stopasianhate

I am an Asian American.

I have never experienced violence or physical assault due to my race.

I am fortunate. Many others are not.

Recently, a guy shot and killed 8 people at massage parlors in Atlanta, GA, 6 of whom were of Asian decent. Motive? He had an alleged addiction to sex, and since he was “deeply religious,” the only way to combat that sexual guilt is to murder the sex workers that cause temptation.

(Way to go Christianity!)

And when Asians aren’t being killed, they’re being harassed, assaulted, and violated. Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020. Apparently all Asians are to blame for COVID-19, so the solution for the lazy thinkers is to attack anyone who looks Asian. It’s infuriating, but what makes it worse is that these cowards target mostly Asian women and the elderly. Such tough guys, attacking Asian grandma from behind. Makes me wish I could escort every walking Asian at all times.

I’m sick of the violence against Asians, and if I see anyone even think about attacking any Asians near me I am turning into John Wick.

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Despite all the violence against minorities, I don’t think that most people are racist.

I think that most people think they’re funny.

Just because I have never been assaulted doesn’t mean I didn’t face challenges from being Asian American. My challenges were not physical, they were verbal. In the form of jokes. Thousands and thousands of jokes. Death by a million lame, hacky Asian jokes. And my attitude was, if you’re going to make an Asian joke, at least make it funny. And 99% of them were not. They were all the same tired jokes that I’ve either heard before or made myself. My name, my eyes, my skin, my food, my driving….you name it, I’ve heard it. I have a pretty good sense of humor, so if you’ve got a good joke (racist or not), I will laugh. Unfortunately, none of these jokes were funny. Occasionally the jokes were mean-spirited, but most of the time they were just dumb jokes that came from my peers, classmates and co-workers.

My parents are Thai, grew up in Thailand, and moved to the United States in the 1960s. They came to this country in search of a better life for themselves and my brother and I.

My parents worked their asses off to buy a convenience store, in order to earn money to invest in property, in order to provide for their children. I’ve been at the store when a customer would tell my parents to go back where they came from. I’ve heard people make fun of my parents’ English (which, for immigrants, was quite clear and understandable). I’ve heard just about every ignorant thing you can say about a minority.

But the one thing I never heard was my parents complain or retaliate against those people and their comments. They ignored it and just kept working. If either of them were hurt by such comments, they never showed it. To this day I don’t know if they heard so much ignorance that they’re numb to it, or if it really does hurt but don’t want to acknowledge it. Either way, they just kept grinding. It takes a lot of courage to leave your native country to move and start a new life in a new country that you barely speak the language of. And for that, I will always be grateful to them.

That being said, I will make a distinction between someone who physically assaults someone of a different race and someone who makes bad race jokes. I can tolerate a bad Asian joke, but I will in no way tolerate anyone laying a hand on an Asian.

The coronavirus is a sore throat compared to the virus known as racism. I don’t have the solution to eliminate bigotry and ignorance. When I was younger I used to (naively) think that racism will be gone when all the old white racists die off and become extinct like dinosaurs. The problem with that is, those racist dinosaurs are teaching their kids to hate, then their kids’ kids, and on down the line, passing their dumb beliefs down from generation to generation like bad jewelry.

All I can do is be the best person I can be, and to lead by example. I’m not going to bother trying to get an older racist person to not be racist anymore. I believe racism to be a sign of low intelligence, and combine that with being miserable and stubborn, and you get someone that will die filled with hate. But I want to believe we still have a chance to change the minds of young people, and the sooner that someone learns tolerance the better.

STOP ASIAN HATE.

“My friends are so distressed

And standing on the brink of emptiness

No words I know of to express

This emptiness”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - “My Friends”