Thoughts on being Asian American

A different, kind of rambly, post this week for a personal topic

I mostly wanted this newsletter to be an exploration of news that isn’t in the headlines or doesn’t immediately jump out as important. But with Lunar New Year this weekend, I think it is a good as time as ever to address the increased reports of attacks on Asians and Asian Americans around the country.

In fact, maybe this does fit into the theme of underreported news, since there is a long history of anti-Asian rhetoric, yet the recent increase in news coverage makes it seem like a new phenomenon. Regardless, this week I just want to share my thoughts and reflection.

The Non-Minority Minority

The fact that Asians’ presence charted in bars more than a few pixels tall, it seemed, disqualified them from scrutiny. (Source: Time.com)

Having grown up in a city with Asians as the second-largest ethnic group and starting my career at a company that has over 40% of its employees identify as Asian, I rarely view myself as being in the minority. It was always easy to find others who looked like me, but, of course, this is not the case in many other cities and companies. Yet, Asian Americans are often not included in the phrase “underrepresented minority groups,” and though the courts ruled that there was no discrimination against Asian American students, the fact that “reverse affirmative action” was even a thing exemplifies this idea.

While it is true that Asians may be more represented than Native Americans and African Americans, ignoring Asian Americans in conversations about diversity and inclusion further perpetuates the idea that they don’t face discrimination. For instance, the “overrepresentation” of Asian Americans in tech has led to a lack of support for the group, making them the least likely to be promoted to management.

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If anything is to be solved, it must begin with awareness. As a generally non-confrontational culture, it can be difficult for Asian Americans to stand up for ourselves. So while racism against Asian Americans has been present throughout history, the increased reports and news coverage is important. It is likely that the increase in second-, third-, fourth-generation Asian Americans who identify more with the western ideals than their parents did, as well as the prevalence of social media, has aided this movement. Additionally, organizations like Stop AAPI Hate collect self-reported instances of discrimination and put together reports to spread the word.

I don’t really know where I am going with this post. I generally try to close with a more fully fleshed out reflection and encourage some reflection in the reader, and while the types of attacks highlighted on pages 9-14 of the Stop AAPI Hate report are uncomfortable to read, I don’t know what to do. I can’t help but feel that how I fit into the model minority narrative explained above, mixed with my aforementioned upbringing, contributes to me feeling unsure of how to act. But as we saw with the Black Lives Matter movement, awareness and discourse can go a long way. So while I fully self-identify as non-confrontational, and making any public post like this scares me, here’s my first step.