Letter to the Huffington Post
Decades of Asian American underrepresentation, misrepresentation, and outright invisibility continues to this day. A toxic combination of complicity, exclusion, and ghettoization has perpetuated the marginalization of Asian Americans from various mainstream media from traditional to new media outlets. This fact represents the hushing of Asian American voices and even more problematically, characterizes an incomplete diversity in the media landscape in the U.S.
Unfortunately, The Huffington Post, an otherwise notably diverse publication, has failed to recognize the importance of Asian Americans in the public discourse of our nation. As a corrective, we demand the creation of an “Asian American Voices” section at The Huffington Post.
The importance of mainstream spaces for Asian Americans to articulate, challenge, testify, redress, and stand together in the public cannot be understated. These spaces are essential if we are to finally crush the “model minority” mantle, to enhance the intersectional analysis that connects Asian American struggles with other social movements—including the Black Lives Matters movement, Transgender Rights, economic and environmental justice movements—and to profoundly contentious issues such as affirmative action and immigration reform, among others. Asian Americans must be rendered not just as tech drones, overachieving students, convenience store owners, Tiger Mothers, and music virtuosos, but to the full extent of our diversity as well.
It is time for The Huffington Post to show leadership and commitment to acceptance, diversity, and inclusion by making “Asian American Voices” a long overdue reality.
To sign the petition, click here.
(Ed Diokno writes a blog :Views From The Edge: news and analysis from an Asian American perspective.)
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