Month: May 2021

First Educate Myself

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By Camila Marryshow

As a D.C. resident and Japanese Tamago student, I believe it is necessary to participate in supporting Asians and Asian Americans within my community through self-education and the education of others. Since I am learning the Japanese language, it is crucial that I support Japanese people, not just the language, and the first step that I need to take is by educating myself before I can take action in supporting any group; It is more effective to vocalize an injustice and know the reasoning behind it rather than blindly yelling for change. This will 1) demonstrate that I care enough to research the issues that affect a community rather than taking a shortcut and 2) prepare me for questions from others who would like to know more about current issues affecting a community. Additionally, as a non-Asian minority, I am responsible along with other minorities to collectively and actively support and advocate for the safety and civil treatment of Asians, especially within our local communities. By starting with the basics, I along with other Washingtonians and Americans will be able to generate lasting, positive change for Asian and Asian American communities.

Heartbreaking

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By Allyson Wallace

It has been heartbreaking seeing what has been going on in the news. While George Floyd’s killer was charged on all three counts for killing George Floyd, Asian Americans have been fighting for their lives. It breaks my heart seeing the Asian Americans being beat to death because of their race. There are Asian Americans who have never seen China, whose family is not from China, who are being blamed for Covid-19. The intensity of the outbreak in the United States is not at the fault of the Asian community, it’s the fault of the selfish white people who make wearing a mask political. It’s the fault of the selfish white people who told themselves the pandemic was not real.

The Influence of Political and Social Figures over the Asian American Community

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By Dara Lira

Everyone understands that there are problems in the world. Furthermore, there are inciting events and catalysts to those problems that create them, or make them worse. One of the issues my country, the United States of America, is currently facing is racism towards Asian Americans. The new surge of unwanted and violent actions towards this minority is due to the Coronavirus Pandemic currently plaguing our lives. However, from reading articles about the subject matter at hand, I realized there is a trend popping up in each of these sorts of events. There is always a political or social figure of importance influencing the opinions of the American people. More often than not, these people tend to sway the perception of the minority being targeted in a more negative light. 

A modern example that comes to mind is Donald Trump calling the Covid-19 virus the “China Virus,” or “Kung-flu,” painting the Chinese people and Chinese Americans in a negative light. As Donald Trump is a former American president, he had a lot of power and influence over the civilians in our nation. This occurrence itself may not have started the wave of racism towards Asian-Americans, but it was one of many inciting incidents that rapidly increased the violent outbursts towards the community. However, this is nothing new. I read some articles speaking about many historical events that gave Asian Americans a bad name, especially at the time. One of these incidents is the Japanese internment camps during World War II, in which many Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans were mistreated and hurt. Even Dr. Seuss, a popular children’s storybook writer, was the artist who drew racist cartoons about the Asian community, as shown below.