As an Asian American growing up in the United States, I’m speaking up on behalf of the Asian community. We’re no longer being silent and will fight for our people until we’re heard. We’re tired of being under the shadows and we demand justice for our people that have been recently hurt or killed. Facing racism and discrimination in the Asian community alone is actually more common than you think. And yes, we’ve also been through slavery in the past. Americans should be taught geography and the history of Asia to get an educated view. We’re not the same people and it’s absolutely disgusting and infernal to generalize and attack the entire Asian community over a ridiculous situation that doesn’t particularly define every single one of us. Why talk about being against racism but want to normalize it towards Asians? The amount of hypocrisy is undeniable.
We should be reciprocated with the same amount of energy to fight against racism. You can’t pick and choose which race matters more than one another just because we’ve each experienced racial injustices differently before. Ever since COVID-19 rose the past year, many Asians have been targeted and it just doesn’t stop there. The hate crime towards Asians in America has increased by 1900%. Predominantly Asian elders are the ones being attacked across the U.S, because they’d rather target the weaker ones. Criminals like these should take accountability and punishment for every single action they’ve intentionally caused. The media is not talking about this enough, because apparently we don’t matter enough to be all over the news and receive the justice that we deserve. The only times I’ve ever heard about these brutal incidents were through social media. America without a doubt needs to do better, because whether you care about us or not—we’re not ever going to continue to stay silent forever.
The stereotypes that all Asians eat dogs or weird foods? Go learn the history of how Asians dealt with being poor in poverty back then, but does that go to every single Asian out there? No. Just because I’m Asian, that doesn’t necessarily mean the majority of my family members and I or the Asian community fall into that category. Heck Americans even eat alligators, roadkill, squirrels, bears, rattlesnakes, Rocky Mountain oysters, and the list goes on. Every country has at least ate some bizarre things as well, so the point is not valid enough to target only Asians. Racists like to use an offensive language such as chink and say that “Asians can’t see” from how small our eyes are, yet everyone else likes to squint without their glasses on and use the fox eye trend. Also, not all Asians are always good at math or are generally smart too. Plus, Asians can’t be a virus just because it originated from one place in China… but what about the rest of Asia specifically? Of course many wouldn’t know the names of most Asian countries, so they blame and use China for their argument instead regardless of Covid!
Now what about the U.S that’s mostly responsible for the most cases and deaths? Americans still believe that Covid is a hoax but then go and brutalize Asians by telling them to go back to their country. Oh and historically, America had the Spanish flu and influenza which killed hundreds of millions. People can make racist jokes of Asians and throw whatever hatred they can while eating our food, buying our stuff, and using our products that’s made in Asia especially from China. Since many non-Asians love to consume our culture so much and make fun of us, keep in mind that Asia created some of the world’s greatest inventions that markedly changed our economy here in America.
Recent anti-Asian hate crimes
Vicha Ratanapakdee knocked to the ground and killed by teen
Noel Quintana slashed across face with box cutter
Christian Hall shot and killed by police officers during a suicidal attempt
52-year-old Chinese woman shoved on the forehead
Vietnamese grandmother robbed at Lunar New Years
91-year-old Asian elder assaulted and pushed
Sadly, these are just some examples of the incidents that are happening lately because there are definitely more attacks that haven’t been revealed. These anti-Asian attacks are not only happening in major cities, but also happening across the world that needs to be justified. The hate and xenophobia is still perpetuating throughout the Asian community, so what exactly do people want from the Asian community?! We don’t need any bullsh*t from anyone, because we as a minority group are already tired of suffering from our racial stereotypes and ignorants believing that every single one of us are the main “cause” of the pandemic.
Asians are often underestimated and taken advantage of, because many assume that we’re too docile to ever speak up or stand up for ourselves and others. Believe it or not, there are still some of us out there that are willing to stand up for a cause and fight for the Asian community. I have a platform and I am going to use my voice to help make a difference. If I’m going to get bashed on, misunderstood, or misinterpreted for standing up for the Asian community then so be it.
How you can help
- EDUCATE: Whether it’s yourself or the people around you that need to be educated. Educate each other about the racism of Asians in history. Educate about the geography of Asia, because Asia has so many different countries and cultures. Besides East Asia—there’s also South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Western Asia included.
- DO NOT BRING ANY OF THE BLM MOVEMENT INTO OUR PROBLEM: Please understand that blaming the Black community and bringing them up won’t help undo any of the problems that the Asian community faces. The Black community has worked extremely hard to fight for equality and to be treated fairly for their skin color.
- NEVER COMPARE RACISM FROM EACH MINORITY GROUP: This seems to always be the biggest issue, comparing each other’s racism issues is just constantly bringing minority groups against each other. Again, you cannot pick and choose which race matters more and what race doesn’t. This will never help gain anything out of it.
- SPREAD AWARENESS: Share the news of what’s going on in the Asian community. The more people that are aware, the more we can all join together to help make an impact to end all racism without violence.
- TAKE ACTION: Protest. Create banners. You can also go to AAPI and report any incidents or hate encounters towards Asian Americans.
Asians are not a virus.
Hispanics are not illegal.
Black people are not threats.
Muslims are not terrorists.
Native Americans are not savages.
Colourful Moments of Life 