Stand with AAPI
A personal story and on how to be better allies as we approach the tail-end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month.
As the new year of 2021 rolled around, it brought along a renewed sense of hope and optimism for many. However, the symbolic breath of fresh air did not carry away old problems in America. When the traditional Lunar New Year approached, so did an increased number of random attacks on Asian elderlies across the United States. On a deadly Saturday, March 16, a white man targeted Asian women in three separate Day Spas in Atlanta, Georgia, and mercilessly shot 8 victims dead – 6 of his victims were Asian women.
To embrace and care for the AAPI population is to understand the historical struggles facing the AAPI community in the United States, respect AAPI cultural heritage as equal, be good allies, speak up, and advocate for the AAPI community, and fundamentally re-examine the systemic policies that marginalize any community.
What is “AAPI”?
AAPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. However, this category actually contains many ethnicities and highly diverse cultures. Washington Center of Equitable Growth (Edlagan, C., Vaghul, K., 2016) reports that “[m]ore than 17 million members of nearly 50 different races and ethnicities are generally categorized as a monolithic group – Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” In essence, AAPI is an oversimplification of diverse ethnic groups in America.
Aggregated AAPI data has often been used to show how this collective racial group excels in education, employment, and income among all races in America, creating a “model minority myth”. The oversimplification of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as a homogenous, well-off population harms struggling AAPI groups by making their struggles invisible and rendering their needs underserved. The following two graphs are an example of how aggregated data can obscure the true conditions of ethnic groups under the AAPI umbrella.
To be inclusive of the AAPI population is to recognize, respect, and celebrate the diverse ethnicities within the oversimplified category, and actively debunk the model minority myth to stop false assumptions from causing further systemic harm.
Exclusion and bias is not new
Racial discrimination against Asians is not new to America. The Asian population has historically been marginalized and excluded through systemic policies: though they helped build the transcontinental railroad, Chinese immigrant workers were not allowed to become citizens. The Page Act of 1875 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 deepened the exclusion by barring most Chinese immigrants from the US. The uprooting of American Japanese families into Internment camps during WWII was another example of ethnicity and ancestry-based exclusion. Racial bias against Asians in the US has persisted through time formally and informally.
But what’s new is the surge of anti-AAPI hate crimes since the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, there have been 3,795 incidents received by the Stop AAPI Hate organization from March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021 (Jeung, 2021). The actual number of incidents could be higher because not all incidents or harassments are reported. Among the reports, verbal harassment and shunning made up 89% and physical assault made up 11%.
Statistics hold the power to present problems at scale. But statistics, as an abstraction, also distance us from the individual human stories. That is why creating space and listening to lived experiences from the AAPI population is important. That is why I need to share my story.
Targeted and terrified
After 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, a Thai American elder, died from being violently shoved to the ground when he was taking a walk in San Francisco, many more attacks on Asian elderlies began being reported close to the Lunar New Year, a time when we are supposed to celebrate our elders, unity, and heritage.
Then came the shooting in Atlanta – whatever the claimed reason, the shooter targeted Asian females at their places of work.
You really wouldn’t know the visceral fear until you repeatedly witness someone who looks like you being targeted and victimized. The random, racially targeted violence affected me deeply. My mental health deteriorated in a landslide manner even though I always prided myself in being mentally and emotionally resilient. Sometimes I couldn’t even work. I feared for my life. I was crushed by the hate and terrified to leave my apartment. I feared for my future children and grandchildren getting harmed because of how they might look. Being Asian – a cultural gift that should be celebrated – puts a target on my back. I was drowning in fear. The terror was inescapable.
I don’t have a buff physique, towering height, nor any adequate self-defense skill. To prepare for the worst, I had to initiate a conversation with my husband, who’s white, about what I’m comfortable with him doing to protect me and what I’m not comfortable with should I become a target of hate violence. As much as I want to live and be safe, I want him to be able to live to tell my stories. That was a somber conversation I never thought I’d have.
Having lived in other countries, I know this shouldn’t be the norm. Hate, based on race, gender, or country of origin MUSTN’T be the norm.
Time for change
In the darkest days over the past months, my husband helped me see the light again. “If you let haters keep you down, you are letting hate win. There is so much kindness and love in the world, focus on those instead,” he encouraged. What also gave me hope was seeing more people of different backgrounds speaking out and standing up to show support for the AAPI community. Moreover, I work at a multinational corporation where people gather for a noble cause in improving people’s lives and creating a healthier future – creating a more inclusive environment and supporting the AAPI community is part of that healthier future.
While systemic changes can take years, individual actions, no matter how small, matter. There are some things you can do immediately.
1. Show your support for your fellow Asian colleagues, neighbors, friends, and check on them. A kind message brings so much hope and strength to our hearts.
2. Use your voice to speak for us when our voice isn’t heard. Amplify AAPI voices.
3. Educate others on the systemic harm biased perspectives and rhetoric can cause a group of people. For example, scapegoating Chinese people or Asians for the COVID-19 pandemic distracts from the real issue that ineffective governmental measures led to mass damage and misdirects anger toward innocent people within the AAPI community.
4. Donate to organizations that focus on advancing AAPI justice, and leverage any employee donation matching program to multiply your contribution and impact.
5. Regardless of race, gender, or whatever that arbitrarily sets us apart, here are 5 strategies to be a better bystander and intervene safely if you witness a harassment situation (Hollaback! 2021):
Direct - Assess your safety first. Speak up about the harassment. Be firm and clear.
Distract - Take an in-direct approach to de-escalate the situation.
Delegate - Get others to help if you feel unsafe or others are better equipped.
Document - It can be helpful to help capture a video of the incident. *Laws about recording in public vary. Please check with the person being harassed with the use of the recording as well.
Delay - After the incident is over, check in on the person who was harassed.
By highlighting the need for solidarity for the AAPI community as a topic, I don't mean to divert our attention from advocating for equity, inclusion, and safety for other communities. A healthy system should support us all. If you are unsure about what to say or how to start the conversation, just remember that none of us have all the answers or always know the right things to say, but it’s imperative we learn and try.
In the words of Stacey Abrams, a phenomenal social justice activist, “I’m not pessimistic or optimistic. I’m determined.”
Would you stand with us and #StopAAPIHate?
References
Edlagan, C., Vaghul, K. (2016, December 14). How data disaggregation matters for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Washington Center for Equitable Growth. https://equitablegrowth.org/how-data-disaggregation-matters-for-asian-americans-and-pacific-islanders/
Jeung, R., Horse, A., Popovic, T., Lim, R. (2021, March 12). Stop AAPI Hate National Report. Stop AAPI Hate.
https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf
Hollaback! (2021). Bystander Intervention Training. Hollaback! https://www.ihollaback.org/bystander-resources/
This article was originally shared as a verbal presentation for my team following the Atlanta shooting, and then turned into a company-wide article at Johnson & Johnson. Minor changes have been made for the online audience.