“Well, my parents came here legally.”
It’s a sentiment I’ve seen repeated over and over again in the comments section under videos of protesters exercising their First Amendment rights throughout Los Angeles by protesting federal immigration raids this week.
And the unfortunate reality? When you click into their profiles, many of these commenters share one key characteristic: They’re of Asian descent.
It’s both disappointing and shocking to see so many fellow first-generation Asian Americans whose parents were privileged enough to play by the “rules” distance themselves from immigrant families who weren’t.
But this is by design. Systemic white supremacy has aimed to pit people of color against each other in favor of gaining socioeconomic status — and it’s always worked, historically.
