Peter Liang's lack of punishment for killing Akai Gurley is a baby step toward honorary whiteness for Asians as well as a sanction for the mere fact of being Asian in that he was even brought up on charges. This goes to the function of a "show trial" which is to reinforce white supremacy. Poor whites and minority out-groups are manipulated to triangulate blacks in order to isolate them as the dregs of society. Social engineers have long recognized the value of such a sacrificial caste with which other out-groups can favorably compare themselves so as to reassure them of their place in the pecking order. Obviously, the collective "we" must include all out-groups and in-groups toward the establishment of a just society.

Sounds like you have been reading your Foucault :)

While l like the dialectical approach of Foucault and the postmodernists they tend to be too pessimistic for me. The Frankfurt School as well as Lukacs' History and Class Consciousness are a lot more fun.

There are myriad issues I have with this incident, and here
are a few.

Okay, according to what’s being reported, the bullet that killed Akai Gurley apparently ricocheted off a wall before striking him in the chest. I might be persuaded that it was indeed an accident if that were true, BUT… What the hell were the cops doing with their guns already drawn when it appears there was no apparent threat? According to the story, Liang and his partner were performing a patrol, NOT responding to any specific incident.

After Liang and his partner figure out what just occurred, they don’t attempt to render medical assistance. Instead, they begin to bicker about how to report the discharge of a weapon.

Your WTF? moment of the day. In Liang’s own words, “My life is forever changed. I hope I have a chance to rebuild it.” Seriously, HIS life? A chance to rebuild HIS life? Any contrition that Liang displayed and was considered previously should have been nullified by this little nugget.

And they were ordered not to do vertical patrols in those buildings.

Some Asains have honorary whiteness bestowed on them. Dark skin South Asians much less likely. The same with "Hispanics". While many pundits claim US future will be brown utopia. I predict light/white skin Asians and Hispanics will take their place along side light skin Europeans at the top of the pecking order.
Medium and dark complexion Asians and Hispanics will have economic and social experiences closer to black people.
If you pay attention you can see this already with many Light Asians and Hispanics on media and business.

Expansions of whiteness are fascinating things. I think part of it has to do with the economic boom of Japan and China. Colonial powers that do well are the basis of whiteness. For instance, Irish were not originally "white", but their success in Montserrat was a launching point for them to play the colonial game. It took time, but whiteness was extended to them. Same for the Spanish and light-skinned mestizos. The inability of Western countries to economically dominate Asia in the 21st century is a driving force in the 4th (5th?) expansion of whiteness, in my opinion (which doesn’t count for much: I studied 17th century labour in the Americas, not Asia). Though Asians are still othered in the US, their othering involves an honorary whiteness, i.e. high IQ scores, economic success, etc..

Liang is also a cop, which means our society bows to the authoritarianism of his position. Despite reality, we're overwhelmingly still deferential to police as respectable, good-natured people. To me, his indictment is an indictment of his honorary whiteness. Even though I wasn't aware there was a charge less serious than manslaughter, the system found a way to lighten his criminal guilt, while still rescinding his privilege.

In the words of the great Paul Mooney: "You got to have the complexion for the protection."

Just so happens if your a non-black member of the Blu Klux Klan...

is Peter Liang's relative lack of punishment for killing Akai Gurley one more creeping step towards honorary whiteness for Asian-Americans? Or is the fact that Liang, a Chinese-American, was even prosecuted for killing a black man (when white cops rarely are), a reminder of how East Asians are still a relatively marginalized racial group in the United States?

The latter according to New York Chinatown, which is extremely agitated over the fact that the white murderer of Eric Garner goes completely free in spite of evidence that is completely publicly available while Liang is punished for what amounts more to culpable incompetence than malicious crime.

Chinese community organizers have been trying to make it very clear that the killing of Akai Gurley was a terrible and unjustifiable thing and that Liang should indeed be held accountable, but he should not be made a scapegoat for the fact that white officers can kill black people with impunity. It's felt in the community the authorities want to demonstrate that they care when black people are murdered by police, but can't seem to do it until the cop in question is a minority member himself.

Doesn't mean the judge necessarily did the right thing here (certainly not the worst he could have done), but that you need to evaluate it in that context..

But he wasn't held accountable. Asian activists effectively argued that they should have the right to kill Blacks and get away with it too.

Some of them did. Asians4BlackLives and CAAAV get it

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

No doubt. Still disappointing how many took to the streets to argue for their right to kill Blacks too.

The law has no place in matters of justice.

You can say that again...

I can repeat it now, but I'm sure more instances will come along that give me a chance to say it again.