The search for humanity
How we can get through this political climate
by Tejal Garg
It’s an understatement to say the influx of news from the Trump administration has been a whirlwind. On June 20, the White House announced a new executive order that provided a glimmer of hope of reuniting separated children with their parents. You think, “Yes! A win!” But then, a week later, we started the day with news that the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s Muslim ban — preventing the entry of individuals from predominantly Muslim countries into the U.S. It seems that just when we finish taking a sigh of relief that the administration was finally correcting a wrong, more bad news drops, and we are once again left startled and disheartened.
Amidst this unsettling political climate, there’s one thing we can do to stay positive and remind ourselves why we’re fighting but also why there’s hope. We can celebrate our diverse backgrounds and the backgrounds of those around us. Can you remember the last time you turned to your friends or coworkers and shared with them a piece of your cultural heritage? When was the last time someone shared a piece of theirs with you?
Whether you’re working toward comprehensive immigration reform, fighting the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, or advocating for government accountability, the underlying goal is the same across the board: protecting and advancing the basic human and civil rights of all persons. It is easy, however, to be so caught up in the work, that you lose sight of acknowledging people as people, rather than a numerical representation of an identity group. Reinvigorating your cultural energy can help renew your purpose and keep you positive.
Remind each other of who, rather than simply what, you’re fighting for.
I grew up overseas attending international schools my entire life. I grooved with our school’s African dancers while teaching them some iconic Bollywood moves backstage at our multicultural shows, I attended Iftar dinners while inviting others to celebrate Diwali, and I tasted the native food of South Korea while feeding others Samosas and “chaat.” I walked with students carrying the flags of countries they didn’t “belong to” as they watched others represent their own nationalities at my schools’ parade of nations. This defined my understanding of diversity and internationalism: people from around the world sharing and celebrating their cultural identities. And for me, and the people I went to school with, this is what provided us the ability to easily interact and find commonalities with those different from us. We learned not to be threatened by unfamiliar perspectives and not to stay boxed in a rigid set of beliefs or opinions.
Having such interactions throughout my childhood made me less likely to allow someone else to define a group of people for me and more likely to help others fight for their rights even if I didn’t identify with them. For those of us who aren’t in school anymore, the opportunity isn’t missed — we can still immerse ourselves in similar experiences in our daily lives.
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and the spaces that separate people grow smaller, we are left to witness the ignorant bandwagon of individuals building “walls” around themselves to keep foreigners out — some of which is promoted, if not initiated, by our leaders who we are supposedly expected to respect. Consequently, we become more and more fueled to engage in efforts that have the intention to “directly” break down these barriers. And when we’re confronted with more losses than wins, we are determined to recharge and accelerate the fight.
When the struggle for justice is so crucial, every little battle counts. There is power and influence in simply interacting with and sharing cultures that, even if such experiences may not produce immediate effects, cannot be overlooked.
Getting back up after absorbing blows and time again is exhausting and can be discouraging. We could all use a little more positivity and something to celebrate that isn’t contingent upon the decisions of close-minded people sitting behind closed doors.
Celebrate yourself, celebrate those around you — not just for the work they’ve done but for who they are as people. Whether you’re Asian, African, or Latinx American, Christian or Muslim, gay or straight — you’re more than a statistic. Don’t let yourself or others forget that. Remind each other of who, rather than simply what, you’re fighting for.
Tejal Garg is a summer law clerk at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.
