Break the Silence and End the Bypassing, Like Our Lives Depend On It
To share my Asian American pain is difficult, and at the same time, not sharing makes me feel as if I’m already a ghost. In response to the murders in Atlanta last week and the frightening rates of anti-Asian crimes across the country, I found myself in AAPI community grief spaces sharing similar pains with others. Common pain points include: not speaking about our own racist experiences because we felt unworthy, ashamed, silenced, ignored, scared or fetishized. We also expressed how uncomfortable it is to center ourselves and our pain when we acknowledge and witness the racism, injustice and pain that is part of the Indigenous and Black experience.
There are still people who do not consider AAPI to be People Of Color. We are. AAPI is made up of many different and diverse countries, cultures, shades of skin tones and struggles. The ‘Model Minority’ myth has not shielded AAPI people from hatred, violence, crimes, and murders throughout American history.
America was founded on white supremacy. It was written into our laws, society, politics, history books and culture for hundreds of years. Our past is our present — racism is visible in so many industries and aspects of our daily lives. Individuals and businesses that capitalize on BIPOC practices, rituals, wisdom and culture — while responding to our deaths caused by racism with razor sharp silence, is a silence that cuts so deep.
As racism continues to take lives, BIPOC are continually left to do more work to heal the present, generational and ancestral effects of racism for both the living and the dead. We need more support, accessibility and representation at the front of these industries to continue doing the work.
I am asking you to acknowledge where AAPI culture has brought value to your lives, to your businesses and even your social media feeds. I am asking you to give reverence and reparations to all BIPOC cultures you consume and capitalize on. I am asking you to have these conversations with your friends, family and communities. I am asking you to use your voice, your privileges and your power to see and dismantle white supremacy. I am asking you to reflect on what type of legacy you’d like to create for the world.
If you truly believe in the well-being and equality of Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian, People Of Color, you must break the silence and end the bypassing like our lives depend on it, because they do.
With deep reverence and honor to the lives and to the families who have lost loved ones due to racism.
