The reality for Asian Americans is feeling like a perpetual foreigner in their motherland and constantly defending their right to call America their home. Although America is known as the melting pot of unique and different ethnicities and backgrounds, the general public tends to associate the term “American” with a person of European descent. This biased mindset leads to microaggressions and in turn escalates to the recently seen hatred and violence.
Some examples of microaggressions would be assuming that an Asian person does not speak English or was born in a foreign country. Ignorant assumptions like these imply that an Asian person could not possibly be born in America and do not belong in America. These seemingly harmless microaggressions are often the most damaging. As they accumulate, the recipient begins to question their self-worth and struggle with identity. Due to generalizations such as the Model Minority myth, Asian American struggles tend to be disregarded and labeled as insignificant. This Model Minority myth paints Asians as the ideal minority and downplays the discrimination and other issues they face. Part of this myth depicts the typical Asian as one who immigrated to America, worked hard, and easily achieved success and the American dream. This mentality has a plethora of repercussions ensuring that Asian Americans are seen as perpetual foreigners. Upholding the false narrative that Asians are the ideal minority leads to minorities being compared and pitted against each other. Although this should be a time of support for one another, it has brought more division and dispute among the minorities. A reason why we rarely hear about Asian hate crimes is because the Model Minority myth only adds to the pressure Asian-Americans feel to keep quiet in fear that they would disturb that “perfect image.” On top of this, The Model Minority myth not only applies to the current generation of Asian Americans, but it undermines the treatment Asian Americans endured long before the current decade. The racism and hate that Asian Americans combat everyday when merely stepping out of their homes must be recognized and understood in order for change to occur. Having their status as “real” Americans constantly being challenged has been the reality for the millions of Asian Americans living in the United States for many years. However, as a result of the pandemic, racism has amplified immensely. These attacks on Asian Americans are not the first to occur and will continue to happen if people do not start to educate themselves on Asian American oppression. Therefore, we ask you readers to digest the truths laid out in front of you and take your newfound knowledge to become an advocate for stopping Asian hate and, better yet, become an advocate for all hate against minority groups. Introduction
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, hate crimes against Asians in the United States have increased by more than 150%. Despite the many instances of Asian hate crimes in the past, the salon shootings in Atlanta in March 2021 were the major events that triggered the response of thousands of protesters all over America to fight for Asian lives. Eight people were killed in the shooting spree in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16, 2021. Of the eight dead, six were of Asian descent. The perpetrator was Robert Aaron Long, a 21 year old white man. He was charged with eight counts of murder, but the fact that the majority of the victims were of same ethnicity was not reflected in the charges. This incident sparked massive protest in support of the women killed in shootings. Most of all, it is a call to action for officials and the media to address this incident as what it is: a hate crime against Asian Americans. Why is it considered a hate crime? When understanding hate crimes, it is important to know the distinction between a hate crime and a typical offense by taking into account the motivations and bias of the offender. According to reports, Longs’s motivation was driven by a self proclaimed sex addiction, specifically with regards to his fetish of Asian women, as the majority of his victims were Asian-American women. This indicates a blatant targeting based on their identities as minorities. The local police officials have insisted that these murders were the result of the victims being women, not them specifically being Asian women. As more and more people are starting to see this fight for acknowledgement, the rising concerns about the erasure of racism against the Asian American community are brought to light. Did this come out of nowhere, or does it have origins deeply rooted in America’s history? And how has this problem manifested into more recent examples? The struggles that Asian-Americans have experienced have been downplayed throughout American history. As a result, the fear of being labelled as “other” if they were to speak up has persisted through generations. Although World War II has taken up a large portion of today’s history textbooks, in this author's experience, the treatment of Japanese Americans has been seldom mentioned. When looking back on their experience learning the history of the U.S, I have only heard of the Japanese internment camps once, and it was explained in childish terms through a picture book, barely skimming the surface of the actual horrific treatment of Japanese Americans. And even then, the moral of the story was to search for hope in grim times. It failed to condemn the imprisonment of America’s own citizens. Asian Americans have remained an oppressed minority since their arrival around the time of the Gold Rush, but their struggles are hardly mentioned today, and neither are their achievements. This history of racism has especially led to the rise in the amount and degree of hate crimes happening today that target Asian-Americans. For example, on Wednesday, March 17, an Asian elderly woman was attacked on a busy street in the middle of the day by a white middle-aged man. The woman claims that she was just waiting for the traffic light when the white man came up to her and punched her in the right eye causing her to bleed and swell. However, the attacker did not get away unscathed as the woman fought back in self-defense. As the ambulance arrived, the perpetrator was put on a stretcher and not the victim, who was crying in distress, as she was trying to tell the police officers that, unprovoked, she had been assaulted. Situations like this are not singular events, but instead one of many that encouraged the antagonization of Asian Americans. Former President Donald Trump further fueled recent unrest by calling the Corona virus the “Chinese Virus” or “Kung-Flu”. Our message to you is to recognize that the voices of Asian Americans are being ignored. We ask that you acknowledge the hate and struggles they face, instead of comparing them to the struggles of other minorities. This uptick in violence should not be a surprise, especially not to those who chose to stop and listen to the people who’ve spoken out about their experiences living as a person being alienated in their own country. Being of Asian descent does not make them any less American. We must recognize the importance of what Asian Americans have contributed to the making of what the U.S. is today. Educating ourselves and advocating for the experiences of all citizens of America is a necessity, not just for the ones we pick and choose to recognize or validate. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent civil rights leader that fought for the rights of Black and African American citizens of the United States in the 1950s to 1960s. He worked with other civil rights leaders, such as Representative John Lewis and James Farmer to plan and organize peaceful protests around the country. The most famous being, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech (shown below). He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by known convict James Earl Gray. In 1983 President Ronald Reagan announced that the third Monday in January would be celebrated in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. 5 Little Known Facts about Martin Luther King Jr.
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Sources At first thought, the pronunciation of someone's name might seem unimportant, but it can actually make a long-lasting impact on a person beyond that. A professional educator sets a good role model for their students that is reflected in their kind classroom environment. If a teacher prioritizes an effort to correctly pronounce a student’s name, then the students' fellow peers will follow with correctly voicing their name. Most members of this club have experienced the feelings of embarrassment or confusion associated with the mispronunciation of their name even though they should not as each name represents a part of the student’s identity through their cultures and history. If a teacher continuously mispronounces a student's name beyond the first couple of weeks of school, this can be alarming to the student as it may signal the message to them that they do not like the student and that the educator will show unfair bias towards them. It is uncomfortable and embarrassing for the student to feel singled out, and it makes them feel different than everyone else in the class. Also when it happens disproportionately to people of color, it further strengthens the divide within the classroom itself. We understand it is inevitable that names will be mispronounced, but there are certain actions teachers and also students can take to help improve the situation. To prevent sending the wrong message, do not be afraid to ask if you're not sure of how to say a name! If you’re not sure how to pronounce the name, don’t try and pronounce it multiple ways hoping one will be right. Ask the student how to say their name and put extra effort in to remember it. They will be extremely appreciative of you doing this for them. Showing that you make an effort can positively impact the student by showing respect until you can correctly pronounce their name. After all, all students should have a positive experience at school and feel equally valued. Test your knowledge on holiday trivia! Click the link below for a friendly school-wide trivia holiday trivia quiz!
https://forms.gle/zbeFUSUMA5HkrWSc7 Masconomet Regional School District is named after the sagamore (or a head chief) of the Agawam tribe in the Algonquian population named Masconomet, according to Historic Ipswich. He survived a pandemic that was brought to his lands by colonial settlers that killed around 90% of the Native Americans in that area. Later in 1638, Masconomet sold most of his land to John Winthrop Jr. and six years later he sold the same land to Ipswich settlers. Winthrop Jr. brought Masconomet to court over this and won, getting his money back. Hi everyone! Here is the latest flyer on the ACE club!
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