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On Ferguson

I do not have to worry about being too suspicious.I do not have to worry about the clothes I wear.I do not have to worry about people crossing the street to avoid me.I do not have to worry about storeowners carefully watching my every move.

In fact, I have experienced the opposite. Whether it is true or not, as an Asian-American, people are disposed to think of me as more reliable, smart and hard-working. While I am subject to the occasional Mr. Miyagi joke, I live a “normal” life. As author Liz Linbeautifully puts it, as an Asian-American, I “do have some privileges.”

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And it is because of this, in light of the recent events in Ferguson, that I have been extremely hesitant to speak.

After all, who cares what I have to say? I have my thoughts, but my experiences don’t even remotely compare to those of either black or white Americans. My family does not have deep, historical roots that have interacted with either side of the debate. As an adopted Asian-American male, I told myself I had no place, no authority to speak on such a pressing issue.

But that’s where I was dead wrong. We need to care.

Regardless of what one thinks of the trial itself, it is clear that we live in polarizing times. We live in a world where a segment of our society no longer has faith in the judicial system built to protect it. And it does not matter what side of the political, racial or societal aisle you’re on to realize that it’s clearly a problem.

However, we often fall into the trap of dichotomies. You are either on one side or the other. Black or white. Rich or poor. Democrat or Republican. But most of us are not reducible to these simple identifiers. We are so much more. And many of us find ourselves not fitting neatly into one of the categories, simply falling through the cracks and ignoring the debate entirely. It’s happened to me, and I’m not the only one. But it’s not an excuse.

Last year, I wrote an article titled “Forgetting I’m Asian” where I battled over my own issues of figuring out whether I fit in better with my adopted white upbringing or my Asian origins. On the basis of my skin, I felt that I had to self-identify as one or the other. To me, the choice was mutually exclusive; how could you be one without not being the other? But, in the last year, I’ve realized that life is not so binary. Yes, the world is full of zeros and ones, but it’s full of an infinite set of numbers in between, too.

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Granted, that’s not to dismiss the role of unity under a common goal or experience. It was only through the work of African-Americans that political and economic equality became less of an ideal and more of a reality. Today, black activists are rallying around Ferguson and fighting for significant and meaningful change, helping us realize that our world is far from a “post-racial” society. The views of those directly affected are undeniably essential to any discussion. But that does not mean that others should be ignored.

Among those marching from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965 were not only Martin Luther King, Jr. and other black leaders but also Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and other members of the Jewish community. Additionally, Bayard Rustin, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. King, became a powerful advocate for LGBT rights in a time when same-sex couples were still heavily disparaged by society. History is —and has always been —more than just a two-sided conflict. It includes a plethora of actors from a multitude of backgrounds.

At the end of the day, we do not live in a black or white America but a united one. It’s one of Anglo-, African-, Mexican-, Asian-, Indian-Americans and so much more. And, while the country is still divided and there is much left to do, we do not have a pass to sit things out just because we do not fall perfectly into one category or the other. Whether it be discussing the topic and spreading awareness among friends, donating to a cause or physically participating in a public rally as hundreds of Princeton students did last week, we are capable of meaningful actions that will collectively push us forward in the right direction. But it can only be done if each of us does his or her part. It is up to us to care.

Ben Dinovelli is a Wilson School major from Mystic, Conn. He can bereached at bjd5@princeton.edu.

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