Happy Lunar New Year. My name is Stephanie Drenka, executive director of the Dallas Asian American Historical Society.
I serve on the Historic and Cultural Preservation Stakeholder Steering Committee, appointed by the City Manager. As such, I recently attended a panel event entitled “Becoming a City that Remembers,” where a council member said:
“Preservation is not just about maintaining buildings, it’s about honoring the stories, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped Dallas.”
Empty statements like this are worthless coming from a body of leadership condoning a genocide intended to eradicate Palestine’s collective memory.
The council’s callous disregard of Palestinian history and people shouldn’t surprise me, because nothing meaningful has been done to honor the “stories, struggles, and triumphs” of my own Asian American community, despite our presence here since the 1860s.
We are tokenized when beneficial to the city’s image, but otherwise ignored. I’ve requested meetings with multiple councilmembers in the hope of discussing the proposed ceasefire resolution to no avail.
And yet city staff is very quick to reach out when they need photos of Asian American activities for marketing materials… or a face that looks like mine on a committee to check off that diversity box.
We are the fastest-growing population in North Texas. And a recent survey conducted by AAPI Data found that 62% of Asian American and Pacific Islanders between the ages of 18-29 believe that U.S. support for Palestine is not enough.
Because our homelands have been ravaged by imperialism, colonialism, and U.S.-backed militarization. We know that none of us is free until Palestine is.
So we join the call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire. Pass a resolution or your preservation and equity efforts will be meaningless. And Asian Americans will not forget.
This city may have erased our history, but cannot escape the fact that we are its future. And our future is in solidarity with Palestinians.
Thank you.