It’s been an emotionally rough 24 hours and my heart goes out to the family members of those who were lost to yet another act of senseless, racially driven violence. I can only imagine the pain they are going through.
I was born in Korea and came to this country as a baby when I was adopted. While my parents made sure to educate me about my heritage, and make it clear that I am completely loved as their daughter, I did have to face the usual slew of derogatory actions in the community when I was growing up. The stretching of eyes up at the edges. Imitations of Chinese language. Being told to ‘go back to where I came from’. All things, many AAPI in this country deal with.
The whole 'model minority' stereotype really works against the Asian community as people think 'Oh, they're successful, they have good paying jobs. Asians don't experience racism' and they assume that we’re all doctors, lawyers and engineers. News flash, a majority of us aren’t crazy rich Asians. It's become more and more evident in this pandemic.
The rise in anti-Asian violence has largely been unreported by mainstream media until recently. And even then, I've seen comments that Asians shouldn't be trying to take the spotlight from other groups experiencing racial issues. The 'game' of who has it worse has no winners. Racism affects us all. It doesn't matter your eye shape, skin color, language, or clothing - to a racist, we are ALL others and a threat.
It makes me angry to see authorities and the press making excuses for this man who killed these people. Saying he was having a 'bad day'. And the fact that 8 people had to die before the media even started talking about the rise in violence in general.
What am I going to be doing about it?
I'm not good at making speeches, but I am going to be donating to those who are better at doing the work than I am, similar to the BLM one I ran this past summer.
From now (3/18) through 4/3, 50% of total sales made from my shop here will be donated to the organization Stop AAPI Hate. I will post a screen shot of the donation for transparency to my FB, Instagram and Twitter channels shortly after 4/3.
Thank you for your support and care. Together we can work to dismantle racism.