Please Include Asians in Your Anti-Racism Work

You watch the anime, you’ve caught onto the KPOP or K-Drama waves, you love eating ramen or pho or pad thai or Korean BBQ or have ordered Chinese takeout sometime in your life (and I know you have). You love the traditional wear (they are quite beautiful) and the cultural games, enough to toe the line of appropriation over appreciation. You even love our eyes enough to make it a fox eye trend. But on the other side of the Asian love is the subdued racism, the capitalistic Orientalism, the casual microaggressions, the “you look exotic,” the “no, but where are you really from?”, the “can you only see half the world because you have squinty eyes?”, the perpetual gaslighting and stereotyping of the Asian American experience, the dirty looks ever since coronavirus entered America. Here we are in 2021 and people are only beginning to wake up to the the racism Asians have faced all throughout the Asian American history and we are only surfacing the fact that loving our culture means learning ALL parts of our historical oppression, too.

For those who understand Asian culture, it is sewn into our cultural fabric that silence is golden and speaking up is looked down upon when you don’t have the authority to do so. As a child, I have always been told that no matter how strongly I felt about something, authority and order of age preceded my position. And that’s something many children of immigrant parents were conditioned to uphold, which poses problems later on in life (for example, I was placed in ESL for a couple of years because teachers thought my silence indicated I couldn’t speak English even though I’ve lived in America my entire life). Now we’re facing the grim reality that our own elders (my Bà’s and ông’s)—family figures in our lineage that are regarded with the utmost respect—are being attacked so we must undo everything our own cultures have embedded within us to speak out on the tragedy of these hate crimes. I mean, it’s truly an internal conflict many Asian Americans are dealing with right now.

Back in June, I wrote this article, How To Help Based On Your Mental Energy, to gather resources and provide a brief guideline for allies to help, no matter how much they are feeling in that moment. The message was to embolden the fact that we all have the power to help our neighbors, our friends and family, our fellow humans with whatever resources we are capable of utilizing. At the end of the day, silence is a choice and choosing to be apathetic is choosing the side of letting harm happen.

I wanted to do the same thing for the recent surge in Asian hate crimes where I gather organizations, voices, resources, educational information about what the Asian American experience is and why it’s important we understand what is happening. Except, I didn’t feel the same urgency and uproar the way I did for the Black Lives Matter movement. The words didn’t come out as easily to write about and the ideas on ways to help didn’t form as succinctly to amplify. I had such a difficult time putting this article together but it wasn’t because I wasn’t enraged nor passionate about defending my own race and kin. It’s because I, myself, am still challenging, questioning, unlearning, and redefining my own cultural and ethnic identity. I’ve been messily entangled in the ways I’m understanding what it means to be Vietnamese American as I struggle to find my place as a first-generation American in the Western world, something I’m learning that takes more than one generation to establish.

So while I’m grappled by my own cultural identity crisis, I’m now witnessing people of my own race being attacked and murdered at the hands of people expressing unwarranted doubts of the Asian belonging in this Western world. As if Asians don’t already feel constantly “othered.” It’s a lot for me to process and actualize that this is the reality we’re facing and this is the “home” our parents and grandparents had escaped war and oppression in their own countries for. The conversations aren’t easy, especially when we, as Asians ourselves, must also hold our history of anti-Blackness accountable and unlearn those perspectives as well as dissociate ourselves from the model minority myth. This is a battle on all fronts and we need everyone’s help in the war against racism.

Image by Jocelyn Chung

Image by Jocelyn Chung

Wait, but what is happening?

Since the start of COVID-19, Asians have seen an increase of 1,900% in hate crimes across America. Yes, that number is in the thousands. As in, 1 in every 4 Asian Americans has experienced anti-Asian hate amidst this pandemic (myself included) and nearly 3,000 reports of Anti-Asian hate incidents were reported in over 47 states and the District of Columbia. While anti-Asian sentiments and microagressions towards Asians (cue the “ching chong” comments I’ve heard way too many times in my life) are not new, the significant surge of Asian hate crimes within the past year is all thanks to Trump’s dangerous rhetoric of describing the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” and “Kung flu,” phrases that were proudly mimicked by supporters and other anti-Asian enthusiasts, and now taken even further as killings all over the country. From a 84-year-old Thai American man, Vicha Ratanapakdee, murdered in San Francisco to a 61-year-old Filipino man, Noel Quintana, slashed in his face ear to ear in a NYC subway to a 19-year-old Asian American teen, Christian Hall, murdered by the police to a 91-year-old Asian American elder shoved to the concrete sidewalk and left to die to an 64-year-old Vietnamese woman in San Jose mugged in broad daylight…the list continues and all happened within the past couple of weeks. There is no denying this is clearly a racially-motivated series of attacks, one inspiring the other. And if you’re reading this, you must feel some sense of grief.

How come I didn’t know this before?

The answer is simple. It’s no surprise now that America has had a long withstanding history of white supremacy, but the real kicker is Asians are usually not in the folds of the historical conversations because it is widely, and falsely, believed that Asians “have had it easy” making it in America compared to other oppressed people of color, Black and Brown. Why acknowledge their pain if they benefitted from white assimilation? Why support their oppression if they’re faring well in America? Well, this calls to recognize the myth about the “model minority” to make an example of Asians as, well, exactly that: a model of how people of a minority group should act. But if that’s the case, then it doesn’t put us in any “better” of a position and instead, in a very silenced yet painfully neglected experience—one that is insidious and quietly insufferable because of how blanketed over and hollowed out it’s been addressed by all races. To believe the ideas that constitute the model minority myth is to believe the structures created by white supremacist values.

The irony in all this is that it is inherent in the Asian culture to stay silent and not speak up if it’s not your place. Which we understand now is only pin-holing Asian Americans into a corner without any support. But now the question we face is then when is it ever or will it ever be our place in America if we’re still being targeted?

How Can I learn more?

While there isn’t nearly enough coverage from major media outlets, we can still equip ourselves with self-education because miseducation is what the oppressors bank on—unity requires alignment. The foundation of building empathy and intentionally listening & learning is empowering ourselves with knowledge every single day and as part of our daily practice.

Some things you can read:

Some things you can watch:

social leaders and orgs spreading the knowledge:

What can I do to help right now?

Whether it’s staying informed, donating monetarily, volunteering if it’s possible, or bringing these necessary conversations to light, help is needed in any and all ways, now and going forward. I hope you will join me in mobilizing proactive support and purposeful action.

Sign these petitions:

stay in the know and spread the knowledge:

Donate to these organizations:

Volunteer if you can:

Have conversations amongst your communities

They won’t be easy to have and it may uncover some uncomfortable topics but the goal is to normalize these interracial, inter-cultural discussions with people closest to us if we hope to continuously support as allies. Here are some questions to think about and ask:

  • Is there an Asian ERG/community space in your workplace? Is this being represented in the DEI space? If not, can it be elevated to the C-Suite level?

  • Are Asians included in your anti-racism work? If so, then how?

  • Are you appreciating or appropriating Asian culture? What is your understanding of Asian culture?

  • What are the generational challenges we, as Asians, must face and unlearn to progress?

  • Are you working to combat anti-Asian and anti-Black?

  • What does an anti-racist world look like to you?

What can I do to Continue supporting?

This goes for any oppressed groups of people of any race: include more diverse voice of color into your daily life. It sounds simple and yet, you’d be surprised that people don’t do this enough. When you look at where you’re getting your information, who are the people you follow, what are the movies and books you consume, ask yourself: how many of those voices are different from my own? How many of the main characters are of different races and cultures and perspectives? How many of these stories are unheard of to you?

In order for us to build compassion and empathy, we must welcome in perspectives and narratives other than the ones we’ve been accustomed to. We can’t participate in Asian food or music or shows without understanding the very cultural foundation they were built on. As I’ve said before, knowledge comes from all important angles and perspectives.

incorporate more asian-focused perspectives into your leisure:

Add more asian voices to your daily feed:

Support Asian-owned businesses sharing the culture:

Community Safe spaces for asians

And for my fellow Asians who are also experiencing and confusing cycle of emotions, there are so many beautiful safe spaces for us to come together and give each other support. I know we’ve been taught to stay to ourselves, mind our own business, focus on our upward path but if this has taught us anything, we are better and stronger when we come together. We must challenge our own gaslighting of our experiences and make ourselves heard.

As I’ve mentioned, this is all a lot for me to process since it hits close to home. I think about my grandparents and my parents and all the important adults in my life (the Bác’s, the friends’ parents and grandparents and titas and titos), and it’s heartbreaking to think this could happen to any one of them. Humans are humans are humans. We all have a right to be here and we all have a right to be heard.

Recently, I was asked how I’ve been feeling with everything and honestly, I’ve been feeling belittled and unseen—both characteristics that are very common for Asians—and I’m standing up and saying ENOUGH. We’re getting loud and celebrating our heritage is part of the revolution.

 
 
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Mai Nguyenrecommendations, Asian American, Vietnamese3 Comments