3 Things We Have to Recognize As Asians now — Fête Pulse with Phil Wang
Philip Wang
Interviewed by Jennifer J. Lau
A headshot of Philip Wang, founder of Wongfu Productions.
#1. AsianS should care about the Black Community
The histories of Asian communities in North America are directly related to the African American populations who came before them. There’s a lot to attack with the Asian immigrant experience. There was a huge influx of Asian immigration after slavery was ended because of the demand for cheap labour. And then the government felt scared of all the Asians coming over and then they created the Exclusion Act against the ethnic Chinese. This might not be a very well-known history even to second- and third-generation Asian communities in North America, but it is very significant. Colonization still shapes much of the modern world and we as Asian have a role to play. Oftentimes these “untaught histories” are exactly what we need to be aware of. As the Black Lives Matter Movement made headlines in 2020, I hope we can reflect and be introspective about our place in the dialogue.
Image courtesy of Philip Wang and the ISA Team.
#2. Facing Asian Privilege
Privilege is an idea that Asians have to face too. The idea of Asian privilege may be harder for the earlier generations who came to North America as they see themselves as having overcome immigrant struggles without any perceived “privileges.”
I understand Asians specifically East Asian, and specifically Chinese Americans are very much against this concept of privilege or perceiving that there is any privilege because it’s difficult to imagine vis-a-vis personal experiences. And I can understand why people are resistant to admit that there is a level of privilege. But I keep telling people, just because you’re elevating someone else’s struggle, it’s not by default that we are taking away from your struggle.
Image courtesy of Philip Wang and the ISA Team.
#3. Our Stories Matter
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Indeed, it’s a different struggle for our generation and the generation above us. The burdens we have and the one that they carried are unique and distinct. Our Chinese immigrant parents who came to America accepted that they were entering a country that wasn’t theirs. So they were okay with seeing it as a “white country.” But because we are born here or 1.5 generation, we believe we have some equity in our society and that’s foreign to our parents.
This equity is why I hope that there will be more creators to be bold and tell our stories. Any kind of creative storyteller makes a huge difference, because change is difficult to realize in real life, sometimes people need fictional worlds in film to be made more aware of possibilities. That is the power of filmmakers — they can bring fantastic or out-of-reach ideas into a fictionalized reality to allow people to be comfortable with it, so that when it happens in reality people can be more accepting.
“This equity is why I hope that there will be more creators to be bold and tell our stories. We disappear if there are no stories.”
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In the future, Phil hopes that the Asian entertainment industry in North America is healthy, with our own films which are self-produced and self-financed, and are consumed by an enthusiastic consumer base of Asian and non-Asian audiences. We look forward to all that’s to come and what we need to recognize of ourselves and about the world as part of this Asian American community. Look out for more about Phil in the coming months!
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