Indian, Chinese, American: A Diverse Background that Shaped a Scholar
You will discover a lot about yourself by connecting with people who have similar backgrounds. Think through your experiences alongside working with those who have very similar identities to you, and just interacting with them is very affirming. — Maya Singhal
The United States has long been imagined as a “melting pot “of different races and ethnicities. This metaphor implies both the complexities of racism and multiculturalism. Lately, as activism against racism and patriarchy in the U.S. grows, public interest has been raised on how to navigate life in such a turbulent age.
In today’s interview, Maya shared with us her academic journey to an anthropology scholar, her views on racism, capitalism, and the struggles of Chinese American and African American communities in the United States, and her personal experiences navigating through her own identities.
The following is a transcript of the conversation that has been edited for clarity and length.
Maya Singhal is a Ph.D. student in anthropology at Harvard University. Her research is concerned with organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and the history of capital in African American and Chinese American communities. She is also a graphic designer who specializes in academic websites and publications.
How did you get interested in anthropology, particularly in issues around race and identity?
My undergraduate degree was in Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU, which is a program that mixes Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies. People in this department think a lot about race and how it intersects with several other forms of differences, such as class differences. I did a master's in an interdisciplinary humanities department at NYU, which was about literature and film studies, but I ended up realizing that anthropology and the social sciences were closer to my approach to research. Consequently, I went to the University of Chicago and did a master's in anthropology, then I came to Harvard for a Ph.D. in anthropology.
Thus, I have been continuously thinking about these kinds of concepts such as race, identity, gender, and capitalism throughout undergraduate and graduate school.
How do you define racial capitalism, and why are you interested in racial capitalism?
Racial capitalism means various things to different people. The term originated in South Africa, but it was popularized, especially in the U.S. context, by a book called Black Marxism by Cedric Robinson and later on by a historian named Robin Kelley. Different people have different ideas about the way that race, racism, and capitalism intersect, and they use racial capitalism to describe these interactions. I usually use capital or capitalism rather than racial capitalism because I care about not only race but also gender, ability, disability, class, and so on.
Racial capitalism highlights that race stands for various forms of differences. Capitalism is necessarily racial already. It is necessarily about exploiting people's differences for profit. The term capitalism, in my perspective, is the best one that combines all the different kinds of differences regarding exploitation.
Do you think there will be an approach to successfully recognize and respect our racial identity without exploiting people’s differences for profit and engaging in racial capitalism?
Yes. The goal of an anti-capitalist approach is that in dismantling the structure of economic oppression, racial oppression, and everything else, everyone will have more equal means and resources to support themselves. Since race here is not like biological race, but a social construct created to help colonialism and the spread of capitalism, I think dismantling it goes hand in hand with successfully recognizing and respecting racial identities.
Regarding your research in Chinese American communities, what aspects are you most concerned with?
I am half Indian and half Chinese, so the reason I am interested in Chinese Americans relates to my heritage. Now, I work on collaboration between Chinese American and African American communities, mostly in New York. It is one of those minor things that I feel is left out of history a lot. However, with current events such as the Black Lives Matter protests, I think we are seeing a lot more of those collaborations being highlighted. Therefore, I am very interested in these intersections, and I work with a lot of activist communities.
I am also interested in the historical record of narcotics trafficking. There is a lot of law enforcement anxiety about narcotics relationships between Chinese and black people in the U.S., and it always seemed to me to be a bit overstated because the fear was much larger than the reality of it. Thus, one thing that I am interested in about Americans and China is when Americans think about these collaborations, solidarities, and crimes, what they think they know, where they get these ideas, how law enforcement gathers information on these topics, and what kind of impact those ideas have on how we engage with Chinese Americans and China.
What are some connections between Black Americans and Chinese Americans in the U.S.?
When we were taught U.S. history in school, we might spend a day at most learning about Chinese labor on the railroads, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black Power. Most social movements are taught as though they were one racial group fighting against white supremacy if they are taught at all. I think Asians in the U.S. especially can often feel like they did not have anything to do with the struggles against anti-Blackness, but not only have we benefited from the political gains that African American communities have won, but we have also been present in supporting other communities' struggles for justice.
In the Black Lives Matter protests today, Asians have been highlighting the necessity of solidarity with hashtags like #Asians4BlackLives and #YellowPerilSupportsBlackPower. These slogans have been somewhat controversial, but they draw from longer histories in which Asians were highlighting the racism they faced and showing how they aligned their interests with those of Black people. Especially with the racism experienced by Chinese people and other East Asians because of Coronavirus, I think it has made a lot of Chinese people realize that they are not model minorities and that there is still racism that affects us.
We should not have to experience racism to fight racism, but unfortunately, it does help build solidarity. One of the most famous Chinese American activists was a woman named Grace Lee Boggs, who lived in Detroit and organized with the autoworkers and other socialist organizations there from around the 1940s until she passed away in 2015. She used to joke that the FBI must have classified her as "Afro-Chinese" because her husband was African American (another famous activist named James Boggs), all her friends were Black, and her life's work was about Black liberation. For a lot of Chinese American activists, Grace Lee Boggs' work and her teaching are essential to how we think about solidarity and collaboration.
How did you navigate growing up as a woman of color in the U.S.?
I can mostly speak in the U.S. context. Given the fact that I am not male and white, I have to speak and act differently. I am always going to face racism and sexism. I hope that my work speaks for itself.
What would be your suggestions for people who are still struggling with issues related to their race and identity?
Find your people. I feel like not everyone is for you. Not everyone is. There will be amazing people and terrible people everywhere you go, and I think I got through my own struggles by finding those who understood what I was going through. You will discover a lot about yourself by connecting with people who have similar backgrounds. Think through your experiences alongside working with those who have similar identities to you, and just being able to interact with them is very affirming.
Moreover, if you cannot find those spaces of “your people,” you have to step out and create one. There are always people for you.
I didn't understand much about race until probably late high school when I found online havens to learn and grow myself by interacting with internet friends who shared similar identities with me. They helped me understand my own experiences of racism and sexism and find language to describe them. I think identifying and being able to think about the causes and the effects of problems as a group is the first step towards fighting against those things.
People always ask, "What can we do to fight racism?" And I think the struggle is about getting in where you fit in. Protesting is important. Raising money to support causes is important. Volunteering in your community is important. Helping people educate themselves is important. For me, these internet groups tended to be almost like group therapy. People who were burnt out from all the discrimination they were experiencing could talk about their feelings and the things that happened to them with a supportive group of people. Those people might later help them to face these things or come up with ways to address them. Social and emotional support is an essential role in activism, too.
(Learn more about Maya’s work here)
One thing special about your profile is that you are specializing in designing covers and graphics for academic publications and websites. How did you make that happen by drawing the connection between art and academics?
When I was in high school, I wanted to be a journalist. I started a magazine at my high school, which is still running. From then on, I learned a lot about how to do publication design. I also had a lot of amazing friends that taught me a lot. This was a side hustle for me, but then I came to NYU and the undergraduate research journal needed a designer. Therefore, I took that on and learned more through that process, and luckily people started seeing my work and a word-of-mouth thing happened.
I think my unique skill as a graphic designer is that I know what academics want and need out of their platforms. Therefore, I try to think about what kind of images and designs will be accessible to those kinds of people that will be using academic websites.
For example, I am currently conducting design work for one political education project called Study and Struggle . It's probably the biggest design project I've worked on so far.
Study and Struggle, a website designed by Maya
The Strange Career of William Ellis, another website designed by Maya
Bonus: If you are interested in Chinese and Black solidarities and collaborations, Maya has listed the following books as suggested readings for you:
Grace Lee Boggs, Living for Change
Vijay Prashad, Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting
Robin Kelley, Freedom Dreams
Lisa Lowe, Intimacies of Four Continents
Fred Ho and Bill Mullen, Afro-Asia
Moon-Ho Jung, Coolies and Cane
Walton Look Lai, Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar
James W. Loewen, The Mississippi Chinese
Robeson Taj Frazier, The East Is Black
Lisa Yun, The Coolie Speaks
Interviewer: Bria Han
Editor: Emily Zhang, Jackson Barkstrom
