- To the one thing my mom looks forward to
every single day is her daily walks alone
around the neighborhood.
And I literally called her the other day to tell her
that she cannot do that anymore.
Since the beginning of COVID-19,
Asians have experienced a 1,900% increase
in Asia hate crimes.
- And that number is just the ones
that have been documented and written down,
so it doesn't even include the ones
that weren't written down and weren't reported
or the ones that were misrecorded
as non anti-Asian hate incidences.
- So growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood
with very few Asians in my city,
I've been called chink, gook, Chun Li, go back to China.
And guess what I did?
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
- My mother and her Asian-American friends
have been spat on, coughed at,
and also experienced many anti-Asian slurs.
And we might not think that calling COVID-19
the "Chinese virus" or the "kung flu" or the "Wu flu"
are bad or even connected to this violence,
but it absolutely is because that emboldens that racism,
it emboldens those anti-Asian hate sentiments.
- We're just taught to stay quiet and turn the other cheek.
Just mind your own business.
We have all been trapped in this model minority stereotype.
You guys all have heard, "Oh, Asians are smart.
"They're good at math.
"They're educated.
"They go to college."
They painted us as the model immigrant
that everyone should actually be like.
And this created a wedge between Asian Americans
and other people of color
since we were painted as privileged.
Listen, it's not getting any better.
Asian Americans are being attacked, specifically our elders.
It's our duty as Americans to speak up
about what is happening right now
and what needs to be heard.
- When we say racism against Asians is normalized,
it kind of brings you to ask the question,
compared to who?
We're comparing it to Black people's experiences,
which have been made hyper-visible,
and end up in us playing the oppression Olympics.
The same way saying Asian lives matter
might seem harmless at first,
but it's actually co-opting the Black Lives Matter movement,
a movement working to combat police brutality
against Black people.
It doesn't make sense to try to move the attention
from a movement that isn't relevant
and try to use it for our own benefit.
Please realize that being anti-Black
when spreading awareness
about the anti-Asian violence happening recently
is not only unproductive but also harmful.
Asian liberation is so inextricably linked
to Black liberation
and we should be working to uplift each other.
It's important to stand up for our community
and to prevent this from continuing.
But being anti-Black or anti-BLM,
calling for increased police surveillance is not the answer.
The police aren't gonna fix this.
Like an Asian 19-year-old was shot and killed by police
on December 30th while he was having a mental health crisis
and had his hands up.
Police brutality is an issue
that affects the Asian community as well.
The violence against Asians occurring
is a symptom of white supremacy
and should be another reason for solidarity.
I wanna make it clear that awareness
should not be the end goal of your activism.
It's a way to rally people to support your cause
and incite action, but it's not gonna solve the issue.
Protests, for example, are a tool used to put pressure
on a government or other higher ups
to respond to the demands of a movement.
There needs to be actual demands and measures
to address the problems of a system.
Do you want to pass a law?
Do you want reform?
As an example, we can see how BLM
has been working since 2013,
some of their demands being to defund the police
or to end qualified immunity,
to fire and charge the police
that have murdered members of the Black community.
This isn't to compare BLM
to advocating against anti-Asian hate crimes,
but we can't just blindly support any and all activism
against racism towards Asians because we're angry.
Without tangible goals, we won't see real change
because reactionary activism will only result
in short-lived anger and burnout.
I agree we need unity and to push for change,
but I think we should do it in a way that's productive.
- If you'd like to help out or support the AAPI,
Asian American Pacific Islanders community,
the first thing and most impactful thing that you can do
is stop calling COVID-19 the Chinese virus, the Wu flu,
or the kung flu.
Call it COVID-19 or coronavirus.
You should also be calling out your friends
when they say that.
If you have friends that are saying Chinese virus,
tell them not to say it.
Explain why.
The next thing is that you should be following
Asian-American creators and educators
on your social media platforms.
My favorites are Amanda Nyguen, Teach and Transform,
and Michelle Kim Kim, among others.
You can also follow me @pinkmantaray.
I also post about these kinds of things.
Lastly, support Asian American organizations,
such as the Smithsonian APA,
Asian Pacific Americans Association.
- Look, speaking up is incredibly uncomfortable,
but I am gonna encourage you no matter how big
or small your platform is.
You have a voice, especially if you're Asian,
especially if you're Asian American.
We all have our own story and we cannot be silent.
Let's break the model minority stereotype
and let's stop Asian hate.
(calm instrumental music)