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Solidarity in Action • Bill Lann Lee, Former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights • Akiyu Hatano, Educator • Frank Wu, Law Profesor • Butch Wing, Activist • Nobuko Miyamoto, Artist • The Struggle for Justice: A Timeline of Asian American and African American history • Washington Journal: Black Like Us

Defender of Diversity

Frank Wu, law professor at Howard University

By Ji Hyun Lim

Frank Wu dedicates every day to promoting cross-cultural awareness, not only through his work, but also by setting an example as an Asian American who builds bridges between ethnic communities. Wu ’s personal experience with racial discrimination sparked his interest in the civil rights movement that ultimately guided his career as a writer and academic. He is currently acting clinic director and associate professor at Howard University, an institution with a predominately black student body.

Said Wu: “We celebrate Black History month every day at Howard University.”

Wu was born in 1967 in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Mich. In high school, he was one of the only Asian Americans among 4,000 white students. Growing up, Wu faced discrimination on a daily basis but didn’t know what it was at the time.

“Children don’t understand the term ‘racism’ … You know something is wrong and unfair, and you’re being picked on and it has something to do with having slanty eyes or yellow skin,” Wu said. With his parents advising him to “just fit in,” Wu constantly struggled with his inability to assimilate with the other students.

Then, on June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin was murdered.

“That was for me, personally, and for the Asian American movement, a very important experience because I remember that happening where I lived. It had great resonance,” Wu said.

Vincent Chin was attending his bachelor party at a suburban Detroit strip club when, according to witnesses, Ronald Ebens, a white autoworker, shouted, “It’s because of you little mother-fuckers that we’re out of work.” Chin struck Ebens and a fight ensued, but was quickly broken up. Less than an hour later, though, Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz, a laid-off autoworker, found Chin. Nitz held Chin, while Ebens struck his head with a baseball bat, smashing his skull. Ebens and Nitz pleaded guilty to manslaughter; neither one served any jail time.

The incident was a watershed moment for Asian Americans. For the first time in recent history, the API community was confronted with the realities of racism, and the fact that they were just as vulnerable as African Americans or any other cultural group.

How does one combat discrimination? Wu believes that in order to understand race relations and the civil rights movement, Asian Americans must understand U.S. history, and especially black history.

“Asian Americans owe a tremendous debt to the civil rights movement and African American leadership, which has helped change American society to benefit all people,” Wu said.

Unfortunately, cultural conflicts between Asian Americans and African Americans still exist. Stereotypes, such as the ‘model minority’ myth, perpetuate hatred. Instead, Wu said the two groups should celebrate differences and embrace the positive aspects of each culture to foster coalition-building between communities.

Wu encourages Asian Americans to continue to strive for racial integration and equality, just as he has done throughout his academic and professional careers.

After having received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree for University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Wu served as a teaching fellow at Stanford University Law School before working at Howard University. As a strong opponent of California’s anti-affirmative action Proposition 209, Wu wrote countless articles such as “Beyond the Model Minority Myth,” “Repealing Birthright Citizenship Would Be Unfair,” and “A New Thinking About Affirmative Action.” He has also testified before Congress against legislation that would abolish affirmative action.

Contrary to his parents’ advice that he learn to “fit in,” the model Wu embraces is one that celebrates cultural diversity, not cultural isolation.

“The process [integration] is important because it allows us to address these issues in a way that is peaceful and has some chance of being successful,” Wu said. “It takes dedicated work over the long haul, and that really is a challenge.”