All posts tagged: White Supremacy

White Parasols and White Supremacy

Published by Bryan Thao Worra

This is part of a series on racism, imperialism, colonialism and white supremacy and its history and impact on the Lao community.  In the Lao tradition white elephants and white parasols signified supreme power of royal families. These days, Laos doesn’t typically come up in conversations on modern white supremacy despite our occupation by the French during the Indochina era (1887-1954). Might our history consciously and subconsciously affect our approach to  social justice and civic engagement? Many may feel our opinions  and experience are unimportant. Few ask how we will either resist or support the rise of white supremacy, especially the 230,000 of us in the US. Considering there are at least 917 hate groups in the US in 2017 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, with many operating in states with some of the highest concentrations of Laotian refugees, this should be an issue. Laos has an interesting connection with one of the leaders of white supremacy. In 1971, a young David Duke came to Vientiane in the summer to help his father’s …

Dear Community: Our Statement Against Supremacy in America

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

Dear Colleagues and Community: The Southeast Asian Diaspora Project (SEAD) is disheartened and angered by the senseless acts of violence, hatred and bigotry that took the life of Heather Heyer, injured many activists, and uprooted Charlottesville and other communities across the nation. What is more troubling is our failure to address our complacency in being silent on issues like Southeast Asian deportations; the killings of unarmed Black people by police, and rampant hate crimes as a result of our country’s Islamophobia. History has proven to us that communities of color, refugees and those traditionally marginalized and oppressed by White supremacy will continue to be harmed and disenfranchised unless we speak up and take action as organizations and leaders that work directly with our affected communities. When damaging mentalities and manifestos of White supremacy are internalized in our society, our generation pays for it. As an organization founded by and for Southeast Asian diaspora empowerment, we know what discrimination and violence has done to dehumanize each other and hinder our collective progress. We find the rise of …