Call for Action on Hate Crimes and Racism Against Asian-Americans
Statement
Throughout our collective history, Americans have stood in the face of, challenged, and overcome foreign oppression. Many of those who shouldered this burden were new American citizens, immigrants, and refugees who found their way to the United States to escape atrocities abroad. They fought to defend America’s ideals because they most reverently cherished the value of American freedom; indeed, they knew all too well the alternative: the lack of fundamental rights, the oppression that arises from tyranny, the fear of not knowing whether survival can be expected from one day to the next, and the horrors of abject poverty. Freedom—our Nation’s highest ideal—can never be taken for granted. Our freedom was won and ultimately secured by individuals who, throughout history, profoundly appreciated its value, fragility, and imperfections. They carried with them—and continue to carry with them—an unwavering resolve to defend America’s democracy.
We are foreign policy and national security professionals, including active and retired military members, diplomats, civilian government employees, government contractors, intelligence officers, investors, scientists, and academics. We are Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, or AAPI, who come from diverse backgrounds, from third-generation Chinese-Americans whose ancestors sought more opportunities and labored to build the vital infrastructure of America’s westward expansion, to first-generation immigrants whose parents wanted to achieve the American Dream. We are allies and community members united by our commitment to America, and we are bound by a collective mission to make our country a better and more secure place.
As a community, it has been heart-wrenching to hear—and personally experience—the latest surge of hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans across our beloved country, the same country for which thousands of Asian-Americans have fought and died. The perpetuation of this prejudice has only intensified under the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical and economic strains and racial polarization it has surfaced. Simultaneously, the xenophobia that is spreading as U.S. policy concentrates on great power competition has exacerbated suspicions, microaggressions, discrimination, and blatant accusations of disloyalty simply because of the way we look. Many of us have been targeted because we are either ethnically Chinese or simply look Asian. This is not to dismiss credible counterintelligence concerns as evidenced through indictments of U.S. citizens—some of whom are White—spying for China. Treating all Asian-Americans working in national security with a broad stroke of suspicion, rather than seeing us as valuable contributors, is counterproductive to the greater mission of securing the homeland. As members and allies of the AAPI community, we acknowledge that Asian-Americans are intrinsic to the fabric of American society.
Pertaining specifically to the current state of affairs, Chinese-Americans are America’s greatest asset in promoting improved understanding and providing a unique bulwark to counter malign Chinese economic, military and political aggression. Not only do they have the linguistic and cultural intelligence to better understand the other side, but many of them possess the expertise and creativity to find innovative solutions to various issues within U.S.-China relations. In an environment where most security-cleared professionals are prevented from travel, cultural exchange, and research with China, diaspora community members have the perspectives and sophistication vital to crafting creative policy solutions to complex, interdisciplinary challenges.
Asian-Americans have also contributed to irregular and unconventional activities. Similar to how the U.S. military opened its ranks to foreign nationals to defeat the Axis Powers in WWII and allowed immigrants to become some of the first Green Berets, we can leverage our diverse backgrounds to increase the U.S.’s strategic advantage. We must recall and learn from painful elements of American history, when hostilities abroad resulted in undue prejudice and groundless suspicion at home, culminating, for instance, in the internment of Japanese-Americans. No American should be asked to prove their loyalty, absent evidence to the contrary. We as Asian-Americans are integral in combatting and securing America’s collective cognitive security.
These are just a few ways that Asian-Americans are contributing to U.S. national security. We must recognize that our diversity is a critical asset in protecting this nation as we not only uphold our country’s founding democratic principles, but also work towards an America where all of our children will, as Martin Luther King extolled to all Americans, “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
For we embody the American spirit. We are proud Americans, and we love what America stands for: democracy and freedom.
Evanna Hu, Atlantic Council & Omelas
See here for the list of signees and their affiliations
