Recently, I read an article about a senator who was removed from the floor while making a speech to the rest of the legislature. State Senator Janet Nguyen was talking about the late state Senator Tom Hayden, who was an opponent of the Vietnam War. Senator Tom Hayden passed away earlier that week, where the state Senate had honored him. Sen. Nguyen started her speech in Vietnamese and then started to speak in English when State Senator Ricardo Laro, who was presiding over the session, turned off her microphone and asked Sen. Nguyen to sit down. While being dragged away, Sen. Nguyen continued to make her speech, turning her head towards the front of the floor.
Although this was not an inherently racist act, and the reason they dragged Sen. Nguyen off the floor was because she was talking about a man who just passed away in a “bad light,” it was still an act that spoke out against an entire race. Sen. Nguyen, born in Saigon, was trying to bring back the perspective of her people, who knew what it was like to go through the Vietnam War as refugees. Sen. Nguyen claimed that Sen. Hayden was working with the “Northern Vietnamese communists during the Vietnam War to oppose US efforts in South Vietnam.” Many people come to America in hopes of finding the freedom they are not afforded in the country they left.
It still catches me off guard when I read about racism against Asian minorities. Of course, it shocks me whenever I hear or read anything about any kind of racism (because racism is stupid and horrible), but when it comes to Asians, it's particularly off-putting. It mostly stems from the fact that I come from an area that is mainly Asian, and I personally have not been exposed to much discrimination-- definitely not in the capacity others have. The racism that dominates most of my Facebook and Twitter feeds are usually against Muslims and African Americans, not Asians. Everyone knows it exists, it happens, but many times it does not dominate big headlines. Granted, the stories that do make it big are usually some of the worst.
Racism for Asian Americans has always been a problem, from Japanese internment camps to the Chinese railroad workers. We have been a marginalized group, which is perhaps better than being targeted for much of American history. I think that, as a group, Asians need to step up more. I think that we all need to step up more. We as a human race need to start talking about the uncomfortable subjects. Within the Asian community, I have seen a lot of anger, but no action. Many of us have a different upbringing, focusing on our future success and making our families proud. There is still animosity towards the Vietnamese people who came here during the war, and toward their children. Many of us have not done anything wrong. We work hard to assimilate into American culture, and many of us have successfully done so. But maybe it is time for us to start standing up for ourselves and taking a stand for others, too.
