Am I Racist Against Asians?
You don’t have to be beating the crap out of an Asian person to contribute to the problem. #StopAsianHate
After reading the news this morning about not one but 2 major hate crimes against Asian Americans happening on the same day this week, wherein both scenarios bystanders just watched; I am filled with nothing but frustration, disgust, and an urgency to do something.
Hate crimes have been increasing at an exponential rate in the past year with over 3800+ cases being reported (NOT including the thousands of cases that go undocumented and unreported that we don’t see), but it is important to remember that this has been an ongoing issue for decades. Despite being aware of the huge increases in Asian hate crimes starting last year, incidents are not subsiding, they are getting worse.
The clear things we can do to help are donating, educating ourselves, protesting, and spreading awareness. However, I have noticed that there has been very little activity on #StopAsianHate. In fact, all I see every day are more and more hate crimes and killings that get increasingly worse. I haven’t seen any non-Asian celebrities speak out against Asian Hate Crimes let alone many people of Asian descent talking about it. I get that everyone has their own ways of activism, but the same way bystanders aren’t jumping in to help Asians getting beaten up in front of them, a majority of people are just standing by each day.
I don’t see educational resources coming up, I don’t see stories being shared, I don’t see donations being made, and I don’t see people standing up against Asian hate crimes. No matter what I post on #StopAsianHate they all seem to have very little and dare I say “lazy” engagement. Maybe it’s just my very poor social circle, but it did get met thinking…
- I need to speak up more about Asian Hate Crimes and spread educational resources myself. If no one else is doing it, then I’ll swallow my hatred of social media, get on and start posting the information I want to see.
- Am I Racist Against Asians? As I pondered why so many people don’t care that much about the rise in Asian hate crimes and why so few people are being vocal about it; I started to reflect on my own internalized racism against Asians and why I didn’t feel so infuriated this entire time until seeing the two videos this morning. Why did I not react this strongly until I saw how much other people didn’t care?
My belief is that that was my trigger point. This whole time I assumed that a majority of people cared and understood this was wrong, but after seeing how many people are failing to intervene it took me back to my youth getting called Asian slurs, pushed, shoved, and punched without anyone ever intervening or standing up with me. I thought that was a by-product of my small-non-diverse hometown but looks like even the Big Apple and Silicon Valley are just as bad.
So in addition to donating, sharing educational posts, and STANDING UP against hate crimes. Another big component that most of us are missing is asking ourselves what our own biases and prejudices are against Asians.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND ASK YOURSELF: “Am I Racist Against Asians?”
Racist vs not Racist is not a permanent state, it’s an ongoing CHOICE so here is a list of questions to reflect on as we learn to process our own racism against Asians.
Below is a list of several questions to ask ourselves that demonstrate racism, internal bias, prejudice, and aggression against Asians. The list is in no way fully comprehensive but I encourage using it as a baseline to start reflecting and take ownership of our contributions to the hate.
1. Have I ever made a joke about Asians? Asian culture? Asian people? Asian food?
2. Did I avoid going to Asian businesses and Asians at the start of the pandemic?
3. Did I repost, like, or share hate speech and jokes to demonize Chinese people when COVID started?
4. Did I give dirty looks to people of Asian descent when you saw them on the street during the pandemic?
5. Have I ever appropriated Asian culture?
6. Have I ever pulled my eyes back to mock Asians? Or joked that an Asian person couldn’t see because their eyes were “small”?
7. Did I ever think an Asian person deserved to be beaten up because of the virus?
8. Have I ever mocked an Asian language? Or impersonated an Asian person with a fake accent?
9. Did I refuse to learn how to pronounce an Asian person’s name right?
10. Have I ever used a racist slur against an Asian?
11. Have I ever told a person of Asian descent that their English is so good making an assumption that they aren’t American?
12. Do I believe all Asians look the same? And consistently mix up people of Asian descent?
13. Have I ever told an Asian person their experiences with racism are invalid because they aren’t black, Hispanic, etc?
14. Have I told or assumed an American of Asian descent that they aren’t ACTUALLY American? Or continually denied that they were American?
15. Have I used an Asian person’s race to describe them and reduce their significance? (Examples include: “The Asian one”, “Hey Asian”, “You’re my favorite Asian”, “You’re so pretty for an Asian” “You’re Asian so you must be smart”)
16. Did I watch an Asian person get bullied, made fun of, beaten up, and not done anything?
17. Do I not see a need to speak up about Asian Hate and continue to fetishize and enjoy Asian culture?
This list is for EVERYONE, Asians, and myself included because everyone has the ability to be racist and ALL bias or aggression contributes to racism and hate against Asians.
And again, you don’t have to be beating the crap out of an Asian person to contribute to the problem. #StopAsianHate
Places to Donate:
https://nymag.com/strategist/article/where-to-donate-to-help-asian-communities-2021.html
