* The most important thing, I believe, starts with oneself–in particular, belief in the issues and political perspectives that you hold.

From my experience, I have found that whenever I want to challenge Mainstream views of racial or political issues in general, BELIEF is just as important as having logical arguments and convincing evidence.

Even if people disagree with your viewpoints, they will have to respect them and give them a hearing if what you are saying is based upon strong personal conviction.

* A related tack is to talk about your own PERSONAL experiences with racism and race rather than discussing these issues in abstract theoretical terms. I think that Asian Americans will tend to engage with you more if there is some concrete lived experience that they can identify with emotionally as Asian Americans, instead of just listening to a “lecture” about these topics.

* In terms of talking to “successful” Asian Americans about race, I think you should start with their own first-hand experiences of racism or race. Since these people are relatively affluent, their experiences might be limited to things like the Glass Ceiling or stereotypes or (ahem) interracial dating. These are topics to first engage them on as a point of departure to possibly address more fundamental concerns later.

One question I had from this podcast was that it is really hard to talk about racism with other Asian Americans, especially among those who are best educated and employed. What are some strategies for talking about racism with Asian Americans who are successful?

I’m fortunate to have many friends who are lawyers in big ny law firms or bankers in (until recently, lol) big ny banks. These are people who have outperformed their whole lives, but I feel they are also the most unwilling to talk about racism because they are unwilling to talk about what they dont know much about. I’d really love to engage with them on these issues, but its really easy to come off as an activist, in a negative sense of the word…