Racism Against Asian Americans

It has been a very difficult time for Asian Americans this year. The foundation of hate in which this country was built upon is creeping its ugly head and hurting my people.

The pandemic has unleased a barrage of racist attacks towards Asian Americans. Trump is the ring leader of this, continuing to call it the “China virus” and other variations of the term even though he has been told of its hurtful connotations. And his supporters continue to choose to defend the term and its ideas over defending the people whom the term is hurting. This is an outright act of willful racism perpetuated by racists. (The virus is called “COVID-19.” Call it that. Don’t go out of your way to call it something else. Choosing to do that is an act of racism. There are no exceptions.)

The stereotypes of Asians, including the awful hurtful label of “model minority,” continue to devalue who we are. The term, which on the surface seems like a compliment, is a form of racial microaggression that stereotypes Asians and puts down other people who don’t live up to that “standard.”

Sadly this isn’t new. This country was founded on white supremacy, hating on people who are different. This is the root of America. And it continues today. How can anyone claim that this country was “great” when racism has pulsed toxic blood throughout the life stream of this nation?

I wonder what kind of power my people have in defending themselves when this kind of racism exists from all levels of power. One major way is to vote. This country has a history of voter suppression. Even the concept of having to register to vote is a form of suppression. But that should not stop us from using our power to bring forward the right leadership that will defend us, not defend hate.

I hope that this video helps bring light to some of the major issues and struggles that me and my people have to endure every single day. It’s exhausting trying to live in “the country of the free” when its own people make me feel trapped. I urge you to please consider our plight and stand with us. And for the Asian Americans, I urge you to continue to fight. Whether it’s at the voting booths, in the streets or where ever you are, you have the power. Make your voices heard.

Don’t support racism in any of its forms, including hurtful words and actions. Fight for the freedom and the equality of all. I pray that God that we can bring forth the best possible outcome in this.

This America we know now must die. It is time to build a new one. Let’s go get it.

Thoughts and prayers are needed

After today’s sad news of a shooting at a church I read a lot of people on Twitter complaining about the term “thoughts and prayers” as it is a common phrased used by right-wingers who love their guns.

But the idea of “thoughts and prayers” aren’t needed (with the victims being in a church) is false.

Thoughts and prayers are always needed. Prayer is so needed because we are calling out to God to give us comfort, safety, love and so much more. But I think the misconception is actually about the idea that prayer is the ONLY thing we are doing.

No. It’s what we do in addition to prayers. Prayers will remain and action is needed. The action is to fix this trash gun law that allows mass shootings to happen so frequently.

So don’t tell me that prayers are useless. It’s so useful and needed for a country in pain. But it’s not supposed to be the only thing. Let’s get that right.

I pray for the victims and I will vote and push to get the gun law changed.

The problem with Christians using political accusations following Charlottesville horror

When the news broke over the weekend and I was gathering information as it came through my Twitter feed, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to the horror in Charlottesville. I knew that I was upset that something like this is still happening in America. How can hate, racism and violence like this still happen?

Then the incident in the above photo happened. I have yet to watch any video of it because I don’t want to get even more upset over the injuries and death of the victims be embedded in my mind.

My heart is broken. I am sad. I am angry. I am wondering why this is happening.

Many times throughout my Christian faith journey when horrific things happen, I try to ask myself what the best reaction to it is. It’s OK to be angry and sad, but what would be the next Christian thing to do? The most obvious choice would be to profess love and peace in the name of Christ.

Right?

That stupid police ice cream viral video

I saw this yesterday and I also wondered why it was being praised as such a great thing.

Is it legal to pull someone over without an actual probable reason? And no, ice cream is not a reason.

Look at her. She’s scared shitless because of what has happened to black people from the cops. And to instill that fear to make yourself look good.

And what about this dumbass self promotion of making this go viral. “Hey everyone, come see how good I am!”

Good deed? What was the intent? A selfish act that tapped into the fear of a woman and her son. Shame!

This is awful.

Swimming pool not cool photo is not racist at all

When I saw this for the first time, I didn’t even notice anything racist until it was pointed out to me.

But there are black and white kids getting along. Look, a colored lifeguard. There was no intent to be racist. I don’t see racism. I just see kids.

Still speechless and hoping for hope #PrayForOrlando

How am I supposed to feel about this? It’s sad and it breaks my heart. But all I seem to be flooded with is the reactions from all around the world.

Some people are calling for bans on guns.

Some are saying that gay people deserved to die because they are against God.

Some people aren’t really caring about this.

Some are still wondering how terrorists could do this.

I don’t know how to take all of this in. I would love to live in a world where this kind of hatred and violence is gone. But we don’t. I know that gun violence remains and we don’t seem to know what to do with it. I know that there is so much hatred against the LGBT and I can’t figure out how we can get everyone to just love and care for one another.

Where do we go? My heart breaks when people die. I don’t care if they are the same or different from me. It’s heartbreaking. And it hurts even more that this was apparently an act of hatred towards LGBT. It’s not fair. I wish there was a way to make it better. God, where do we go from here?

I can pray right now. But I want to do more and try to find a way to stop all of this. Stop the violence. Stop the hate. Stop the hurt. Can we just live in a world of peace and love?

I don’t know. I hope so.

I am saddened by what happened in Paris but I won’t be changing my Facebook profile picture to the French flag

** This isn’t addressed to anyone specifically. This is purely observational thought. I wrote this with nobody but everybody in mind. 

I don’t do viral things on Facebook. When people did the ALS bucket challenge, I didn’t do it. When people changed their profile to a cartoon, I didn’t do it. When same-sex marriage was legalized, I didn’t do it.

Now everyone is changing their profile pictures to the French flag, I once again won’t do it.

I am not against being public on social media with my concerns, sadness, emotions over things. I just don’t do it like this.

The first thing that bothered me about it is that the feature to change it says it’s a “temporary” change. So is our mourning temporary? What kind of message are we sending? For us to care about the aftermath of this senseless violence is only a temporary thing.

The instant you welcome something like this, a tragedy, into your profile picture, you are sending a message that this thing is important to you. But once you change it back to the normal profile picture you had, does this not matter to you anymore? Is your own face without the French flag more important than sending the message that you care?

Why are Christians wasting their time complaining about the Starbucks red Christmas cups?

Some Christians Are Super Offended By The New Starbucks Red Cup Designhttps://t.co/QEhxRecsJi

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) November 8, 2015

OK, I just found out about this. Check out this summary of the nonsense in the tweet above.

First of all, I don’t drink coffee. I drink it occasionally but I never go to Starbucks because I want coffee. Never in my life have I ever desired to drink coffee. Most times when I do, I’m with people. I’m a social coffee drinker.

I am also Christian. I am a Christian who doesn’t care for coffee or what Starbucks does.

With that said, after reading the above story, I could not shake my head any more. If I did, I’d get whiplash. Is this really an issue? First of all, I didn’t even know Starbucks had seasonal themed holiday cups for Christmastime. I didn’t even know this was a big deal to people. Like if you showed me these cups, I wouldn’t even know they were supposed to mean something important.

Clickbaiting made me miss the Ahmed Mohamed clock hoax bomb story when I first saw it

I hate clickbait articles on Facebook. I can’t stand reading links with headlines like “These two kids sat down to eat lunch, you won’t believe what happened next!” and the people who post them. This is so bad. I just ignore these things and I continue on with my Facebook feed with actual information that isn’t garbage.

So this morning when I saw this, I skimmed it thinking that it was nothing. Little did I know it was actual news that involved many important people, including the president.

But look at it. The photos are oddly placed like many clickbait photos. Then the headline, although subtle and to the point, was likely ignored by me all together. Look at that lede: “Ahmed Mohamed, 14, said he made a homemade clock to impress his teachers,…”

That is full on clickbait writing right there.

Maybe two years ago I would have clicked and read it. Now because of clickbaiting, anything that looks remotely like a garbage post gets ignored by me. Thanks to clickbaiting, I actually ignored some news because at this point, everything looks the same. Shame on you, clickbaiting!

I can’t explain it and I don’t understand it but I get it

Watch live: Suspect in #WDBJ journalists' killings has died; officials give update http://t.co/6k0NfnOXuY

— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) August 26, 2015

When I woke up to this news this morning, I was not in disbelief. I guess this is how desensitized I am to violence in this country.

I am saddened that this happened. I am saddened that the man who did this felt that he had to do it.

I am saddened to hear that he claims he was a victim of racism. I am saddened to hear that mentally, he felt that the only way to resolve that issue was to hurt people.

I don’t get it. I don’t understand why we treat each other this way. I don’t understand why and I can’t explain how. But I understand that in this world, especially this country, we have lost our way in how we treat each other. We mock those who are different and ignore those who don’t have what we have. And somehow in the middle, we thrive on so many good things too.

I don’t know what happened exactly, but the fact that this wasn’t a surprise to me shows how much we have made these things a norm. It’s a shame.