They love our culture… but they don’t love us.
When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak in the early months of 2020, it seemed that many despised one thing more than the virus itself. Actually, despised is an understatement… for the deeply rooted, systemic racism submerged in the Asian community is nothing new of a discovery.
Am I appalled as an Asian-Australian woman myself? Yes.
Am I surprised? Not a single bit.
I’m sure you’ve seen the videos that have circulated all over social media, but let me refresh your mind:
A Filipino-American was slashed in the face with a box cutter.
A Chinese woman was slapped and then set on fire.
An elderly Thai immigrant died after being shoved to the ground.
Eight people were killed in a shooting rampage across three Asian spas in one night.
Although the majority of these hate crimes were recorded from the United States, that does not mean the xenophobic hatred isn’t a global matter. Asian-Australians have also been subjected to racially-motivated violence. According to a survey conducted by the Asian Australian Alliance last April, it was found that 380 racially-fuelled attacks had occurred over the course of two months to June.
The video above displays one of the many anti-Asian hate crimes since COVID-19 impacted Australia in early 2020. Vietnamese sisters Sophie and Rosa Do were spat at and verbally assaulted in an anti-Asian, coronavirus-related attack in Marrickville.
My own experience.
My own experience is only a small reflection of the Asian-Australian experience. The experiences of hardship, adversity and ostracisation, that is. Liverpool, Parramatta, Fairfield… the list goes on. It is significantly ironic that racism against Asians has a great presence in one of the most culturally diverse places in Australia.
Western Sydney — I’m looking at you.
I remember this one incident that happened last year. I was on a train travelling to Parramatta and a middle-aged woman approached me with her narrow-mindedness… “You people brought the virus here. Go back to China and stop eating bats.”
Yes, this actually happened. It seems that even when I kept to myself, earphones in, appreciating the beauty of mother nature and the CBD on the moving train… I still somehow became a victim. Another mini statistic to add to the the overflowing amount of Asian hate crimes since COVID-19 started.
And to the Asian community’s distress, this has been an ongoing problem for as long as any of us could remember.
Unfortunately, this xenophobic behaviour is nothing new to the eye.
The implementation of the White Australia Policy in 1901 aimed to prevent people of non-European ethnic origin from immigrating to Australia, focusing especially on forbidding Asians and Pacific Islanders from entering the country. This was the leading force of systemic racism inflicted upon Asian-Australians.
Who would have known the mass impact this would have on future generations?
Cabramatta, Western Sydney’s most Asian-populated suburb, saw thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese, Laotian and Thai people settling in Australia in the 1970s after the wake of the Vietnam War. Left to fend for their own in what white government bodies referred to as a ‘ghetto’, the youth of Cabramatta turned to illegal substances and gang violence to combat the sorrow feeling of alienation. The trailer shown above for the SBS documentary ‘Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta’ accurately depicts the Asian-Australian struggle with identity and xenophobia
“There’s one thing that they do fear… deportation; back to the jungles of Vietnam because that’s where they belong.” — John Newman, a parliamentarian that represented Cabramatta during the 1980s to 1990s.
My mother knows too well about the neglect and discrimination endured by Asian-Australians during this difficult time. Fleeing from Luang Prabang, Laos, my grandparents made the life-changing decision to move to Australia for a better life. After finally leaving a detention centre in Villawood, my grandparents, along with their 9 children, relocated to an apartment unit in Cabramatta. When asked about her experiences with racism, my mother spoke on racial slurs, mocking, bullying and more… something I, and many other Asian-Australians, are a little too familiar with.
“In my local area of Cabramatta, I would occasionally see the white girls from my school come to the area for food. I said occasionally because white people rarely came into Cabra; they viewed the place as dirty and unsafe. Those same girls were the ones mocking my accent, pulling their eyes back and telling me to go back to my country. I remember one incident when this Aussie girl blocked the entrance to the toilets and called me a ‘ching chong’.”
Why is it that every Asian Australian I’ve met, young or old, male or female, has had similar or the same experiences I’ve had? It truly highlights the normalisation of racism towards Asians — transcending through generations and even increasing in today’s society with the COVID-19 virus still present.
Now that you’ve seen for yourself how racism towards Asians isn’t just a CURRENT issue, you can see why we are so mad.
No matter how hard we try, it seems as if some things never change.
They want our culture without the struggle…
If you’re going to be racist, make it make sense. Especially in such a diverse place like Western Sydney, the embracement of cultures is heavily encouraged. The food, the fashion, the music.
I went to a high school in South-West Sydney. I’ve seen girls from my high school call out racial slurs, mock our languages, and treat another individual lesser because they were Asian. Then the next day, they’d go eat sushi, get their nails done and then gossip about that cute Asian boy they saw at McDonald’s. It seems as if racists love to take our culture but forget the origins of it.
You said Asian food is smelly so why are you eating it? You mocked the nail lady’s accent so why are you still getting your nails done there? You said Asians are ugly so why are you drooling over someone from a race you despise so much?
The video above showcases my exact point. If you’re going to be racist, make it make sense!
Knowledge is power.
Racism towards Asians, and racism in general, is unlikely to be fixed completely, ever. However, there are so many ways you can help. Solidarity, knowledge and education are the keys to reducing these hate crimes.
- Educate yourself about these issues through research, books, articles, and others around you. Heck, by reading this article, you’ve already learnt a lot.
- Call out xenophobic behaviour, whether it is from friends, family or strangers. Let people know that they are being ignorant.
- Donate to foundations that support victims of Asian hate crimes and community restoration organisations. These include: Go Fund Me pages like the Yong Yue Memorial Fund, the Asian Pacific COVID-19 Recovery Fund and the #TheyCantBurnUsAll Movement.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to comment! Share this around, even if it’s just to one person. Little steps are better than no steps. I hope to reach as many people as I can to make a difference.
Let’s tackle this together.
