What are your intersections?
I am a 3rd gen (on my Dad’s side) & 4th gen (on my Mom’s side) Japanese American, straight, cis-gender identifying female.
What is your background growing up?
I grew up in a middle-class, conservative, Christian household & attended Christian school & church my whole life. Growing up we never talked about our areas of privilege. Reflecting on it now, I think my parents bought into the model minority myth & had enough socioeconomic privilege to turn a blind eye to injustices in our country. Another layer of my cultural background is that both sets of my grandparents (except 1 grandma who immigrated later) were in Japanese internment camps during WW2. We never talk about it, but I’ve witnessed the negative impacts of their experience through how much my family has lost Japanese tradition & was forced to assimilate to white American norms. For example, my Mom’s parents who spoke Japanese growing up never taught my Mom Japanese and my parents didn’t teach me.
How do your intersections affect you?
I was a junior in college when I started to critically think about my intersections and how they’ve impacted me. I stayed away from anything that could cause conflict (Enneagram 9), but luckily my boyfriend started challenging me to examine my belief system & I started interning for my college’s Center for Justice. This is where I began a long journey of re-educating myself on SJ issues and how they’ve impacted me & other marginalized communities. I realized how much shame/internalized racism & sexim I carried for my ethnic & gender identity. I also realized how white supremacy and patriarchy are deeply ingrained in white evangelical church and Christianity today. This propelled me even further into deconstructing my faith/identities. Having to confront evangelical Christianity and examine its roots of white supremacy and patriarchy made me feel angry, alone, and frustrated. The very place that worships someone who spoke about restoration, justice, and equality, yet uses their power to keep reinforcing systems of oppression. I felt alone because when I came with my thoughts I was dismissed with things like, “but the bible says...”, “The world is sending us crazy messages”, or “Men & women just have different God ordained roles”. Luckily now I’ve have a good community of people who are also on the same journey of deconstruction as I am and are ok with asking the hard questions.
Thoughts on the intersection ethnicity and justice
When I began my journey of examining my intersections I started to educate myself about marginalized communities & Japanese history in America. I visited Manzanar (a Japanese internment camp, now musuem), the Japanese American Museum in LA, and went on a Civil Rights Pilgrimage through the South to study the CR Movement. During these trips I learned about people such as Yuri Kochiyama, who stood in solidarity with black leaders in the CR movement and fought for justice for Japanese and African Americans. After these trips I left heavy hearted but also inspired to create awareness about SJ. Whether that be through conversing with friends, bringing awareness on my social media, voting, or learning from social justice POC advocates. I still have a lot to learn but I’m here for the process.
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#TWintersectionalfridays: Space to explore intersections of identity and systems of oppression. Space to tell your story. Space to listen. Every Friday of 2019. // Week 03/52. 'Gabby' / 8x8 in. / mixed media on paper