"The capitalist roots of anti-Asian hate"

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This article, published at the OnlySky website, is over a year old. Anti-Asian sentiment is not currently the "hot topic" in the venue of public discourse. As of the date of this post, we're trying to figure out a way to discuss the humanity of Palestinians within the framework of acknowledging the collective trauma of centuries of anti-Semitism.

But for those who lean liberal, all hate is interconnected, and all oppression and cruelty must be acknowledged. As the author of this article, Susan Kang, states:

[T]he current system, one that pits groups of people against each other, cannot continue if we value human dignity and equality.

So, while the subject of anti-Asian violence isn't the one making headlines at this moment, there are a couple of examples in this piece that illuminate the ongoing issues of the role of the rule of law, and the power of those in authority to deliver justice and declare to the world whose lives seem to merit protection. In one paragraph, Kang shares with us the story of a man named Vincent Chin.

[T]he death of Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death by two Detroit area autoworkers, a Chrysler supervisor and his laid-off autoworker son-in-law, who wrongly believed he was Japanese, on the night of his bachelor party. Ironically, Chin also worked in the domestic automobile industry as an engineer for an auto parts supplier. Chin was beaten to death in front of a crowd that included two off-duty police officers. The subsequent trial led to a fine and probation for the two perpetrators, but no jail time. Clearly the criminal justice system could not create justice for Vincent Chin. Despite the evolution of civil rights laws, the criminal system continues to fail vulnerable Asian Americans and people’s economic concerns continue to rise.

Vincent Chin isn't a name known to many Americans, neither is the name Konerak Sinthasomphone. But just about everyone in this country between the ages of 8 and 80 has heard of Jeffrey Dahmer. Drawing from the Netflix documentary, Kang uses an example in his history of crimes to illustrate how race and ethnic affiliation impact the response of those in authority to protect human life.

[A]ctor Nicey Nash depicts Glenda Cleveland, a Black neighbor of Jeffrey Dahmer who tried with her daughter and niece to get the police to intervene and stop his killings. The series re-enacts a tragic incident in 1991 when Cleveland’s daughter and niece, Sandra Smith and Nicole Childress, found 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone—an immigrant from Laos—drugged, naked and bleeding, fleeing Dahmer’s apartment. The women tried to get the police to investigate Dahmer. Instead, Dahmer convinced the police to return Konerak to him, as Dahmer told them that it was just a lover’s spat. The women tried to stop the police from returning the boy to Dahmer, but they were threatened with arrest. Had the police checked Dahmer’s ID, they would have seen that he was on probation for child molestation.

After speaking with the police, Dahmer murdered his14 year old victim in less time than it probably would have taken the cops to get back to their station. The officers involved were temporarily dismissed from the force but later came back to work to "protect and serve" the public.

The author frames this failure to protect human life as a reminder of what can and cannot create safety in our human interactions. "Police do not keep us safe", she writes,

Only interracial, human solidarity and care for each other, both in our everyday actions and embedded within broader political, social and economic systems, will keep us safe.

This year-old article sums up the essential goal that needs to be the motivation in seeking solutions to the current situation in Gaza or virtually any other world conflict. We're human beings. We all deserve to exist without fear of some opposing faction wanting to kill us or wipe out our kind or restrict us from enjoying economic opportunities and-- more significantly-- basic political and social freedoms.