In this first of a two-part episode, we have a very special guest — Amir Jones, an African-American Indonesian-American who’s living in Washington, D.C. and involved in electoral politics. We dive right into the topics around structural racism in America with Amir, in light of the recent weeks of Black Lives Matter protests as a response to the murders of black Americans like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others. We talk about racism in the Indonesian community and how to have those difficult conversations with Indonesians as well as Americans about how to counter racist views and fight for the rights and lives of black people.
We break down the elements of structural racism, such as the class divide between black and non-black Americans, and the systemically racist laws and institutions that have been set into place since the time of slavery. We also talk about microaggressions in the context of racism and discrimination and discuss how to be actively anti-racist, especially within the circles of families and friends whom you can have the most impact on.
Join us next week for the 2nd part of our conversation with Amir, where we will continue our conversation and also talk about the #DefundThePolice movement.
Thanks for listening!