We're Dying in Silence

Did you know that there is a huge issue going on, around in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community? Did you know that there are people who are getting verbally and physically assaulted, even murdered, just because of the way they look? Did you know that some of these AAPI hate crimes are not being documented/filed as a hate crime? Did you? Well if you didn’t, you can now. In this post I’m going to go more into depth about (what I believe) hate crimes that are targeted towards the AAPI community. This is a major topic that is, thankfully, being more publicized and talked about, but (in my opinion) aren’t being dealt with properly and aren’t given immediate consequence, to the people who are assaulting/murdering the AAPI community. As a person of the AAPI community, I would like to show my knowledge of what I learned from my research about this sensitive yet really engaging topic. I hope this can help/add to your knowledge about this topic and soon will, hopefully, make a change in our society to make these Anti-Asian hate crimes stop.

This chart shows the increase of Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019 to 2020.

Now, in my opinion this topic just hurts and disgusts me by how many AAPI are getting assaulted, cause as an Asian-American living in the U.S. I am constantly scared by what if I’m the next person that’s going to get assaulted, or even murdered, just by how I look. Or even worse, if one of my family members gets assaulted. I just can’t get that through my mind and how much it hurts me to see my community hurting like this. When I read or watch articles/videos about the AAPI community getting assaulted, or murdered, just really infuriates me how society treats us AAPI.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

I am really passionate about this topic because I learned that some of these horrific assaults/murders happening to the AAPI community, aren’t even being documented/filed as hate crimes.

I watched this podcast by The May Lee Show, talking about why some of the AAPI’s assault cases are not being documented as hate crimes. When I watched this podcast, I respect on why some opinions that were being made, like why the prosecutors aren’t digging enough to find the answer that the defendant wants, but I just don’t agree with those opinions. To paint a better picture of what I’m trying to say is by looking at the recent case of murders, by a man named, Robert Aaron Long, who killed a total of 8 people in Atlantic spas. When I first saw this news, my reaction was like, “are people getting this bored in the Pandemic that they’re starting to kill people ‘for fun’?” But soon to later find out that despicable man, killed 6 women of Asian descent out of those 8 victims because of his “sex addiction”. Then to hear that these spas shootings probably wasn’t towards a particular race. Yet this white man goes on a mass killing spree into spas, that are predominantly Asian spas, and decide to kill 6 Asian women, was because of his “sex addiction”, isn’t called a hate crime (case still under investigation)?! Another key thing I realized was that the officer, who was the spokesman on this case, said that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” So you’re saying a white man killing 8 people, with those victims, 6 of them are from Asian descent, to come to a hypothesis, that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” That is the dumbest, stupidest, inconclusive, white supremacist answer I ever heard. Plus, the white spokesman who said that Robert was just having “a really bad day”, promoted a sale on anti-Asian t-shirts, on Facebook. That said “ ‘imported virus from Chy-na.’ ” So, this sounds like that white spokesman was first, racist and second, biased. Side Note: It seems like the Police Department hasn’t said anything about how long Robert will serve in jail, but if it’s only, like 4 years…why, all of those victims because of his idiotic actions.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

This issue is a very significant topic to learn about, especially during these times where the hate crimes towards AAPI are significantly unfolding faster and getting worse till this day. Learning about this topic can tell you that America isn’t just about the “American dream”, but can reveal about the actual history behind America, that was always covered up.

To continue with that, let’s talk about a word you probably heard many times before, stereotype. Yes, that famous, loathsome word, that impacted so many AAPI’s during their childhood and till today, still. First, I would like to talk about a term that falls under with the word “stereotype”, The Model Minority Myth. That word just means that, “a persistent stereotype that paints Asian Americans as inherently successful and problem-free, particularly in contrast to other minority groups, had helped keep the story ‘from being a big deal before this’.” said by NBCNews. Second, I really disagree with that myth, using this information about how the Model Minority Myth impacted the AAPI community, many times in their life is a good way of knowing how America decides to treat us AAPI community, by making up a whole Myth just to make the rest of the world think that we’re smart, well-off, or that we’re always going to be successful in life. But no, that is completely false. AAPI are not born smart, they are trained just like every other kid in school to get good grades and soon to be successful in life. But I guess America thought that they needed to degrade another race, to make the AAPI seem to “know more” than the other students. Like have they never heard of studying, the people in America didn’t have to make a whole racist myth because AAPI are “good” at studying. LIKE WHAT?! I just think that was the most idiotic conclusion America came to.

Next, I am going to talk about my research/some stories I found about, what’s happening to the AAPI community, and how they’re being impacted by the Pandemic. First, let’s talk about this source, where they talk about how “Hate-fueled attacks on Asian Americans spiked across major U.S. cities last year — in some cases by triple-digit percentages — …” I think that is disgustingly high by how many hate-fueled attacks (hate crimes) there are towards the AAPI community. Like are you serious, the triple-digits?! They just had to go that far. Second, there is a source that talks about how brands are responding towards AAPI hate. Here is a quote that I took from the article that I really love, “ ‘No one is paying attention. No big news outlets. No brands. No influencers. No hashtags,’ he wrote.” “ ‘Silence…The model minority myth placed on Asian Americans through a systemic, racist system has made us raceless. That dynamic has resulting in silencing us even in the greatest moments of appropriation and violence…Don’t let us die in silence.’ ” I just love that quote. I loved how that person brung up how the government excludes us, AAPI, completely as a race. It’s disappointing that AAPI doesn’t even count as a race, to some people. Third, there is a news source that talks about how hundreds of people are escorting elderly AAPI and roaming around Chinatown, to keep the APPI community safe. I love that idea because the ones that are most vulnerable, in these times, are our AAPI elders.

Fourth, there is another news source that talks about how “Additionally, according to the study, between February and May 2020, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) received reports of 389 coronavirus-related hate incidents. Of those, 145 involved anti-Asian sentiments, representing 37 percent of all complaints.” That just upsets me, that the NYCCHR had so many reports on coronavirus related hate crimes, that the NYPD (in the video above this quote, in the source) had to make a “Asian Hate Crime” task force just to stop this nonsense. Fifth, this source talks about how an elderly Asian woman was waiting in front of a bakery in Chinatown. Until, an attacker decided that it was okay to start calling racial slurs at her, then push her harshly on the concrete ground until she fell unconscious. And later had to get 5-10 stitches because of that hate crime. I was just at awe when I read this article. I was just dismayed, how that man had the guts to do that, to an AAPI lady, who wasn’t even provoking him in any way. Finally, the final source I found, talks about people’s experiences and how they’re trying to cope with the hate crimes towards the AAPI community. And one quote that really resonated with me is, “Unfortunately, Asians are often targeted for violent attacks because Asians are stereotyped as weak and non-confrontational, …” That quote was just so immaculate and accurate because I do believe that is true. It seems people like to stereotype AAPI, as the type of race that are weak, or won’t tell the attacks to authorities cause we’re shy (stereotype). But no, of course we will tell some type of authority, we’re human too. You attacked us, that hit us to the point where we had enough of this AAPI hate.

To wrap all of this educational information, some of you may not be part of the AAPI community but you can still help. These hate crimes are still happening, the AAPI community will stay here as long as the AAPI history lives on, in America’s exposing reality. What I am wondering for my readers is, if there was a protest near you, will you protest with the AAPI community? To let people hear that the AAPI community will not stay silent no more, to the point where we can prove that we are happy for who we are. Are you going to give support and respect to the AAPI community? Are you going to be there, like when we were there for you? Are you? I really hope you do and use this revealing/exposing information about America’s real history towards the AAPI community. Help spread the word to stop AAPI hate. If you would like to help the AAPI community please donate to this gofundme, if you witness a hate crime toward an AAPI, report it to https://stopaapihate.org/, and if you would like to know more information about what’s going on in the AAPI community, go to https://nextshark.com/news/.

#AAPI #AAPILivesMatter #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate #RacismIsAVirus

My sources: Annotated bibliography