Marijke Rowland: On a sad day for Asian Americans, racism, misogyny go hand in hand
Tuesday was a day of extreme emotions. I took a chance and scored a vaccine near the end of the day at an area clinic. So I’m on my way to being fully vaccinated after more than a year of sheltering in place, wearing masks, staying socially distant and not seeing my out-of-state family.
It almost didn’t feel real sitting in the waiting area for 15 minutes to elapse before leaving with my free bandage. I was heartened by the diverse Stanislaus County crowd also waiting, so many beaming (half) faces all looking toward a hopeful future.
Later that same night, news of the mass-shooting in Atlanta broke. Eight dead, including six Asian women at their places of work. As a Korean American woman, the elation from hours earlier turned dark. I texted my sister who lives across the country to share the horror. The underlying message was simple: “Be safe.”
Wednesday, as I watched the first news conference, eager to hear more on the horrific murders, I was struck by how law enforcement officials repeatedly said the admitted murderer claimed his attacks were not racially motivated. Instead they said the alleged suspect had a “bad day” and was driven by his self-proclaimed “sex addiction” to eliminate the “temptation.”
What? He frequented businesses where Asian women worked, then went specifically to the businesses where those Asian women worked to shoot and kill mostly Asian women. Since when do we allow the perpetrators of murderous racist acts to determine whether their acts were racist or not?
What a sad, scary day for all in the Asian American community, and for all who are hurt by racism in this country. But let me be clear, racism and misogyny are not mutually exclusive. These are not either/or motives. In fact, all too often they go hand in hand.
Consider the hypersexualization of Asian women, which is both racist and misogynistic. It plays into vile stereotypes about the subservience of Asian women, fetishizing of our existence and gives people permission to harass us under the guise of appreciation. You’d be hard-pressed to find an Asian American woman alive who hasn’t had someone come on to them by saying some variation of, “But I love Asian women!”
And, no, we absolutely will not love you long time.
As we confront the ugly truth of racism and white supremacy in this country, remember that hate typically doesn’t stay in neatly confined boxes. It spreads across everything it touches. Racism. Misogyny. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Transphobia. All the things that make us “other” also make us easy scapegoats and targets. But they are intractably intertwined, and must be tackled as such.
You can see it play out in the spike in anti-Asian harassment and violence throughout the pandemic. It certainly doesn’t help when people in power call it “kung flu” or the “China virus.” Some 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in America, between March 19, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021, according to research by Stop AAPI Hate. Some 500 of those incidents were reported since the start of this year. Most of those, 68%, were against women.
Yet we are still, somehow, allowing the perpetrators of racist, sexist attacks to claim they weren’t racist attacks. I mean, I bet a lot of murderers say they aren’t murderers, too. But we certainly don’t take them at face value.
Hate crimes up against Asian Americans
According to a study from California State University, San Bernardino, hate crimes against Asian Americans in 16 major metropolitan cities rose 149% from 2019 to 2020, based on data from police reports. Meanwhile, overall hate crimes for all groups dropped 7% last year, in the same study.
I don’t have to take their word on those statistics because it’s happened to my family. My sister, who I implored to be safe, has been screamed at multiple times during the pandemic for the act of simply going about her daily life. Once, in the drive-thru line of Dunkin’ Donuts. Once she was run off the road. Both times with her three young children in the car. Both times they screeched the same terrible refrain: “Go back to your country!”
This is her country, since she was 18 months old. This country that lifts the lamp beside the golden door is for all of us. Or at least it should be.
While the Central Valley hasn’t reported the same kind of high-profile anti-Asian harassment and violence as have made national headlines in the Bay Area, that certainly doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened here.
In Stanislaus County, where Asian and Pacific Islanders make up a small 6% of the overall population, the community has kept a relatively low profile. But at the start of the pandemic last year, when I reached out to local Asian restaurants to see if they’d experienced a drop-off in customers, many were reluctant to talk. Caution, fear, vigilance — all because of a virus that respects no borders.
As we start to see the light at the end of this year-long nightmare of a pandemic, the epidemic of racism, misogyny and hate against anyone with perceived differences continues unabated and indeed has intensified. Dismantling white supremacy is the great unfinished work of this nation.
May justice be done for the eight victims in Atlanta. May we see clearly that hate of all kinds hurts us all.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 9:02 AM.
