(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
Why did Reed’s grandparents want him to have the best education? “His answer: “So I could participate in the great American ladder climb, where East Asians hoard resources and try to become white at the expense of Back and Brown people.”
Reed is a twenty-one-year-old Columbia University student originally from Los Angeles. When the jury verdict comes out after a Chinese American police officer kills an unarmed black man in New York, he wants to drop out of school and dedicate his life to social justice. He feels guilty for his privilege and somewhat complicit in these events.
He goes home to Los Angeles to visit his parents and tell them his decision. Though he knew that his Korean-born mother and Chinese American father were politically active in the 1980’s, he didn’t know to what extent until they give him a history tour of Los Angeles from their perspective. He learns how his family’s past affected their beliefs and how their ideas on activism and the world today changed from when they were in college.
There are many themes in Which Side Are You On and author Ryan Lee Wong provides a thoughtful look into these issues. He not only delves into intergenerational beliefs on social and political activism, but also African American and Asian American relations.
As Reed tries to understand his past, he also tries to figure out why his Korean American friends in Los Angeles are so apathetic on such important issues.
During this trip home other questions emerge. Is there a smarter way to change the world, maybe in a form less confrontational? Is an individualistic form of protest less effective than “comrades” following orders from a designated leader?
Wong doesn’t take sides but gives us food for thought. A worthwhile read.
