“Louder Than the Lies: Asian American Identity, Solidarity, and Self-Love” by Ellie Yang Camp is a compassionate and truthful primer on racism in the United States and how Asian Americans fit into that conversation. Knowing that racism is often oversimplified into a clash between Black and white identities, Camp offers a way for Asian Americans to build an intersectional and anti-racist understanding of our identities through practical steps and anecdotal stories to help us become good allies.
A former high school history teacher, Camp is a multifaceted Bay Area artist, anti-racist educator, author, and full-time parent. On the inspiration for the book, she tells me, “I really want Asian Americans to feel like their lives make more sense to them … and then in that, feel more empowered to make choices for themselves.”
Without a doubt, “Louder Than the Lies” effectively communicates what race means to Asian Americans. Camp explains nuanced and academic terms like “ethnic identity,” “cultural appropriation,” “white supremacy,” “cultural dissonance,” and “model minority” in an easy, digestible language. The content and tone are perfect for high school students, the elderly, and really any person that needs an introduction into race.
Though the book is aimed primarily at an Asian American audience and what race means to us, the book is accessible to anyone who wants to learn more about how race and racism shape the lives of Asian Americans. Organized in three main sections, Camp skillfully provides context for the racialized American system in which we live, compassion for those of us learning how to survive and navigate it, and practical suggestions for how to opt out and dismantle it.
I’ll admit that, at times, cracking open the more formative scholarly works on Asian American identity can require a lot of emotional and mental labor. Upon reviewing, I will, at turns, be infuriated, devastated, and then frustrated, because I…
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