In 2016, the median annual income for Asian adults was $ 51,000, similar to the $ 48,000 for whites and higher than the $ 31,000 for black adults, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Yet Asians, who are not a homogeneous group, were also the most economically divided group in the country, according to the same study; Over the past four decades, the poorest Asians have experienced the lowest income growth compared to their counterparts from other races.

As a result, Dr Kim said, it was difficult to find common ground. “What kind of forum would conservative, wealthy Chinese immigrants talk to black activists from a poor urban area, saying, ‘We need to fund the police? “” she said.

Activists said there were benefits to putting black and Asian communities on the same page. City leaders are often reluctant to make changes to policing unless minorities present a united front, they said.

“We heard, ‘If your community can’t agree on this thing, then I’m not going to make a decision on it,'” said Alvina Wong, 33, campaign and campaign manager. organization of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. , a progressive group from Oakland.

At the forefront of this debate, even friends have sometimes disagreed.

When Mr. Chan advocated for more CHP officers in Oakland this summer, he summoned local media to a plaza in the heart of Chinatown. Beside him were members of a volunteer crime-fighting patrol team and Loren Taylor, a member of Oakland City Council who is a friend.

But when a local reporter asked Mr. Taylor, who is black, if he had signed Mr. Chan’s letter asking for more policing, Mr. Taylor replied that he hadn’t. He was there to denounce Asian hatred, Mr Taylor said, but feared bringing in officers unfamiliar with Oakland’s law enforcement standards.

“We want to have the argument within ourselves, before we bring in the others,” he said in an interview.