一个华裔高中生在“停止亚裔仇恨”游行集会上的演讲

在辛辛那提最近的“停止亚裔仇恨”活动中，我听到了许多强大的声音。许多亚裔（API）社区成员和领导人分享了他们遭遇种族主义的个人经历。来自其他社区的领导人也参加了这次活动，表明他们坚定地支持和分担亚裔社区抗争的负担。因此，我感到有能力像其他勇敢的社区成员一样分享自己的声音。从小到大，我上学的头几年并不总是那么愉快。例如，我的很多同龄人会在嘲笑我时做倾斜的眼部手势。我的一些同学也会假装中国口音，试图用这种方式和我说话，因为他们相信我的英语不流利。虽然我小时候对这些刻板观念一无所知，但这些事件在我进入中学和高中时开始影响我个人。在很多方面，亚裔的模范少数民族神话的影响了其他人多年来对我的看法。因此，我的很多同学期望我在每次作业和测试中总是能获得A+。鉴于人的本性，我们不完美，容易犯错。因此，尽管我相信自己是一名优等生，但我还是不可避免地会犯一些错。当我的成绩低于期望时，我的同学们会觉得不可思议。他们说我不是真正的亚裔。他们说我侮辱了我的姓。最令人痛苦的是，他们说，一个缺乏智慧的亚裔是一种反常现象：一个不属于任何地方的人。当我成功的时候，人们忽视了我的成就，认为学术成功是亚裔美国人自然而然的保证。

因此，当我看到在这次新冠（COVID-19）大流行期间，对亚裔的误解不仅影响我，也影响到我心爱的整个社区，这令人非常沮丧。针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪在全世界呈上升趋势，最普遍的是在亚裔集居地区。75岁的亚裔长者朴浩在加州奥克兰被三名袭击者殴打致死。在纽约，CNN新闻报道说，1月1日到3月14日之间，至少有10起亚洲仇恨罪案发生，跨度约为3个月。在旧金山，一段视频曝光了亚裔祖母谢小珍，她的脸被行凶者抓伤并流血。同时，她回忆起自己在恐怖时刻的自卫行为。令人愤慨的是，外界看到医护人员照顾的是行凶者，而不是上了年纪的受害者。最近，佐治亚州亚特兰大的悲剧引起了最大关注。8人在三家亚洲水疗馆被屠杀，其中6人是亚裔。目前，犯罪者罗伯特·朗拒绝承认袭击是出于种族动机。相反，他声称，性瘾和消除性诱惑的欲望使他犯下了罪行。与此同时，美国各地的许多社区都在争论，这是否实际上是出于种族动机的攻击。我相信这次袭击无疑源于种族仇恨。在大众媒体中，亚洲女性常常被定型为沉默和顺从的个体。这些刻板观念对亚裔社区来说是危险的，因为当某些人发现这些刻板观念站不住脚时，这种观念会在他们中间制造一种厌女症和种族主义的感觉。毫无疑问，罗伯特·朗把亚裔女性视为性对象，当她们拒绝他的性要求时，他变得沮丧。结果，这种愤怒和沮丧使他犯下了令人发指的罪行。

在我对这些悲惨的仇恨犯罪故事的众多感受中，孤独是最强烈的感受之一。通常，我们作为人类很难理解我们从未体验过的感受；因此，同情和分担他人的负担是一个挑战。由于一些危险的刻板印象，比如模范少数民族神话和亚裔女性在媒体上的形象，我们作为亚裔美国人感到被社会所左右，因为我们感觉自己无声无息。我们感到，我们面临的问题没有得到大众媒体的深入考虑或适当处理，因为人们觉得我们应该受到这种虐待。总的来说，我们要求我们的声音被听到，我们的抗争得到承认。新闻报道不应掩饰杀手的动机和意图，如“糟糕的一天”和遭受未具名的“问题”的折磨，而应该揭示受害者以及事件的真实性和悲剧性。不幸的是，这种全国性的观念变化进展往往很缓慢。这可能需要数年、数十年甚至几百年。作为亚太联盟（APAPA）的青年成员，我认为，对于下一代API来说，植根变革至关重要。我们必须从地方层面开始，主动出击，有所作为。因此，种族间对话在改善辛辛那提人和美国各地任职人数偏低的人方面发挥了重要作用。尽管许多亚裔面临的仇恨犯罪是我们种族和肤色所独有的，但这些问题的性质可能与种族主义和误解有关。我相信，还有许多像我们一样的社区面临着种族主义问题，我们必须团结起来，互相支持。因此，我们通过慷慨的食物捐献活动为辛辛那提的穷困社区提供帮助，努力调和我们与同样弱势的社区之间的差异，并为之深感自豪。通过我们的关心与他们建立联系，我们可以培养一种新的理解文化。这使我们能够为API社区中最脆弱的群体建立更强大的援助网络。总的来说，我们作为一个整体不要因为社会对API社区的不屑态度而绝望。相反，我们必须对这些情况表现出耐心和毅力。我们必须努力去争取更高的代表性，为我们的社区建立更强大的保护网络。最终，痛苦能加强人与人之间的关系，因为爱和仇恨是相辅相成的；如果仇恨不腐败，爱就不会出现。

During the recent “Stop Asian Hate” event in Cincinnati, I heard many powerful voices. Many API community members and leaders shared their personal experiences with racism and their grievances towards the United States. Leaders from other communities also participated in the event, showing their unwavering support and sharing the burden of the API community’s struggles. Thus, I feel empowered to share my own voice just like the other brave community members who spoke at the event. Growing up, my first few years of school was not always pleasant. For example, many of my peers made fun of my appearance by making slanted eye gestures while laughing at me. some of my classmates would also fake a Chinese accent and attempt to talk to me in that way because they believed I was not fluent in English. Although I was ignorant of these stereotypes as a young child, these incidents began to affect me personally as I progressed to middle and high school. In many ways, the model minority myth has affected others' perception of my character throughout those years. Accordingly, many of my classmates expected me to always achieve A-pluses on every single assignment and test. Given the nature of human beings, we are imperfect and susceptible to mistakes. Thus, I inevitably experienced some academic failures despite the belief that I was a straight-A student. When I would achieve below such expectations, my classmates reacted with extreme disbelief. They said that I was an ingenuine Asian. They said that I had disgraced my family name. Most painfully of all, they said that an unintelligent Asian is an anomaly: an individual who does not belong anywhere. When I did manage to succeed, people overlooked my achievements, believing that academic success was an automatic guarantee for Asian Americans. 

Thus, it is quite disheartening to see that during this COVID-19 Pandemic, Asian misconceptions have affected not only me, but also my entire beloved community. Accordingly, there has been a rise in Asian hate crimes worldwide, most commonly in predominantly Asian areas. To name some instances of such crimes, Pak Ho, a 75-year-old Asian elder, was beaten to death in Oakland, California, by three attackers. In New York, CNN News reports that at least ten Asian hate crimes were committed between January 1st to March 14th, a span of roughly three months. In San Francisco, a video surfaced of Xiao Zhen Xie, an Asian grandmother, with her face bruised and bloodied by her assailant. At the same time, she recalls her self-defense during the terrifying moment. Outrageously, paramedics were seen tending to the needs of the assailant rather than those of the elderly victim. Most recently, The tragedy in Atlanta, Georgia has garnered the most attention. Eight people, six of which were of Asian descent, were slaughtered in three Asian spa parlors. Currently, the perpetrator, Robert Long, refuses to admit that the attack is racially motivated. He instead states that sexual addiction and a desire to eliminate his sexual temptations led him to commit his crime. Simultaneously, many communities across the United States debate whether or not this was in fact a racially motivated attack. I believe that this attack undoubtedly stems from the race. In popular media, Asian women are often objectified and stereotyped as quiet and submissive individuals. These stereotypes are dangerous towards the Asian communities because it creates a sense of misogyny and racism among certain people when they discover that these stereotypes do not hold. Undoubtedly, Robert Long viewed Asian women as sexual objects and became frustrated at them when they refused his advances. As a result, this anger and frustration led him to commit his heinous crime. 

Among the many feelings I have about all these tragic hate crime stories, loneliness is one of the strongest feelings. Often, we as human beings struggle to understand what we have not experienced; thus, empathizing and sharing another's burden presents a challenge. Due to dangerous stereotypes such as model minority myths and Asian womens' portrayal in media, we as Asian Americans feel othered by society because we feel voiceless. We feel that the issues we face are not deeply considered or properly addressed by the mass media because people feel we deserve such mistreatment. As a whole, we demand that our voices are heard and our struggles recognized. Rather than euphemizing a killer's motives and intentions, such as having "a bad day" and suffering from unnamed "issues," news stories should shed light on the victims and the real and tragic nature of the event. Unfortunately, such change on the national scale is often slow. It may take years, decades, and even centuries. As a member of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA), I believe that it is critical for the next generation of APIs to plant the roots of change. We must take the initiative and make a difference starting on the local level. Accordingly, Interracial Dialogue plays an important role in the betterment of Cincinnati and underrepresented people all over the United States. Although the Asian hate crimes that many APIs face are unique to our ethnicity and skin color, the nature of these issues can be related to racism and misconceptions. I believe that there are many other communities just like ours who face issues of racism, and we must come together and support one another. Therefore, I am deeply proud of the Cincinnati API community's efforts to reconcile our differences with similarly underrepresented communities through generous food drives and resource donations. By demonstrating that we care about and relate to them, we can foster a new culture of understanding. This allows us to create a stronger network of assistance for the API community's most vulnerable. Overall we as a whole need not despair society's dismissive attitude towards the APIs community. Instead, we must display patience and perseverance against these circumstances. We must all strive for higher representation and create a stronger network of protection for our community peacefully. In the end, only pain strengthens relationships, for love and hate are nexuses; love cannot arise if hate does not corrupt.

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