San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Photo by Luke Thomas
By Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender
May 7, 2010
From the Gold Rush to the present, San Francisco’s African American and Asian residents have a shared history of struggle, co-existence and cooperation. So it is especially painful to see these two communities torn apart by crime, violence and fear.
The two fatal assaults on elderly Asian American victims, allegedly committed by African American teenagers, have raised the question of whether growing racial tensions in cities as ethnically diverse and complex as San Francisco and Oakland are partly to blame. While the motives for the assaults are unclear, what has become increasing apparent is that there are strong feelings, perceptions and biases among both Asians and African Americans.
The belief that President Obama’s election would transcend the racial divide between whites and blacks may be premature. However, even if this chasm was overcome, it would not address conflicts between minority groups in this country. The reality is that the same prejudices that divide blacks and whites threaten the relationships of African-Americans, Asians and Latinos.
Asians and African Americans have shared a history of oppression and discrimination in the United States. Early Chinese immigrants, like Africans, were brought to this country as slaves. Both groups faced discrimination in housing, interracial marriage and education. African American and Asians have also supported each other’s struggles. In 1870, when Congress was debating the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned Chinese immigration, Frederick Douglass was one of several African American leaders who spoke out against the law. Senator Blanche K. Bruce, the sole African American in the U. S. Senate, voted against the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Similarly, Asians and Blacks have worked side-by-side to fight for civil rights and to improve public education. The 1886 Yick Wo case, in which a laundry owner sued the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a racially discriminatory law, brought equal protection to minorities, overturning the 1857 Dred Scott case, which held that minorities were not protected by the U.S. Constitution. The landmark cases of 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and 1974 Lau v. Nichols expanded civil rights to public education.
In decades past as well as recent years, San Francisco’s Asian and black residents worked through conflict together. In the early 1970’s, community leaders Yori Wada and Leonard “Lefty” Gordon formed the African Asian Roundtable to improve communication between Japanese and black Western Addition residents. The need for such African American-Asian alliance was raised again in 2007 when an article written by Asian Week columnist Kenneth Eng titled, “Why I Hate Blacks” sparked outrage throughout the African American and Asian communities. Eng said that he supported discrimination against blacks, because “they are the only race that has been enslaved for 300 years.”
So where do we go from here?
In an atmosphere of fear and accusations, it may be tempting for both sides to avoid one another. But self-imposed segregation only divides communities that should be allies. In his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the discomfort and necessity of racial tension:
But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension”… We must create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.
Of course, to overcome attitudes and prejudices which have built up over many years, it will take much more than groups meeting together to discuss stereotyping and misperceptions. History classes must be expanded to include interracial education, and more importantly, children must be taught how to respect each other’s cultures. These tragic incidents must give rise a responsibility to reach out to communities and people unlike ourselves and to understand that there is a cost to holding perceptions and beliefs that divide us.
The Hunger Site
May 10, 2010 at 5:07 am
Two questions for Jeff Adachi:
Of the people you defend against charges that involve violence, and especially gross violence, what percentage are men?
Have you ever written an article drawing attention to this statistic and its implications?
Three questions for SF progressives:
How did it happen that the progressive takeover of the board of supes in 2001 resulted in ten men and one woman, when women were a majority in previous boards?
Do you agree Aaron Peskin’s motto of life and politics: “Payback is a bitch”?
Do any of the city’s outspoken progressive male leaders have a history of abuse toward women?
May 9, 2010 at 10:25 am
Thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread. Some comments in response – first to mwbsf, and then Greg Kamin.
* * *
Mwbsf, you say:
“It’s not surprising to me that the usual suspects on this piece do not get it or do not care to.”
Are you referring here to Greg Kamin?
* * *
Greg Kamin, you say:
“What’s your point? Pointing out that these incidents were perpetrated by men is about as useful as pointing out that they were perpetrated by humans.”
There’s a gender factor in violence that commonly goes unnoticed, especially in comments made by men.
Some say that violence is a human thing. But in fact, the great majority of the worst forms of human violence originate with men. Examples: warfare, genocide, creation of slavery, rape, domestic violence, hunting of animals, imperialism.
Consider, for example, the Great Devastation – that is, the systematic invasion and destruction of the indigenous cultures of the Americas, starting in 1492. Nearly all the Conquistadors and other destroyers were men.
Consider, again, the massive kidnapping of the indigenous inhabitants of Africa and their deportation to the Americas as slaves. Nearly all the kidnappers and exporters were men.
In every culture of which we have record, the great majority of the worst forms of violence comes from men. The human male is the most violent animal in nature.
Why is there a taboo on even mentioning this fact?
Why does it upset you, in particular, to see this fact mentioned?
You also say:
“Hopefully, you’re not suggesting the solution is to get rid of men, any more than it is to get rid of humans.”
Now you’re starting to talk about possible solutions. In order to start talking about solutions, you first have to acknowledge problems. That’s how progress occurs.
Male violence stems from two sources, chemical and cultural. The chemical is testosterone. The cultural is social conditioning.
There’s not much that can be done about chemistry. However, there is a great deal that can be done about social conditioning.
Two books dealing with this subject may be of interest to you:
“Critique of Patriarchal Reason” (White Crane Press, 1997), which deals with reason, gender, and meaning in Western philosophy.
“The God of Ecstasy: Sex-Roles and the Madness of Dionysos” (St. Martin’s Press, 1988), which deals with gender-related conditioning in religion and mythology.
You say:
“After all, Arthur, you’re a man, and no amount of self-loathing will change that.”
You’re missing the point.
You need to educate yourself about what feminism has taught all of us, both women and men. One of those lessons is that it’s possible for men to be responsible men. The first step is getting beyond denial.
You say:
“The great majority of men, like the great majority of women, do not commit violent crimes.”
Have you done any reading lately about the statistics on rape, for example, in Africa?
You say:
“You’re quick to criticize him [Jeff Adachi], but what he’s doing is infinitely more productive than anything you’re doing.”
Jeff Adachi has publicly acknowledged the value of “Critique of Patriarchal Reason.”
You may want to do some reading on feminism some day. Not just the books mentioned above. Many others are out there.
They appear to have passed you by.
May 8, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Arthur,
What’s your point? Pointing out that these incidents were perpetrated by men is about as useful as pointing out that they were perpetrated by humans. Less so, in fact, because while most violent crimes are committed by men, ALL violent crimes are committed by humans.
Hopefully, you’re not suggesting the solution is to get rid of men, any more than it is to get rid of humans. Who knows, maybe you are. One of your favorite philosophers, the vile Mary Daly, did in fact go there. But while that may serve her just fine, it probably won’t serve you quite as well. After all, Arthur, you’re a man, and no amount of self-loathing will change that.
But regardless of whether you want to or not, we’re not about to get rid of men anytime soon. So maybe it would be more productive to find other solutions to violence, rather than carp and point fingers. The great majority of men, like the great majority of women, do not commit violent crimes. We need to explore ways of making sure the minority who do behave more like the majority who don’t. That’s what Adachi is trying to do. You’re quick to criticize him, but what he’s doing is infinitely more productive than anything you’re doing.
May 7, 2010 at 7:00 pm
It’s not surprising to me that the usual suspects on this piece do not get it or do not care to.
May 7, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Ugh.
Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. There’s tension between burglars and homeowners, too.
You know what else can ease racial tensions? When young black kids stop mugging and murdering elderly Asians.
This isn’t a “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along” moment. I’m pretty sure the Asian community doesn’t have much leverage with the young, male, African-American cohort, and the ones who do should suit up and not pretend like this is a shared responsibility. Get Willie Brown and Danny Glover and the Cecil Williams with an ad campaign, stat. The notion that if we just sit around a table and relive civil rights history that we’ll tamp down the violence is pollyanna-ish at best. The African-American community needs to take full responsibility for this, and Adachi’s column sounds like a politician dancing dangerously close to equivalence. Not to sound like a skinhead trolling for Stormfront, but if young white youths were preying on elderly mexicans you wouldn’t see anywhere near this level of eggshell-walking.
May 7, 2010 at 1:37 pm
It’s poor parenting,
Natural parents, foster, other guardianship arrangements. Whatever, as someone both wrote and sang in a song somewhere, “You gotta be taught to hate.”.
Best solution is free parking for 2,000 mentors to spend a couple of hours weekly with a kid who’s a different color than them. Hey, I bullshit you not, I spent 40 years working with kids and nothing changes their viewpoint like getting out of their own culture for a few hours in the company of someone from another culture who’ll introduce them around and invite them to a family meal.
I did this with SFUSD around 15 years ago and it worked like a charm on the most violent students (I taught SED) and when I suggested extending it to free parking and CCSF involvement Willie told me to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Isn’t it ironic that the person most responsible for forcing black people out of SF is going to have a street named after him in the middle of their former stronghold?
h.
May 7, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Thanks to Jeff Adachi for his informed and thoughtful piece.
One observation, however –
Everyone has been focusing on the racial dimensions of the recent incidents that have occurred. No one has mentioned a glaring fact that cries out for attention: The great majority of these recent acts of violence have been committed by men.
Why is there always a taboo on even mentioning the gender aspect of violent crime when violent crime makes the news?
And when someone does dare to mention the gender aspect, why is there usually a defensive and angry put-down in response?
What’s going on here, guys?