My Lunar New Year's Wish: To Matter.
- helen vo
- Feb 12, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 27, 2021
(Oh, you know it's serious when I actually type with proper capitalization.)
The Lunar New Year is upon us, a joyous celebration for most Asians full of dancing, beautiful traditional clothing, delicious sweets, blooming flowers, and prayers for luck and prosperity for the family. Every year my family puts out dishes of vibrant fruit, mouthwatering food, and cups of fragrant green tea for our ancestors and the buddhist deities. The smell of incenses disperses to every corner of the house. Vases hold mai flowers. Of course, my sister and I get the red envelopes that we have looked forward to all week that will make us wealthy for the day 😉🧧 This year, however, a shadow looms over our beloved holiday: corona virus and the hate shown towards Asians since the pandemic began.
There is a statistic that has been plastered all over social media recently: "Hate crimes against Asians have increased by 1,900% since COVID-19" (NYPD)." This is one of the countless statistics & stories about the violence and harassment that Asian Americans have faced due to the pandemic. According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate, a self-reporting tool, "After eight weeks, Stop AAPI Hate has received 1,843 reports of anti-Asian discrimination due to Covid-19." The time period reported on was from 3.19.20 - 5.13.20, a measly two months. By August 2020, that number became 2,583. The labeling of the pandemic as the "Kung-flu" and "the Chinese virus" by our former president only drew a larger target on the backs of Asians for harassment, assault, and murder. Asian-Americans' stores in Chinatowns across the country were vandalized, all while they were trying to survive the economic crisis the pandemic put them in. Many were called slurs, "chinks," "bat-eater," "china virus," spat on, and shoved on the streets.
Even women? Yes. Asian American women in California had 1.7x the incidents of discrimination as men, a very disturbing fact. Even children/minors? Yes. One in seven of the attacks reported by Stop AAPI Hate were directed towards individuals under 20 years old. In addition to that, 2- and 6-year old Burmese sons were stabbed along with their father in Midland,Texas due to being stereotyped as Chinese and spreading the coronavirus. Asian students are bullied in their schools. Individuals in youth surveys claim that the political rhetoric surrounding the coronavirus created an obvious shift in how Asian students felt in classes. Even elders? Oh, the violence towards elders might be the worst of them all. These past few weeks have brought a small spotlight to the hate crimes committed against the older Asian community. Korean-American actor, Daniel Dae Kim, and Chinese-American actor, Daniel Wu, joined forces, offering $25,000 for information on the attacker of a 91-year old Asian man in Oakland's Chinatown. The attacker is a suspect for two other attacks on elders on that same day. That was one of the 20 assaults that have taken place in Oakland in these past weeks. It is also one of the many stories that are circulating Asian media outlets and social media campaigns, such as Next Shark, The Peahce Project, Dear Asian Youth and more. Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year old Thai man, was murdered while on his morning walk by Antoine Watson, a 19 year old that shoved Ratanapakdee onto the sidewalk in San Francisco. A 64-year old Vietnamese woman was robbed of $1,000 and assaulted when leaving a bank in San Jose.
These stories are new to most non-Asians, but are not new to America's long history of discrimination towards Asians. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act barred immigrants from entering the U.S. based on their race. In 1942, hundreds of thousands of Japanese people kept in internment camps after World War II were imprisoned, relocated, and killed. The years of "yellow peril," depicted Asians as inadequate for citizenship. In 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American engineer, was beaten to death while celebrating his upcoming wedding by two white men who thought he was Japanese. The killers received nothing more than a $3,000 fine and no prison time, a slap on the wrist. Chin's story is often said to be the start of the fight for Asian-Americans' rights. Though it was a spark, I must say that it has been quite a while since discrimination and violence towards Asians have been discussed at large if the last notable case was in 1982. Quite a while indeed, considering Asian culture is used for entertainment through K-pop, K-dramas & anime, for food and drinks, for fashion inspiration and skincare routines, and not to mention for tone-deaf poses. But don't worry; that tea is too hot to not have a separate post for it 😉
Though in recent weeks figures such as Daniel Dae Kim, Daniel Wu, Naomi Osaka, and Amanda Nguyen have been leaders in the conversation on the violence against Asian Americans, this is not enough. For one, they are all Asian. We need the help of other minorities and white allies to be able to bring awareness to and overcome the discrimination Asians face. It is not enough for only Asians to speak up. In fact, Asians are still learning themselves how to break the silence. You see, Asians have been taught since childhood to remain complacent and silent. We were taught that there will be no problems as long as we just survive. "Just blend in. We are immigrants in this nation. We do not need to bring any attention to ourselves." In addition to that silence, we were given the "coveted" title of the "model minority," a title 100x more damaging than it ever was helpful. The model minority myth simply pits minorities against each other by praising Asians and favoring us over minorities of darker skin. It undermines Asians' work ethic by instilling the idea that we are just "supposed" to be that way. I'm sure you've heard at least once that it "doesn't count" when an Asian makes a good grade on a test because they're Asian; it is a small form of the model minority myth. It downplays the racism that Asians endure because we are so close to being white in skin, and some of us are privileged. At the end of the day, we are not white. We are people of color. Not all ethnicities of Asians are rich and privileged; we are not monolithic. The model minority myth also fails to recognize that Blacks and other marginalized groups face different forms of racism that set them behind Asians due to the color of their skin. The setbacks that centuries of slavery imposed on black people cannot simply be overcome by "hard work." The model minority myth was always used as a way to manipulate Asians into being submissive, to drive a wedge between people of color, and to excuse white people of their racism towards Asians and other marginalized groups. It is time for that myth to be put to rest. Second, it is well overdue that we all start condemning racism towards Asians, as we should and do for other marginalized groups. Asians have been and still are a vital part to the growth and history of America. There should be voices supporting Asians too.
These past few weeks have been emotionally difficult and terrifying for the Asian community, but they have also helped bring attention to the community. I have never seen my friends post about discrimination towards Asians as much as I have this past week. For them, I am grateful. Please continue fighting alongside us. There are resources and pages that you can follow on social media to keep up with news on Asian Americans (Click here for a list!). Keep your eyes and ears open. Read up when you can. Do not simply stand by when you see racism and violence happening towards the Asian community. Do not let the worn out slurs and "jokes" about Asians simply go through one ear and out the other; they were never funny, and we are oh so tired of hearing them. Protect our elders, women, children, and anyone vulnerable to attacks.
So, as I celebrate the Lunar New Year with my parents, sister, and grandmother, I will pray for luck, love, and happiness as I always do. I will pray for my family's good health and for our dreams to come true. I will pray that this year is better than the last. But this year, I will also pray that Asians are louder and seen clearer than we have ever been.
Sources:
Comments