Since the beginning the the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-AAPI hate crimes have risen well above 149% with close to 4,000 reported incidents--California accounting for 45% of . These senseless acts of violence have destroyed businesses, degraded an entire community, and led to unnecessary loss of life.
However, this is not new.
Anti-AAPI hate dates as far back as the 1800s. Here's just a BRIEF history....
People vs Hall: In 1854, the California Supreme Court reinforced racism against Asian immigrants, ruling that people of Asian descent could not testify against a White person in court thus guaranteeing that individual could evade punishment for anti-Asian violence.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: President Arthur approved a law that prevented Chinese immigration for 10 years. While this was supposed to be a temporary "solution" to over population, this act extended for more than 60 years before it was repealed in 1943.
Japanese Internment: After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II, the U.S. government forced thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps for the duration of the war due to suspicions they might "aid the enemy."
Illegal Marriages: Due to the large amount of Filipino immigrants, racist anti-miscegenation laws were frequent in the U.S which enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races. These laws prevented interracial marriage with Filipinos and continued to be a marriage barrier until 1967. Until then Filipinos were seen as unclean and uncivilized by the U.S. government.
Yet despite this racist history, Asian Americans were still categorized as the "model minority" which in and of itself is problematic, pitting us against every other person of color.
Growing up Asian was a continual struggle of trying to appease my parents while trying to assimilate into traditional American culture. On the last episode, I discussed this further with my guest co-host Cecilia Chow and it was interesting to note that despite going to two completely different schools (Cecilia in public, myself in private), we both had very similar experiences of trying to combat the stereotype that was surrounding us. Aside from the continual pursuit of excelling in academics, one major struggle for many Asian American students (ourselves included) was determining the line between assimilation, accommodation, and complete loss of cultural identity. Due to the previously anti-AAPI laws that were enacted in the U.S., our immigrant parents often taught their children to keep their heads low, accept English as their primary language, and do everything possible to maintain a Westernized lifestyle in order to not bring shame to the family. I was talking to my mom about this concept prior to recording and asked her why she thought it was so important to be American and put her Filipino values and traditions on the backburner....her response was more or less stating that she and my father worked their asses off to get to this country, start their dental practice, and create a comfortable life for me and my siblings that it was okay to sacrifice a little bit of her culture so that her children could succeed.
Recently, I found it more important than ever to celebrate my culture and learn my history, not only to raise awareness for others but to educate myself about what makes the Asian American Experience so unique.
As Sandra Oh once said, "it's an honor just to be Asian."
-Daryl
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