On Anti-Asian Sentiments, Ingrained Anti-Blackness, Michelle, and Sandra

Images of Sandra Shells and Michelle Allysa Go. Credit: The Independent.

We can't talk about the horrific murders of Michelle Allysa Go and Sandra Shells without examining the ugliness at the intersections of the patriarchal white supremacist national sentiments around homelessness and housing insecurity. We also can't talk about what happened to Michelle and Sandra without examining mental health advocacy and the perceived and perpetuated value of Black and Asian women in the United States. And we definitely shouldn't be having conversations about Michelle and Sandra's murders without incorporating an ever-evolving understanding of the deeply ingrained passive acceptance of anti-Blackness and anti-Asian hate that has permeated this country's mindset for hundreds of years.

And if you're trying to have these raw and difficult conversations without considering how deep these oppressive states go and how they even impact the ways that news outlets have covered the murders of Michelle and Sandra? Then you're having the wrong conversations from the wrong place. You need to pump the brakes and re-evaluate what you're thinking and considering. Your lack of empathy is showing, as is your lack of work on yourself around your connections to and perpetuation of racism, white supremacy, and oppressive states and values.

The murders of Michelle and Sandra are not just an "escalating crime problem." They aren't just a national mental health issue, either. We're talking about long-bubbling systemic problems that Black and Asian communities have grappled with for over a century. These systemic barriers for Black and Asian communities in the United States have led to hard-to-break cycles of generational poverty, a lack of opportunities for advancement, and countless hurdles to generational wealth-building. They have led to homelessness and housing insecurity for millions of Black and Asian U.S. Americans. These deep systemic roots have led to the commodification, fetishization, disregard, harm, and murder of Black and Asian women and femmes.

You can't talk about the smoke and what the causes of said smoke may be and willingly ignore or neglect to talk about the fire.

If you want to talk about the lives of Michelle and Sandra, talk about them from a space of humanity that encompasses the factors that sowed the seeds for their unfortunate murders. Think about how their families are struggling with losing their loved ones while still struggling with the slew of systemic oppressions at play. Approach it this way or don't approach it at all. We are well past the mindset of half-assed bias-driven white supremacist discussions around these topics are valid, needed, and harmless.

One last thing, for white folx and folx with privilege and white privilege: support the Black and Asian U.S. Americans in your life; your neighbors, friends, extended family, co-workers. Do this not for your self-gratification but because you legitimately care about their mental, emotional, and physical health and aren't willing to prioritize your comfort over caring about them during draining times. If you're their supervisor, connect with them, see how they're feeling beyond niceties and "I'm good" statements, and support their need to process and grieve the constant loss. It should be a given for you to do this as a human being with empathy, but it's not a given, is it? We've lost so much so often, and it hurts. Make it a life practice to be there for us.