STOP ASIAN HATE

Poems & Short Stories

The recent incidents regarding hate crimes against Asian Americans must cease. Undoubtedly this is a primal reaction from false propaganda. As a first born American citizen and a son of a US Army veteran, I consider myself American. I have traveled and lived in Asia, in times to further grasp my identity yet I find myself most comfortable in the States. Asian Americans comprise 6% of the populace, of which we have virtual zero representation within media, entertainment, and sports. In essence, we are considered an invisible people. It doesn’t help our cause that our upbringing within an Asian household is seeped in Confucian ideology encouraging filial piety and group think. However, I propose to you that this new generation; namely mine, is part of a new canon of a different ilk. We are the hybrids. We are educated and further more, we are defiant. Our parents are of the age where they are feeble and tender. When I witness these careless and crass exhibitions of violence, it saddens and enrages me. Far too often, we have been silenced and have been celebrated for our “silence,” I say no more. Please join me and others who look like me in solidarity to defend human rights and human decency. Empathy needs a calling like no other. America has such a sore definition as of late, let’s not add more salt to the wound. Oh and if you haven’t gotten the memo, if you’re looking to define American greatness and you’re looking to distinguish oneself as a proud American, you’re looking at it. We the 2.0, we the update, we are the living experiment of this democracy. We are America.