My Obama administration colleague (and former Yale Law School Dean) Harold Hongju Koh often told this story:
“Once, when I went to speak before an Asian American group, a man stood up and asked ‘Why are you representing these black Haitians? Why aren’t you devoting your time to *our* people?’
“And I said to him, ‘Sir, do you mean to say that in the face of Haitian boat people, you don’t see Vietnamese boat people? Do you mean to say that in the Haitian internment, you don’t see the Japanese internment? Do you mean to say that in the quest for Haitian democracy, you don’t see the quest for Korean democracy? And don’t you see that we may have come on different boats, but we are all in the same boat now? What I am saying is that if you think about it, the Haitians are ‘our people.’ And if we care about their problems, we are addressing our own problems as well.’”
During this Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let us remember that the injustices of our past call upon us to rise up against the injustices of the present. It’s only a legacy if we act upon the lessons, if we turn pain into purpose.
To all my friends celebrating #AANHPIHeritageMonth, I urge you to act and speak as though our ancestors are watching. History will remember.
#FreePalestine