What Happened This Week
1/ I usually don't talk about politics but I feel the movement and voice of #StopAAPIHate is too important to ignore. What happened over the past year, especially the past week, has been deeply concerning and heartbreaking.
2/ As a first-generation immigrant, the first city I landed in the US is New Orleans, Louisiana, where I had the most wonderful years of my early life. I have been very fortunate to see the warm, friendly and creative side of America.
3/ As I traveled more across the US, I have seen different sides of the country. As the NYT daily has reported last week, oftentimes racism and hate against Asians are more subtle and "non-obvious" -
4/ ... in that, it was technically hard to describe, but trust me, as Asain, you know it when you are being treated differently because of your race or your culture. It could be the way you look, dress, and sound different than the rest..
5/ Most Asians my generation and older have been raised to keep our heads low, to fit in, and to hopefully to be valuable members of society. But For many years too long, we've been okay with letting the Asian stereotype slide - from "innocent jokes" by the political leaders...
6/ ... to Hollywood's persistent portrait of Asian men and women in certain filters. Asian Americans have been suffering & our voice has not been properly heard.
8/ Asian Americans *demand* change. We want our voice be heard and recognized. It's incomprehensible to witness the US struggles with calling hate crimes against Asians hate crimes;...
9/ ... to hear the sheriff said the murderer was "having a bad day"; to see the white guys beating old Asian lady on Market Street getting the first medical attention while the old lady was only holding an ice bag.
Simply not right and not fair.
10/ We have a lot more work to do. Racism against minorities and Asians has been long embedded in American history.
11/ And for that exact reason, we will need to be united, be extra mindful, and be diligent in fighting against hate and racism so that our children, our children's children don't have to suffer... #StopAsianHateCrimes EOTS.
Thank you to the ones who had reached out. And please, reach out to your Asian friends today to make sure they are okay, they are not scared and you are there for them.