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Jessica Ayre's avatar

I moved to the US from Manila, Philippines in 2010, and I can't count how many ignorant questions, assumptions and comments have been directed at me.

"Why is your English so good?"

"What is your Asian name?"

"Little Chinese girl" (I'm not even Chinese)

"I have yellow fever"

"Is your vagina sideways?"

"I bet you're good at math"

"I love oriental food"

"What are you?"

"Did you have electricity when you lived in the Philippines?"

"Do you do nails?"

One time I was at a war museum in my city (I live in Chattanooga, TN) and an elderly woman approached me in the bathroom, saying "We killed your people in Vietnam".

Another time, I had a disagreement with someone my age and they retorted with "I wish you were born in China so that they would've killed you at birth" Honestly, I could go on and on with my personal experiences, but I'll stop here.

Asian Americans have been invisible for far too long. We are the model minority when it's convenient, but also the object of ridicule and hate when society wants to point fingers. I'm so tired of having to adjust myself to people around me. Why can't I just be myself without explaining anything? I've had to bite my tongue so many times because I've been afraid of people's reactions, especially living in the Deep South. It's time to recognize the blatant racism that has been pitted against us for so long instead of sweeping it under the rug.

I really appreciate you sharing this today, David F. I enjoyed the beautiful words from David Chen.

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Marie's avatar

Why do people think it’s acceptable to act like this? Does hate spur on hate, even miles away? A hate crime happened here in Auckland not too long ago. A day after the Anti-Asian Hate rally there was an altercation in Albany’s Chinatown where a group of Chinese men were waiting on one car park spot for a while and another group had swooped in and stolen it. When they tried to talk to them about the parking, they were met with slurs like get the fuck out of here and go back to fckin China. A fight ensued, beating up the Chinese men. This hasn’t been reported on by NZ media either. And only a few days ago a TV presenter for Sky Sport chose to display some casual racism by mocking one of the Japanese players accent in an interview. But not only that, there are countless, countless stories from the Asian community in New Zealand being met with racism everyday - from eating a pork bun for breakfast and being told “wow that stinks”, or comments like “no, where are you ORIGINALLY from?” or for me entering a dairy in Nelson and “fuckin asians” being spat on my face as I walk past. What America faces is also what New Zealand faces - Asian people have also been telling their parents to be careful about going outside, as like David Chen has written. New Zealand is racist, if you believe otherwise, you’re part of the problem. Thank you for giving a voice to this, David. And to David Chen, who’s written a very real and beautiful article.

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