“Which history will we continue? As immigrants, we can either perpetuate the history of racism, or we can continue the traditions of justice and unity across communities. (So) What side are we on?”
This was a question of one of the participants at a community vigil in Queens, New York last week as nearly 150 members from the South Asian community and some others from the Black and Latino communities turned up in Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights for a vigil and discussion on the shooting at the historic church in Charleston, and the history of racial violence in America.
The discussion followed the incident at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, last month where a white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church, killing nine people, including the pastor in an apparent hate crime. The June 18 incident sparked nationwide furor with almost everyone condemning the fatal shooting.
Federal prosecutors likely file hate crime charges against the white man.
Desis Rising Up & Moving organized the vigil for the affected communities and families. It was preceded by community discussions, particularly aimed at immigrant communities to learn and discuss the histories of racial violence in the United States.
Nearly 150 community members gathered in Diversity Plaza. Organized into small groups by Bangla, Urdu/Hindi, Spanish, Tagalog, and English speakers, the participants discussed the history of the AME Church against the abolition of slavery, and for civil rights, which likely made the church an intentional target.
The participants felt that for this reason the incident should be seen not as an isolated incident, but as a continuation of a long history of racist violence in this country.
Using presentation board with pictures, the small discussions focused on the colonization and genocide of indigenous people, the enslavement and exploitation of people of African descent, and the anti-immigrant laws and histories present throughout American history.
In response to hearing the histories of resistance to racial violence, from indigenous resistance, to slave revolts, to the civil rights and immigrant rights movements, Bangla-speaking participant, Nahida Akter, shared that she had never learned about these histories. “Justice does not come by itself. We have to fight for it. We can clearly see, our lives depend on it,” she said. When Shikha Rawat, an organizer of the event asked the participants which path the immigrants should follow – continuing history of racism, or continuing the traditions of justice and unity across communities – participants in her group responded unanimously in agreement with the latter option.
Samira Jabin, an Urdu-speaking participant, and also a member of DRUM, noted that as immigrants they are taught to stay away from Black communities from the moment they get to this country. “But we are never taught the history of racism against them, nor their history of fighting for justice. We benefit from the fruits of their struggles and we have to start challenging the anti-black racism by ourselves, in our homes, families and communities. But we also have to get organized and fight in unity.”
One question that emerged during the discussion was about the future— what the way forward should be.
Opinions varied at small group discussions with some saying that one must be part of the mainstream and go with the wind when it comes to South Asian and Latino immigrants. Some other felt that one should ignore all these incidents and go about their own life. But the third opinion, which was endorsed by most, if not all people, was that while maintaining their own identity and culture, immigrants should be part of struggle for justice for everyone and thus join anti-racism movement, and not heed to what the mainstream society tells them to do.
“At the end of the day, the third opinion seemed to gather more support from South Asians with people backing the idea of joining the struggle against racism and expressed solidarity with the Black Americas,” Fahd Ahmed, Executive Director of DRUM, told News India Times.
People from the Black and Latino communities also joined the discussion and vigil, and expressed appreciation that the history of racism in the US was discussed and new immigrants from South Asia took active part in the discussion.
“We are inspired by the fact that South Asians held this vigil condemning the massacre. This is important because immigrants from that part of the world usually don’t care much about what happens to the Black community,” Ahmed said summing up the sentiments of the non-South Asian communities.
After the discussions, participants held a vigil with lighted candles in front of images and the names of the nine people who lost their lives in Charleston.
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