>Blacks Against Asians >By Brandon Bosworth >FrontPageMag.com | December 13, 2000 >URL: >http://www.frontpagemag.com/archives/racerelations/bosworth12-13-00p.htm > >THE FAVORITE THUGS of the Left, the Black Panthers, are once again raising >their fists in angry protest. The "New Black Panther Party for >Self-Defense," a Washington, D.C. group, is not currently battling the >"Establishment" or "Whitey." Instead they are focusing their rage on one >of the most en vogue scapegoats of racist blacks: the Korean shopkeeper. > >The target of the Panthers' anger is Frank Han, the owner of A-1 Grocery >in Northeast Washington. On November 22, three black teenage girls cut >class and went to A-1, a popular target of young shoplifters, where one of >the girls apparently tried to get an ice cream bar. According to Mr. Han, >14-year-old Tieera Richardson put a quarter on the cashier's counter and >tried to leave, even though the ice cream cost 65 cents. District police >officer Lt. Scott Dignan told both the Washington Post and Washington >Times that the surveillance video shows Han trying to detain the girl and >her striking him in the face. Han struck back, and soon a melee ensued, >with the other two girls and several others joining in. "Other people came >in and ransacked the store, even took products from the store," Dignan was >quoted as saying in the Post. > >Of course, the truant girls and their Black Panther allies have a slightly >different version of what happened. According to them, Han grabbed >Richardson as she tried to leave the store and struck first, hitting her >in the face. The D.C. police don't seem to be giving much credence to this >claim, as they are recommending that the three girls, not Mr. Han, be >charged with crimes in the incident. > >Fact and truth seldom get in the way of righteous indignation, and this >incident is no exception. The Panthers are staging a boycott of A-1 >Grocery, gathering in front of the store in an attempt to dissuade >shoppers. > >Demonstrators chant "black power" and "death to the bloodsuckers." Some >express their intent to close A-1 by "any means necessary." On the morning >of November 30, things went one step further. A pipe bomb was thrown at >the store's entrance, burning part of the storefront. There were no >injuries. In case there was any doubt as to the bomber's intent, a message >scrawled on an outside wall read, "Burn them down, Shut them down, Black >Power!" > >Black resentment and violence against Asian-Americans, and >Korean-Americans in particular, is nothing new. In 1990, blacks boycotted >a couple of Korean stores in Brooklyn for a year. One boycotter at the >time used a megaphone to scream, "Koreans must go!" A black teen was so >inspired by this sentiment, he smashed the skull of a local >Vietnamese-American with a hammer, while his buddies shouted, "Koreans go >home!" The stores lost thousands of dollars in revenue, staying in >business mostly with the help of Korean merchant associations. > >The L.A. riots witnessed even greater savagery directed at >Korean-Americans by blacks. Two thousand Korean stores, three-quarters of >all wrecked businesses, were destroyed. Nearly half of the 850 million >dollars in damages incurred during the riots was sustained by the Korean >community. (Incidentally, many shop owners avoided destruction of their >property by defending themselves with now-banned "assault weapons.") Not >wanting to be left out of the fun, a gang in the Bronx vandalized a Korean >dry cleaner out of solidarity with the California rioters. > >Anti-Korean sentiment is so ingrained in the black community that there >have even been songs expressing it. On his 1991 album "Death Warrant," >critically-acclaimed rapper (and now actor) Ice Cube had a tune called >"Black Korea." The song refers to "Oriental one-penny-counting >motherf**kers" and their "little chop suey asses." Korean shopkeepers are >warned to "pay respect to the black fist" or "we'll burn your store right >down to a crisp." > >This anger also manifests itself in films, such as the Hughes Brothers' >well-received 1993 picture Menace II Society. In an early scene, a Korean >grocer makes the mistake of muttering an insult at "O-Dog," a young black >thug played by Larenz Tate. O-Dog shoots the grocer in the head, then runs >to the back of the store to kill the grocer's wife and steal the >surveillance video. He watches the video over and over, showing it to his >friends, lingering over the shooting scene. > >Black racism against Asian-Americans doesn't simply manifest itself >through boycotts and riots. It can take place in smaller, more personal >ways. Chinese immigrant Ying Ma wrote in The American Enterprise magazine >of her childhood in predominantly black Oakland, California, where she was >frequently called "Ching Chong," "Chinagirl," and "Chow Mein." As she grew >into her teens, the racial insults were combined with vulgar sexual taunts. > >Any attempt to respond would be greeted with physical threats. On the >streets, Ma would see, "black teenagers and adults creep up behind >80-year-old Asians and frighten them with sing-song nonsense: Yee-ya, >Ching-chong, ah-ee, un-yahhh!" Asians would be told "Why the hell don't >you just go back to where you came from!" > >Yet the racism of blacks against Asians remains something not talked about >in the political or media mainstream. Why didn't Bill Clinton address the >problem when he was promoting his "Race Initiative?" How can prominent >figures like Spike Lee still get away with claiming there is no such thing >as black racism, despite the evidence to the contrary? Why do journalists >overlook the bigotry behind actions such as the boycott of A-1 Grocery, >but remain perfectly happy to harp about the policies of Bob Jones >University? How can the NAACP virtually blame George W. Bush for the >slaying of James Byrd, but still remain silent on the racial violence >perpetrated by the very people they claim to represent? > >A possible answer: Blacks currently enjoy political clout stemming from >their image as perpetual victims of bigotry. The anti-Asian racism of some >blacks and the violence it breeds shows how victim can become victimizer, >thus losing the coveted status of underdog in the eyes of the public. If >more people were aware of the violence and hostility Asian-Americans have >to deal with in the inner-city, the the political tide would turn, leaving >the NAACP and Co. out in the cold. But as long as our politicians and >media ignore the problem, most Americans will remain in the dark, and the >black community will continue to be unaccountable for the racism in its >midst. > >Brandon Bosworth is on the editorial staff of The American Enterprise >magazine.
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