You may have heard about the recent verdict in the case of Chikei Rick Chow for the killing of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14-year-old Black teenager in South Carolina. As Southeast Asian organizers and organizations working alongside each other for liberation, we speak to the hurt and injustice faced by the Black community that often parallels ours as Southeast Asians.
We have cried and raised our voices as we fought to keep our families from deportation and separation. We have also witnessed Black families mourning and mobilizing as they demand justice. These shared struggles call on us to reflect: why does anti-Blackness persist in our communities? Is proximity to whiteness something we have been taught to strive for? Our collective responsibility is to uphold each other’s humanity. That begins with naming and rejecting anti-Blackness, which remains a foundational pillar of white supremacy.
This month, we observe Juneteenth – a commemoration of Black freedom from slavery and a powerful rejection of white supremacy. It reminds us that true liberation requires confronting this history and actively dismantling anti-Blackness. We must center this work, because anti-Blackness enables the ongoing harm and dehumanization of Black, Brown, poor, queer, disabled, and marginalized communities everywhere. Saying “Black Lives Matter” must also mean refusing anti-Blackness in all its forms, and rejecting hatred toward queer, trans people, and women. We call on all of us to be in community, to build community, to love community – especially if you are doing business in Black communities.
Too often, we find ourselves searching for explanations or justifications – turning over the details of this case to make sense of what led Mr. Chow to shoot Cyrus in the back. But in doing so, we risk losing our humanity. There is no justification for killing a child who was running away. Attempts to rationalize such violence reflect a society conditioned to see Black people – especially Black boys and men – as threats. This is wrong.
Cyrus could be our little brother, our em trai, our paoun praos, our kwv yau. As we grieve alongside his family and the Black community, we ask you to reflect on how anti-Blackness show up in our own communities, and please consider supporting Cyrus’s family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice4cyrus