在辛辛那提最近的“停止亞裔仇恨”活動中,我聽到了許多強大的聲音。許多亞裔(API)社區成員和領導人分享了他們遭遇種族主義的個人經歷。來自其他社區的領導人也參加了這次活動,表明他們堅定地支持和分擔亞裔社區抗爭的負擔。因此,我感到有能力像其他勇敢的社區成員一樣分享自己的聲音。從小到大,我上學的頭幾年並不總是那么愉快。例如,我的很多同齡人會在嘲笑我時做傾斜的眼部手勢。我的一些同學也會假裝中國口音,試圖用這種方式和我説話,因爲他們相信我的英語不流利。雖然我小時候對這些刻板觀念一無所知,但這些事件在我進入中學和高中時開始影響我個人。在很多方面,亞裔的模範少數民族神話的影響了其他人多年來對我的看法。因此,我的很多同學期望我在每次作業和測試中總是能獲得A+。鑒於人的本性,我們不完美,容易犯錯。因此,儘管我相信自己是一名優等生,但我還是不可避免地會犯一些錯。當我的成績低於期望時,我的同學們會覺得不可思議。他們説我不是眞正的亞裔。他們説我侮辱了我的姓。最令人痛苦的是,他們説,一個缺乏智慧的亞裔是一種反常現象:一個不屬於任何地方的人。當我成功的時候,人們忽視了我的成就,認爲學術成功是亞裔美國人自然而然的保證。
因此,當我看到在這次新冠(COVID-19)大流行期間,對亞裔的誤解不僅影響我,也影響到我心愛的整個社區,這令人非常沮喪。針對亞裔的仇恨犯罪在全世界呈上昇趨勢,最普遍的是在亞裔集居地區。75歲的亞裔長者樸浩在加州奧克蘭被三名襲擊者毆打致死。在紐約,CNN新聞報道説,1月1日到3月14日之間,至少有10起亞洲仇恨罪案發生,跨度約爲3個月。在舊金山,一段視頻曝光了亞裔祖母謝小珍,她的臉被行兇者抓傷並流血。同時,她回憶起自己在恐怖時刻的自衛行爲。令人憤慨的是,外界看到醫護人員照顧的是行兇者,而不是上了年紀的受害者。最近,佐治亞州亞特蘭大的悲劇引起了最大關注。8人在三家亞洲水療館被屠殺,其中6人是亞裔。目前,犯罪者羅伯特·朗拒絶承認襲擊是出于種族動機。相反,他聲稱,性癮和消除性誘惑的慾望使他犯下了罪行。與此同時,美國各地的許多社區都在爭論,這是否實際上是出于種族動機的攻擊。我相信這次襲擊無疑源于種族仇恨。在大衆媒體中,亞洲女性常常被定型爲沉默和順從的個體。這些刻板觀念對亞裔社區來説是危險的,因爲當某些人發現這些刻板觀念站不住腳時,這種觀念會在他們中間製造一種厭女症和種族主義的感覺。毫無疑問,羅伯特·朗把亞裔女性視爲性對象,當她們拒絶他的性要求時,他變得沮喪。結果,這種憤怒和沮喪使他犯下了令人發指的罪行。
在我對這些悲慘的仇恨犯罪故事的衆多感受中,孤獨是最強烈的感受之一。通常,我們作爲人類很難理解我們從未體驗過的感受;因此,同情和分擔他人的負擔是一個挑戰。由於一些危險的刻板印象,比如模範少數民族神話和亞裔女性在媒體上的形象,我們作爲亞裔美國人感到被社會所左右,因爲我們感覺自己無聲無息。我們感到,我們面臨的問題沒有得到大衆媒體的深入考慮或適當處理,因爲人們覺得我們應該受到這種虐待。總的來説,我們要求我們的聲音被聽到,我們的抗爭得到承認。新聞報道不應掩飾殺手的動機和意圖,如“糟糕的一天”和遭受未具名的“問題”的折磨,而應該揭示受害者以及事件的眞實性和悲劇性。不幸的是,這種全國性的觀念變化進展往往很緩慢。這可能需要數年、數十年甚至幾百年。作爲亞太聯盟(APAPA)的靑年成員,我認爲,對於下一代API來説,植根變革至關重要。我們必須從地方層面開始,主動出擊,有所作爲。因此,種族間對話在改善辛辛那提人和美國各地任職人數偏低的人方面發揮了重要作用。儘管許多亞裔面臨的仇恨犯罪是我們種族和膚色所獨有的,但這些問題的性質可能與種族主義和誤解有關。我相信,還有許多像我們一樣的社區面臨着種族主義問題,我們必須團結起來,互相支持。因此,我們通過慷慨的食物捐獻活動爲辛辛那提的窮困社區提供幫助,努力調和我們與同樣弱勢的社區之間的差異,並爲之深感自豪。通過我們的關心與他們建立聯繫,我們可以培養一種新的理解文化。這使我們能夠爲API社區中最脆弱的群體建立更強大的援助網絡。總的來説,我們作爲一個整體不要因爲社會對API社區的不屑態度而絶望。相反,我們必須對這些情况表現出耐心和毅力。我們必須努力去爭取更高的代表性,爲我們的社區建立更強大的保護網絡。最終,痛苦能加強人與人之間的關係,因爲愛和仇恨是相輔相成的;如果仇恨不腐敗,愛就不會出現。
Speaker: Kevin Chen
During the recent “Stop Asian Hate” event in Cincinnati, I heard
many powerful voices. Many API community members and leaders shared
their personal experiences with racism and their grievances towards
the United States. Leaders from other communities also participated
in the event, showing their unwavering support and sharing the
burden of the API community’s struggles. Thus, I feel empowered to
share my own voice just like the other brave community members who
spoke at the event. Growing up, my first few years of school was not
always pleasant. For example, many of my peers made fun of my
appearance by making slanted eye gestures while laughing at me. some
of my classmates would also fake a Chinese accent and attempt to
talk to me in that way because they believed I was not fluent in
English. Although I was ignorant of these stereotypes as a young
child, these incidents began to affect me personally as I progressed
to middle and high school. In many ways, the model minority myth has
affected others' perception of my character throughout those years.
Accordingly, many of my classmates expected me to always achieve
A-pluses on every single assignment and test. Given the nature of
human beings, we are imperfect and susceptible to mistakes. Thus, I
inevitably experienced some academic failures despite the belief
that I was a straight-A student. When I would achieve below such
expectations, my classmates reacted with extreme disbelief. They
said that I was an ingenuine Asian. They said that I had disgraced
my family name. Most painfully of all, they said that an
unintelligent Asian is an anomaly: an individual who does not belong
anywhere. When I did manage to succeed, people overlooked my
achievements, believing that academic success was an automatic
guarantee for Asian Americans.
Thus, it is quite disheartening to see that during this COVID-19
Pandemic, Asian misconceptions have affected not only me, but also
my entire beloved community. Accordingly, there has been a rise in
Asian hate crimes worldwide, most commonly in predominantly Asian
areas. To name some instances of such crimes, Pak Ho, a 75-year-old
Asian elder, was beaten to death in Oakland, California, by three
attackers. In New York, CNN News reports that at least ten Asian
hate crimes were committed between January 1st to March 14th, a span
of roughly three months. In San Francisco, a video surfaced of Xiao
Zhen Xie, an Asian grandmother, with her face bruised and bloodied
by her assailant. At the same time, she recalls her self-defense
during the terrifying moment. Outrageously, paramedics were seen
tending to the needs of the assailant rather than those of the
elderly victim. Most recently, The tragedy in Atlanta, Georgia has
garnered the most attention. Eight people, six of which were of
Asian descent, were slaughtered in three Asian spa parlors.
Currently, the perpetrator, Robert Long, refuses to admit that the
attack is racially motivated. He instead states that sexual
addiction and a desire to eliminate his sexual temptations led him
to commit his crime. Simultaneously, many communities across the
United States debate whether or not this was in fact a racially
motivated attack. I believe that this attack undoubtedly stems from
the race. In popular media, Asian women are often objectified and
stereotyped as quiet and submissive individuals. These stereotypes
are dangerous towards the Asian communities because it creates a
sense of misogyny and racism among certain people when they discover
that these stereotypes do not hold. Undoubtedly, Robert Long viewed
Asian women as sexual objects and became frustrated at them when
they refused his advances. As a result, this anger and frustration
led him to commit his heinous crime.
Among the many feelings I have about all these tragic hate crime
stories, loneliness is one of the strongest feelings. Often, we as
human beings struggle to understand what we have not experienced;
thus, empathizing and sharing another's burden presents a challenge.
Due to dangerous stereotypes such as model minority myths and Asian
womens' portrayal in media, we as Asian Americans feel othered by
society because we feel voiceless. We feel that the issues we face
are not deeply considered or properly addressed by the mass media
because people feel we deserve such mistreatment. As a whole, we
demand that our voices are heard and our struggles recognized.
Rather than euphemizing a killer's motives and intentions, such as
having "a bad day" and suffering from unnamed "issues," news stories
should shed light on the victims and the real and tragic nature of
the event. Unfortunately, such change on the national scale is often
slow. It may take years, decades, and even centuries. As a member of
Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA), I believe
that it is critical for the next generation of APIs to plant the
roots of change. We must take the initiative and make a difference
starting on the local level. Accordingly, Interracial Dialogue plays
an important role in the betterment of Cincinnati and
underrepresented people all over the United States. Although the
Asian hate crimes that many APIs face are unique to our ethnicity
and skin color, the nature of these issues can be related to racism
and misconceptions. I believe that there are many other communities
just like ours who face issues of racism, and we must come together
and support one another. Therefore, I am deeply proud of the
Cincinnati API community's efforts to reconcile our differences with
similarly underrepresented communities through generous food drives
and resource donations. By demonstrating that we care about and
relate to them, we can foster a new culture of understanding. This
allows us to create a stronger network of assistance for the API
community's most vulnerable. Overall we as a whole need not despair
society's dismissive attitude towards the APIs community. Instead,
we must display patience and perseverance against these
circumstances. We must all strive for higher representation and
create a stronger network of protection for our community
peacefully. In the end, only pain strengthens relationships, for
love and hate are nexuses; love cannot arise if hate does not
corrupt.Junior at the Seven Hills School
APAPA Cincinnati Youth Chapter board member |
