across racial and ethnic groups chose None of the above as the answer, a few stereotypes
were close to overtaking them. One pattern that I noticed was that Asian people believed in their
own stereotypes more than Black people. This may be due to a higher amount of interactions
with Asian people but to believe such rude things, like cheap/stingy and loud/rude, about oneself
highlights the internalized racism in the community. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for
Black people and their stereotypes. Most of them chose None of the Above while Asian people
doubled the amount of votes for that option compared to the others. The last pattern I saw was
that people do not seem to understand that any stereotype, no matter how good it sounds, like
athletic for Black people or smart/studious for Asian people, is still damaging. I saw a few
answers where respondents chose None of the Above and a positive stereotype. These “good”
stereotypes hurt both communities when the majority of society believes them. Asians who are
struggling in school may not get the mental or emotional help they need to cope with the
schoolwork because of the belief that all Asians are smart. In a similar vein, Black college
students might be stereotyped as getting free rides due to athletic scholarships even though every
single Black person is not athletic. Relating back to the previous question, a lot of respondents
also said that breaking down stereotypes about both groups would be a productive way of
improving relations between Asian Americans and Black Americans.
Have Asian and Black relations gotten better or worse over the years? /

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How do you think Asian and Black relations will be in the future?
There was no general consensus within either of the groups whether Asian and Black
relations have gotten better or worse over the years. For every Better or Worse answer, there
were two I don’t know answers. Many of the respondents were just not aware of what relations
were like in the past. As for the future, there was an optimistic agreement that Asian and Black
relations would be better in the future. If the overwhelming number of respondents’ Yes’ are
true, that both groups would go to protests/rallies supporting Asian or Black people, I have a
hopeful view of future relations as well.
Non-Asian or Black Responses
The answers of the Non-Asian or Black respondents were overwhelmingly neutral and
did not contribute anything meaningful to the conversation. When asked whether Asians
participating in Black culture was a problem, many of them said that people are allowed the
freedom to express themselves and that culture is meant to be shared. This is unhelpful and goes
against the voices of what many Black people have said. For the questions of whether Asian and
Black relations have gotten better or worse and how will Asian and Black relations be in the
future, there was a resounding I don’t know in most of the long answer boxes. It is
understandable that someone not from the marginalized groups that are in discussion may not
know how to respond if they have not had any interaction with the other groups. However, ally is
a verb. In order to be one, one needs to educate themselves, listen to the voices of people of
color, and support us but do not speak over us. Non-Asian or Black voices are unnecessary in our
spaces but in order to get the mainstream to heard our struggles, we need privileged people to
come forward and push our voices into the spotlight.

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Conclusion
While non-Asian or Black allies are helpful allies to our movements, it is also wise to
keep in mind that Asians need to do their part as well as Black allies. As the respondents said,
both Asian and Black, we need to work to combat the anti-blackness in our communities,
especially among the older generations like our parents. We need to get rid of stereotypes, both
positive and negative ones. There needs to be no more appropriation of Black culture in the
Asian community because we cannot just take their culture and then try to call ourselves their
comrades in their struggle against white supremacy. Based on the general knowledge and
awareness in the responses, both communities are waking up and seeing the problems within the
race relations for what they are. I am optimistic that Asian and Black relations will be better for
future solidarity and coalition.

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Bibliography
Johnson, Kevin R. 2004. “Law and politics in post-modern California: Coalition or conflict
between African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/os?” Ethnicities 4:381-401
Kim, Elaine H. 1998. “‘At Least You’re Not Black’: Asian Americans in U.S. Race Relations.”
Social Justice 25:3-12.
Maeda, Daryl J. 2005. “Black Panthers, Red Guards, and Chinamen: Constructing Asian
American Identity through Performing Blackness, 1969-1972.” American Quaterly 57:
1079-1103.
Thornton, Michael C. 2011. “Meaningful Dialogue? The Los Angeles Sentinel’s Depiction of
Black and Asian American Relations, 1993-2000.” Journal of Black Studies 42:1275-
1298.