A VERY Scandalous Issue
On March 16th, 2021, we have all seen the shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, where the shooter fired the gun into three spa and massage parlors. It had killed 8 people and 6 of them were Asian women. I really feel so disturbing and so angry when there are so many hate crimes toward the Asian community. My heart is crumbled and shattered. I keep watching the news and following the special reports on this tragedy because it has shown clearly the hate toward the Asian community. It is a wake-up call for everyone to see it is very serious right now.
The sheriff, Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, who is a racist and an asshole, told the press that the shooter just had a bad day and that led to what he did. What the fuck was that? Since when people have a bad day, they can shoot at people like that? Netizen showed the photo of Jay posted on social media about he tried to sell T-shirts with the hate toward the Asian community. That is so sick. Robert Aaron Long is the shooter of these three massacres. He is white and he is sex addicted. His motive in this crime is unacceptable because he called it a religious belief. He wanted to kill himself to release him from sex addiction. But no. He targeted the massager instead. He killed them. Killing massagers, to deal with sex addiction? Oh my God. Eight people died because of this motherfucker. If he wanted to kill himself, why didn’t he do it in the first place? Or seeking help.
There is one thing that I found very common in every shooting or every attack. They will call those tragedies anything but acts of racism. When the shooter killed Black people, they will decline to call it racism. When the shooter killed Asian people, they will deny it as an act of racism. When he got arrested, like other white suspects, he was taken nicely and easily. Not shooting or killed like black suspects or other suspects who are not white. Robert Aaron Long will be paid the expensive price for what he did. I hope he will be burned on the electric chair. What he did is unforgivable. He is sick as fuck. Stop Asian Hate is a new word nowadays after the shooting in Atlanta. It is kinda late because before this tragedy happened, why there was no one said Stop Asian Hate?
From the bottom of my heart, I want to send my deepest thoughts, my praying, and my dedication to the victim’s families. I cannot ever understand the pains that you are going through because you understand it clearly than anyone else. I believe your family members are in a better place right now and in that place, they keep praying for you to have a better life and be happy. I hope you and your family will soon overcome this difficult time and be strong.
The Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020 which came from China. Since then, the Asian hate had increased dramatically and more serious where they are being targeted of abuse and attack. They threw at them bad words, they told them to go back to their countries, they attacked the Asian elderly. Do you remember what Donald Trump call Covid-19? China Virus or Kung flu. That is the root of all racism toward the Asian community in the U.S. if you want to hate, hate the Chinese government for not providing the information about the virus. Don’t even call the whole Asian community the start of the virus. They did not do anything wrong. Like other people, they are also helping to treat Covid patients, they are infected by the virus, they died from this deadly virus. But it seemed like many white people or other than Asian did not recognize it. They all believe Asian people must have responsibility for the virus.
In the last season, I used to address the racism on the African American throughout so many years. Last year, the Black Live Matter movement had taken to a new level where a black man named George Floyd was killed by the police. They marched on every street to protest. This year, the target had changed to the Asian community. Yes, there are protests against racism in the Asian community. But how many actual protests out there? And how many white people join the protest with Asian people? Perhaps, they still have some prejudices against Asian people.
I am Vietnamese and I have been living in the U.S for 6 years now. In Southern California, especially in Orange County, Little Saigon, the Vietnamese community has grown up for so many years. There is a slogan on the sign of Welcome to Little Saigon. “United and Grow”. I don’t think it is correct at all. Seriously, I can see that Vietnamese never stands for Vietnamese. They just want to make money from their own countrymen. They never want to help other Vietnamese. They stand for white people and they stand for Trump. When the shooting happened in Atlanta, I don’t see any post from Vietnamese people in the U.S on Facebook or on social media talking about it. There are some of my friends who are Vietnamese American born and raised in the U.S address the shooting. That clearly showed when it comes to problems with people who are not white, the Vietnamese community will not care at all. When the Black Live Matter protest happened last year, the Vietnamese went and joined the protest without understanding anything about the protest. It raised to me a question. What if a Vietnamese was killed by a white person, would they ever stand up for the victim or keep silent?
I read so many posts on Facebook and Twitter around the topic of hate on the Asian community. As I mentioned from the beginning, the Asian elderly are being targeted recently. How fuck up is that? They are harmless and they don’t do anything wrong. They attacked the elderly, they robbed, they dragged them on the street. They laughed at the Asian elderly and did all kinds of stuff to humiliate Asian people. Do they ever think about other people’s feelings when did those hideous crimes? There is a saying don’t push too hard it will break. Yes, it had broken. An Asian woman beat up her attacker on the street. That got all the attention from other people and they started to raise funds to support her. Don’t ever mess up with granny. They are stronger than you think.
I remember I watched a video of an Asian girl who is in Germany. She streamed her day on the street and in a restaurant. It showed me some disturbing actions that other people treated her. They mocked her, they said a racial slur to her, they impersonate an Asian accent. All of those combined had made the girl into tears. I could not hold my tear either. With them, it is normal and fun but with her, it was depression and sadness. It was not ok when somebody mocking Asian people. Just like a white person wearing a black mask to mock African Americans. It reminded me of an old movie “The Good Earth” which is about Chinese but the whole cast is white. White people play Asian people. The leading role of O-Lan belonged to Luise Rainer. Before it was considered to Anna May Wong, who was of Chinese descent. But no, she was too Asian and in the eyes of many people, Asian people could only play villains in their movies. It was big mistreatment for Anna May Wong who had all the potential for this role and for other big roles in Hollywood. Luise Rainer won an Oscar for her role, which should have been belonged to Anna May Wong.
Another video of a very famous host of the Vietnamese community in the U.S, her name is Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen. So, a year ago, she posted her video on how she was being discriminated against in the U.S. She explained in the video that she and her friends were just having an evening and singing in the lowest voice possible outside her garden. Then, this white man yelled at them, used all the racist words to them. Later she called the police to report on that man, and the police said the faults belonged to that man. He said sorry to her and they made peace. When the video was posted, it immediately got the attention of so many people. Can you guess what is their reaction? They stood for that white man. They blamed Ky Duyen for what she did, they said it was her fault. He used racist words on her but Vietnamese won’t call it discrimination at all. That made me feel so sad and so disappointed in the Vietnamese community. When one person in the community needs you the most, the whole community turned their back on them. They’d rather stand for white people to get themselves benefit than for a Vietnamese for nothing. They protest against the Vietnamese government, they protest to against the result of election 2020, they marched to support Trump, they marched to dedicate to their old regime in Saigon who are all old and ready to die. Instead of doing those nonsense things, why don’t they focus on helping each other to build the community to be better and stronger like other communities in the U.S? That is why the Vietnamese community can never grow up strong like other minor communities in the U.S where they all united and grow up together. It is the power of community.
Two days after the shooting in Atlanta, I got worried for my mom. I am feared that she would be targeted on the street or inside some places. I immediately bought her a pepper spray bottle and taught her how to use it. Never in my life, I think of some scary vision like that. But it can happen. I want my mom and everyone in my family to be safe. She understands the situation right now and she agrees with my action. My mom told me that in this world, there are so many different people. They may hate you because of your skin or your heritage. But don’t ever treat them like they treat us. We must be generous and be forgiveness because it is our nature. I cannot agree more. I owe the American people a lot. From the days I interview for an American visa, I met an American lady interviewed who was so nice. After finishing the interview, she sent me the best wishes for my future in the U.S and advised me to be a good person. Then, from days in high school to college years, I had opportunities to meet all the best teachers who are American. They taught me all the best lessons and they helped me to overcome the English challenges. I had counselors who advised me what class I should take and be successful in school I went to work for my family in the swap meet and I met all the nice vendors and customers who like me because I often help them find products and advised them. They even stood for me when another customer had some bad behavior on me. All of them are American and I don’t see any hate inside them. I always respect them because, without them, I would not have been where I am right now.
I say all of these things because I still have a strong belief that there is still love somewhere among humans to humans. Why hating each other when you can try to be friends with them? It is obvious racism can never go away. It is the same fucking loop but new victims. It is all depended on the behaviors of people. How they treated other people are different from them. Good or bad. It seemed like hate had taken to a new level. So please, ask yourself a question. Is it the world you want to live in? A world full of hate and discrimination? What if the next generation does the same and lives in the same world like the previous generation had created? Spend a moment thinking about that. It is time to change before it is too late. Please don’t hate the Asian community or other minority communities in the U.S or other places in the world because they are human and their lives matter.
“Darkness cannot drive out the darkness. Only light can do it. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do it.” Martin Luther King.