Enduring Asian prejudice: Bearing hardships and understanding one another
Ain't empathy a shared game? It's high-time Asian Americans stood up and spoke out. This piece is penned by good ol' Dr. Yenting Chen, a board-certified emergency medicine doc.
I recall my first encounter with snow like it was yesterday. My family, scratching by, had saved hard for a year to get us to a modest motel in the Cali mountains. After a day's play, my lil' sis and I were freezing.
My folks took us to a blazing fireplace in a nearby lodge. Friends, dressed sharp in skiwear, derided our presence - told us point-blank we weren't welcome. That sad hearth was the last warm sight we saw before we left for the cold night. My mother wasn't shy about calling it what it was: This happened 'cause we're Asian.
This ugly display of racism is all too common for folks of color in the US. What might be unique is that we usually keep mum about it. Even today, I've never spoken about this or the countless other incidents with anyone, not even close buddies.
Bitter living
The reluctance among Asian Americans to discuss anti-Asian racism must be understood within our cultural context. Enduring hard times with silence is admired in many Asian societies.
A concept known as "吃苦 (chīkǔ)" - which, according to Iris Chen, author of the blog "Untigering," means "to eat bitterness" - values the capacity to accept suffering as a virtue.
Research shows Asians are more reserved when it comes to complaints and rarely seek outside help. Asian-Americans are less likely to tap into mental health services than non-Asians.
A 2014 study of cancer patients found Asians were reluctant to complain about physical pain, which led to inadequate pain treatment.
In medicine, the saying goes: If an elderly Asian patient ends up in the ER, they must be seriously ill.
The model myth
Asians have been reluctant to speak up against anti-Asian racism because of the model minority myth. They fear their voices will be dismissed or compared unfavorably to the trauma of other racial groups.
However, maintaining silence runs counter to the American tradition of grassroots activism. This tradition has been a driving force behind changes, yet it's undermined the efforts of multiple generations of Asian-American activists.
To this day, Asian-Americans continue to be dehumanized in media and pop culture. Our pain and even deaths are often used as jokes.
Unfortunately, this dehumanization hasn't just been about laughter. It's also led to violent scapegoating throughout American history.
Anti-Chinese purges and lynching in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, the murder of Vincent Chin, the 2012 mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and the recent shooting at Atlanta-area Asian-owned spas are but a few examples.
In recent times, our Black, Latinx, Muslim, Jewish, and LGBTQIA+ folks know how intolerance can escalate into violence when fueled by hate speech.
Convenient targets
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian-Americans have been the scapegoats du jour. The rise in anti-Asian bias is directly linked to racist rhetoric like "China virus" or "Kung-flu," used by media outlets and government leaders.
Throughout the pandemic, we've seen a steady stream of videos and news stories where Asian-Americans have been verbally harassed, physically assaulted, and even murdered.
The brunt of this rising tide of anti-Asian violence has been borne by the most vulnerable in the community: the elderly, poor, linguistically isolated, and women.
From a practitioner of evidence-based medicine, I must view my experiences as anecdotal observations. However, these observations align with data showing an alarming spike in anti-Asian violence both nationally and globally:
- California State University's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism reports that anti-Asian hate crimes surged by 149%, while overall hate crimes dropped by 7%.
- Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center launched by San Francisco State University, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents between March 19, 2020, and February 28, 2021.
- These national statistics mirror the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes worldwide.
To combat anti-Asian hate, we must challenge the long-standing dehumanization of Asian people. Empathy is the antidote to apathy. Empathy requires active collaboration and open communication.
When we share our stories, others can amplify them. This type of empathy begins with speaking honestly for oneself and moving beyond the cultural silence that has kept us in the cold night, far from the warmth of humanity.
- In many Asian societies, enduring hard times with silence is admired, a concept often referred to as "吃苦 (chīkǔ)" - meaning "to eat bitterness".
- Asian-Americans are less likely to tap into mental health services than non-Asians, a trends showed in studies like the one in 2014 among cancer patients.
- The model minority myth has kept Asian Americans reluctant to speak up against anti-Asian racism, fearing their voices will be dismissed or compared unfavorably to the trauma of other racial groups.
- Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian-Americans have been the scapegoats du jour, with anti-Asian violence linked directly to racist rhetoric like "China virus" or "Kung-flu".
- To combat anti-Asian hate, we must challenge the long-standing dehumanization of Asian people, and empathy is the antidote to apathy.
- In health and wellness, understanding and addressing mental health is essential in personal growth, career development, job search, education and self-development, family dynamics, and relationships.
