Author: Scot Nakagawa

Scot Nakagawa is a political strategist and writer who has spent more than four decades exploring questions of structural racism, white supremacy, and social justice. Scot’s primary work has been in the fight against authoritarianism, white nationalism, and Christian nationalism. Currently, Scot is co-lead of the 22nd Century Initiative, a project to build the field of resistance to authoritarianism in the U.S.

Scot is a past Alston/Bannerman Fellow, an Open Society Foundations Fellow, and a recipient of the Association of Asian American Studies Community Leader Award. His writings have been included in Race, Gender, and Class in the United States: An Integrated Study, 9th Edition,  and Killing Trayvons: An Anthology of American Violence.

Scot's political essays, briefings, and other educational media can be found at his newsletter, We Fight the Right at scotnakagawa@substack.com. He is a sought after public speaker and educator who provides consultation on campaign and communications strategy, and fundraising.

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The Problem With Asian American Racial Privilege

If you do a google search of “Asian privilege” you’ll see that the subject is generating a lot of chatter, both on the right and the left. But, much of the online discussion concerning Asian privilege ignores a couple of really important things.

First, “race” is a political category, invented to serve the interests of white supremacy. Second,  the Oriental “race” (what we were called before we became Asian) was conceived of in this context. When you consider these facts, it becomes clear that Asian privilege may be more complicated than we imagine.

On the first … Read more “The Problem With Asian American Racial Privilege”

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The Rubenfeld-Chua Hoohah

The controversy generated by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld’s new book The Triple Package is one of the more annoying non-news events of the year.  This past weekend alone, the book was covered by the New York Times in their Book Review insert and the widely read Sunday Magazine.

In spite of all of the exploitative but it’s not racist publicity that has landed the book so much free media exposure, The Triple Package isn’t about race. It’s focus instead is on the authors’ claim that what leads to certain measures of success in the U.S. is a … Read more “The Rubenfeld-Chua Hoohah”

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What LGBT America Can Learn From Asian American History

The growing number of states legalizing same-sex marriages has many in the LGBT community convinced that full assimilation is inevitable. But as an Asian American gay man, I’m unconvinced that assimilation for the whole LGBT community is inevitable or even possible, nor that simply being assimilated is even desirable.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand why some in the LGBT community are advocates of assimilation. I was shamed, bullied, and occasionally assaulted through a big chunk of my life, most of which was lived at a time when hatred of LGBT people was a sign of moral turpitude. There … Read more “What LGBT America Can Learn From Asian American History”

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My Debt to Dr. King

This week Scot Nakagawa wrote a piece on the debt Asian Americans owe to the civil rights movement. Here is an excerpt from Colorlines:

As an Asian-American, I’m often cast as an ally rather than a stakeholder when I show up at Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations. Occasionally, someone will even come right out and thank me for showing up, like I’m doing folk a favor or something. It’s awkward to be treated like I, as a person of color, have no dog in the fight for racial equity. But I get where the notion that Asians aren’t real … Read more “My Debt to Dr. King”

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Thanksgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we thought we would serve up some leftovers early with this post from last year on the subject. Enjoy!

Every time I try to write about culture, I end up stuck with a lot of big words. For instance, the word conundrum. A conundrum is a problem for which the solution is a matter of conjecture. In other words, we can only guess at how to resolve a conundrum.

Our white supremacist culture is a conundrum. I’m not talking here about the culture of cross-burning and white sheet-wearing. I mean culture as in the collective … Read more “Thanksgiving and the Conundrum of Cultural Racism”

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Repost: We All Live on Food Stamps

During our vacation, we thought it would be a good time to revisit some previous posts. This one on SNAP seems sadly current again as millions of Americans are suffering from cuts to this critical program.

First published June, 2013

The Farm Bill is dead for now, in part over right wing demands to cut food stamps. This post was written last year but it timely now. We all live on food stamps.

About 45 million people in the U.S. receive food stamps. That’s about 14 percent of the American population. For 6 million Americans, food stamps constitutes their only … Read more “Repost: We All Live on Food Stamps”

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Gotta love Portland!

and this from Angry Asian Man…

 

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Vacation!

Okay, not exactly. But after nearly two years of blogging, I am taking time off. I’ll be spending the next ten weeks (until mid-January-ish) cobbling together a manuscript for a book that sums up a good deal of what I’ve learned through writing and posting on Race Files.

That means there won’t be much in the way of new content from me. Instead, I’m unplugging, rejuvenating, reading, writing (long form this time), and reflecting off line. But, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any new content on Race Files. In fact, there’s a lot we’ll be re-posting and new content … Read more “Vacation!”

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Alan Grayson is Wrong About the Tea Parties…Sort of

The dust up created by Florida Congressman Alan Grayson’s recent fundraising appeal featuring a burning cross as the “T” in “Tea Party” is making the talking heads at Fox absolutely gleeful. After all, it’s providing them with the perfect foil against which to present themselves as champions of racial sensitivity.

Megyn Kelly of Fox’s Kelly File had this to say in an interview with former Congressman, Alan West (because some of their best friends are Black),

You know, there are certain things you don’t touch in American politics, you don’t mess around with. And you know, this referring, equating somebody … Read more “Alan Grayson is Wrong About the Tea Parties…Sort of”

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The Solitary Confinement of Herman Wallace

Earlier this month, Transformation: Where Love Meets Justice, a digital publication of openDemocracy, published an article I wrote about the solitary confinement of Herman Wallace, one of the Angola 3, held in solitary confinement for more than 40 years for allegedly murdering a prison guard at the Angola Prison.

No physical evidence ties Mr. Wallace to the murder. The testimony of the only witness in the case has long been discredited. Mr. Wallace and the other two men accused of the crime claim that they were framed in retaliation for forming a chapter of the Black Panther Party … Read more “The Solitary Confinement of Herman Wallace”