If you are using at least one social media platform like Instagram and Twitter, you perhaps have encountered the following hashtags: #asianhate, #stopasianhate, or #proudtobeasian. Because the recent pandemic disclosed the ugly reality of our society--hidden racism against Asians--you perhaps think that the so-called AsianHate is a pretty recent trend that had begun because of the COVID-19 crisis. Well, then keep on reading the following stories I am planning to tell you right now.
When I was young, I was in the metro station in Paris with my mom and dad, who are both South Koreans as I am. It was around 2010, so South Korea was less known by Europeans than it is nowadays. When we stepped into the metro, everyone--I am not even exaggerating--on that car looked at my family at the same time and many of them did not stop staring for more than a minute. When we sat down together, some people around us immediately moved their seats even though they apparently did not arrive at their destinations.
In 2019, after submitting my college application, our family went on another trip to Italy. We went to a pizzeria, as every single tourist in Italy does, and the manager angrily stopped us from having a seat because, according to him, it was ten minutes before their break time. It is an understandable reason, right? So we decided to leave and something happened. Right after we decided to leave the restaurant, one Caucasian couple entered the restaurant and asked if they can have a meal there. And guess what the reply was, the manager who looked so desperate to take a break smiled like the happiest person on Earth and let them take a seat right away.
Nowadays we are living in the world of postmaterialism. We managed to escape from the era of hunger and deficiency and now are living in the middle of economic affluence which thankfully allowed us to think about things like equality and non-discrimination that were considered a luxury in the times of our grandparents.
We educate the future generation not to judge someone by their looks but by their deep inside; we tell them that skin color and appearance should not be the yardstick when deciding whether or not to become friends; we educate our children not to become a racist but to become a compassionate cosmopolitan citizen of the world; and we are surrounded by so many tools like the internet and international organizations that can not only realize but also foster the ambition of creation the world where everyone respects others and is respected by others.
But look around you. Look at the harsh, unfortunate, and miserable reality that the pandemic has disclosed. Look at the news articles from all over the world that talk about Asian women going through acid attacks on their way home and children with Asian-looking appearance being bullied in schools with the expressions such as 'coronavirus', 'pancake face', 'DVD player' and 'chink'. Look at the pedestrians in the middle of Manhattan and passengers of the New York City metro doing nothing but cheering, clapping, and taking pictures when an Asian man was beaten to death just because of his ethnicity. Isn't this ironic? Isn't this a shame that we are the ones who enchant the values such as non-discrimination, equality, and anti-racism and at the same time the ones who have been unintentionally or intentionally turning our faces away from the reality of AsianHate?
I have experienced AsianHate since the very beginning of my times in European countries. You probably have witnessed the situations where AsianHate jokes like stretching your eyes wide were commonly used to insult others and perhaps have some friends who claim that 'it is just a joke', 'no hard feelings', 'I am not a racist'. Altogether, we have failed to recognize so many AsianHate expressions and sentiments revolving around us until this pandemic exploded them in an extreme manner.
All these brings us to one conclusion: we have to take an action. We, the citizens of the unprecedented era of equality, democracy, and egalitarianism who at the same time were constantly discriminating a huge portion of human population, have to do something to have no shame on ourselves and our future generations.
But I am not asking you to do something grand. I am not demanding you to go out to streets and join demonstrations. What is most important, the real game changer of this round of AsianHate, is to LOOK BACK ON YOURSELVES. Whenever you use some expressions or gestures, just spend one or two seconds of your time to verify if it may be an insult for Asian culture. Whenever you meet an Asian colleague in your school/work,just think for few seconds before making comments that perhaps can be perceived as racism. Whenever you encounter the news article that teaches you something new about AsianHate, do not just scroll it down because you are not Asian but rather invest a tiny bit of your time to read it and expand your horizon of knowledge which will enlighten you in some way at some point in your life.
Your slightest actions will spread like the dandelion seeds and sprout changes all around the world.