We know that our campers of all racial identities are hearing the racist anti-Asian narratives tied to COVID-19. Many parents whose children are Asian adoptees have expressed concern about the impacts on their kids. Other parents with non-Asian adoptees have asked us how they can help their children identify and interrupt racism.
Teaching Tolerance, an incredible resource on anti-bias for teachers, explains, “It’s important to get ahead of harmful discourse because we know students are watching or listening to this rhetoric online and on social media. Many children spend hours a day on devices, so information—and misinformation—is likely in the hands of most of your students.”
At our adult adoptee Q&A panels at camp, parents are frequently reminded how important it is to just listen to your kids when they share painful experiences, whether it’s related to racism or loss. We may be inclined to try to fix things, but adult adoptees have urged parents to resist that temptation, and respond with a simple statement like, “That sounds really painful. I’m so sorry you’re experiencing that.”
Just a few days ago, a parent who attends Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Camp said that her teen noticed her efforts to challenge anti-Asian racism. Our own efforts that are seemingly independent of our child’s experience, are a meaningful way to show support.
Here’s a helpful article by Brittany Wong, sent to us by Jennie, one of our longtime Chinese community volunteers, who has been thinking about our campers. It’s a list of supportive steps for Asian-Americans of all ages, as they are confronted by racism related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
How are you talking about anti-Asian racism with your family or in your community? Are there ways that you’re taking action as an ally?
Good Morning,
My office has received numerous reports of AAPi being spit on, harassed, and intimidated. Just two days ago, one of the young adult Korean adoptees was spit on by another customer at the King Soopers at Chatfield and Wadsworth…she had her kids with her. An elderly Japanese American was harassed at my local King Soopers at Kipling and Florida. AAPI students at UCD/Auraria have reported being spit on and shoved. Restaurants and markets along South Federal in Denver have been targeted even before CoVID19 came to America; reporting a 50% drop in patronage by February 28th. And one of the oldest and most respected AAPI grocery, Pacific Mercantile in Sakura Square, has been accused of “causing all this; it’s all your fault!”
I’m sharing these incidents so that our HCAF Community know that this threat is real. Here are some tips to keep yourself safe if you are assaulted (spitting is assault!) or harassed (collected from the CoVid19 Asian Response Committee):
1. If it’s safe, use your cell phone to record video and/or take photos of the aggressor.
2. If you’re in a business, immediately call out for a store manager.
3. If you don’t feel the business is providing adequate intervention and protection, call 911.
4. After you’re in a safe space, document the day, time and location of the incident. If in Denver call the Bias Motivated Crime Unit (Lt. Hall) at 720-913-6458
5. Do not go out in public by yourself.
6. Use online ordering at grocery stores as much as possible. You can pick up your groceries curbside instead of going in to the store.
Take a look at Mayor Hancock’s message on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/5280mayor/videos/261934398154740/
Our message to each other is to be safe – in more ways than one.
Fran Campbell
President, Asian Chamber of Commerce
HCAF Cultural Advisory Board
https://www.washthehate.com/
website where Asians tell their story about racism while washing their hands
I asked my daughter, a Chinese adiotee, and she said she has yet to receive any remotely racist comments so far. Hopefully, she won’t.
Let me first say that anyone who verbally targets someone because they are Asian, is wrong, is an idiot, and should be “outed” to suffer the natural consequences when possible. I read the article and perhaps when going out, keep your phone handy and capture comments or gestures for this purpose, if you are comfortable and don’t believe you are endangering yourself. Beyond that, freedom of speech allows that dispicable behavior and it’s not illegal up to that point, but consequences should still follow when possible.
Anything physical is a different matter and is an assault. It doesn’t need to involve contact. Intentionally coughing on someone, threats, acting like you are going to punch or throw something…intentionally making the target believe that’s going to happen even if it doesn’t, is assault and should be reported to law enforcement. Keep in mind that many places like stores, gas stations, possibly even intersections, have video and that could help document the assault if you aren’t able to capture anything on your phone.
Again, all of the above is wrong and there should be consequences, whether legal or social, but I do not believe there is widespread racism targeting any particular group in the US, including Asians currently, but the rare instances where it is happening should be dealt with accordingly.
That being said, comments by reporters, politicians including President Trump, and people in general in which they correctly remind or point out that the communist Chinese government failed and even hid the level of danger posed by COVID-19 are not racist. More and more is coming out about efforts by the Chinese government to hide the true number of those infected or who died from the virus, as well as false statements made that lessened the concern by other countries when it was still only in China. They even imprisoned doctors who tried to get the word out early on. That misinformation campaign, again by the government in China, not the people, will ultimately lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been prevented. As all parents of Chinese adoptees and most others know, people are just numbers to the Chinese government and a few hundred thousand of them are just a drop in the bucket when you have over 1 billion in your own country.
Those reminders that the US and the rest of the world were put into this dangerous and deadly situation by the Chinese government are no more racist than pointing out that Iran (their govt, not the people) supports terrorist groups like Hezbollah that have led to hundreds of American military and contractor deaths and injuries or saying the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Muslim terrorists. How can you dispute those facts? China has a history of misinformation campaigns, including SARS and the Cultural Revolution, as do other communist regimes.
Not to turn this political, but please don’t further divide our country by twisting factual statements about the real villain of this epidemic (the Chinese government) into “racism” when it’s not. Understand that China’s standing in the world, not by raising itself up, but by hurting and tearing down other countries, is currently going up. Don’t let your hatred of our president or your desire for a change in administration override truth and logic. Focus on clear acts of targeting, not twisting statements to fit a certain narrative that supports your end of the political spectrum.
If someone is truly targeted simply because of their race, that should be brought to light and to the authorities, but rightly putting the blame on the communist Chinese government (not the people) is simply an accurate statement.
Even when our kids are not experiencing overt racism first-hand, it’s important that we acknowledge the experiences of others who share their racial identity, and recognize the collective impacts on our society, our local community, and our kids. Fran Campbell’s comments above illustrate the surge in Anti-Asian racism happening right here in Denver, and we know that it’s happening around the country as well. We cannot condemn the behavior without condemning the racist and false comments that create a justification for such actions. They go hand-in-hand.
We can recognize that all governments, including our own, make policy decisions that are ineffective and even harmful, and we do not need to name any government as a “villain.”
We are not a political organization. We are an organization that will continue to call out racism from any political party or affiliation, and we will continue to facilitate honest conversations among our HCAF community so that we can all continue to grow in the ways that we can support our kids.
I am all for warning people about what racist comments and actions are being wrongly, unfairly, and even illegally taken against others based on their race, as well as exposing those who do those things and holding them accountable. I was simply stating that my daughter has not experienced those things, but I do not doubt that others are having those experiences. I watched the video posted and read Fran’s post and even made some of the same suggestions. At the time I submitted my post, there were no others.
What false comments are you referring to? To point out that the communist government of China knew the virus was more dangerous than they reported, is that a racist comment against Asians? To point out that Iran supports the terrorist group Hezbollah, is that a racist comment against Middle Easterners? To build a wall on our southern border so we can better determine who enters our country and know if the people are safe in terms of their history and health, and to slow the traffic of drugs and humans as well, is that racist toward Mexicans or people from Central and South America? Was stopping flights coming in from China once we realized how dangerous the virus was racist? If the government of China knowingly made decisions that will cost thousands of lives and damage the lives of millions of others through economic consequences, is it unfair or racist to label the leaders of that government as villains? I have yet to hear anyone, including the President, refer to the Chinese people or people from Asia as playing any role in what could have been the largely unavoidable deaths and hardships caused by the leaders China.
I agree, this is not a political organization. If someone makes overt racist comments, call them out as I said in my previous post. I’m all for honest conversations and supporting these kids, just don’t add to the stress they already have by implying certain individual leaders or entire political parties have a racist agenda against them. With that in mind, I’m asking you to give some examples of the false or racist comments made by any of the above that you believe are fueling undeserved and despicable targeting of Asians. Calling out the Chinese government’s role in this crisis is not racist, even if there are a handful of people out there who may misinterpret the facts to act on racist beliefs they probably already had.
This discussion should be about helping these kids get through this, but the reference to narratives and the attached article imply that it’s coming from the President. Why did you have to go there? If you think that’s fair, then please provide the requested examples of false comments.
Submitted 4/4/20 @ 7:47 PM mountain time: As a follow-up to my previous posts…President Trump sent the following two texts on March 23, 2020:
Text 1: It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus…
Text 2: is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER.
-Please make sure all of our Asian children, family, and friends see this because it contradicts the narrative that is being promoted by many haters out there.
My Chinese-adoptee daughter has experienced racial slurs at school (for example, students saying “ching chong” as she walks by in the hall) as well as comments that a student passes off as “just a joke” since we moved to the rural midwest last summer. Whether or not they were jokes, they have been painful for my daughter and have resulted in her reluctance to go out in public, especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic. People stare at her in the grocery store. Although I can sympathize with her (and be irate about these instances!), as a white person I cannot truly feel what she feels. She has reached out via social media to several of her past HCAF counselors. She has found solidarity and support from this peer group. A big thank you to these amazing, caring individuals for their support of our kids! This may help other adoptees as well.