Ever since the beginning of 2020, anti-Asian attacks have been on the rise due to xenophobia and racism. These events have recently surfaced in the media due to celebrities and activists like Daniel Dae Kim, Daniel Wu, and Amanda Nguyen speaking up, but otherwise have been largely underreported. 

Green Level High School holds a high population of Asian American and first generation students. Here are some of their perspectives on the uptick in racist hate crimes:

Reactions to the anti-Asian hate crimes and stories of people like Vicha Ratanapakdee:

Faith Kim 

“The recent reports obviously make me really upset but I guess I’ve just heard so much about these hate crimes from long ago, I’ve gotten really desensitized. But that doesn’t mean it’s not wrong and when I take the time to process what’s happening, it’s so infuriating to see hate crime still exist and it’s even scarier knowing that that can happen to my friends, my family and me one day just because they and I are Asian-American.”

Avery Dille 

“The acting out on stereotypes that are not true and endangering others has made me so angry.”

Adam Kashmola

“The recent reports of Asian American hate crimes makes me feel really on edge, because all the victims were solely attacked because they look East Asian. Since I don’t don’t look traditionally East Asian, I feel less worried for myself, but more worried for my Mom and her side of the family.”

Dianne Celemen 

“It makes me feel really mad and sad by the world. This past year a lot of racism has become apparent for everyone and it irritates me how a lot of people are still ignorant about that.”

Frustrated feelings about the lack of allyship.

Jason Lee 

“What’s disappointing to me is that people will be loud about the BLM movement and try hard to get a cop in jail (obviously for good reason), but when an elderly asian man is shoved and slammed to the floor in broad daylight, no one really seems to say anything or show that they care. I don’t want to make this about just the Asian community and say that “Asian lives matter” because the truth is, the only way to fix this issue is to collectively look at every race and ethnicity and skin color as equal because we’re all the same inside.” 

William Wang 

“I kinda feel more disappointed in those who advocate for equality and whatnot. That sounds really bad but more in a way of how there’s blatant attacks directed towards Asians and yet so many people stand here ignoring it and hashing out other stuff almost similar or exactly the same. Just mainly the hypocritical aspect of how they care for one thing but on the other hand, they literally just don’t give a crap about others suffering. There’s just a lot of stuff in the public eye that makes them hold an unjustified prejudice and that’s unfair, but there’s not much to do about it especially if every option leads to something worse.”

Faith Kim 

“As an Asian American, I believe that as a whole, Asians, have done a lot to hurt the Black community and that their community has hurt us too, but we’re constantly being pitted against each other when we could work together to combat the racial stereotypes and hate crimes. It’s awful what’s happening between the two sides.”

Personal experiences with discrimination and racism. 

Adam Kashmola 

“I have faced discrimination from everyone- including other Asian Americans. One thing that really stuck with me was when one of my former acquaintances was making fun of a biracial child who went to her Chinese class. They said things like “Why are you trying so hard to be Chinese?” She was saying these things when I was there knowing I am also biracial and goes to Chinese school. I have never been directly told I need to be smart and mature all the time, but I do feel the weight of it.”

Avery Dille

“The Christmas of 2020, we road tripped to my grandparents’ house in Louisiana. When we were passing through Alabama, an old white lady got on the elevator with me and, for a brief 20 seconds, found a way to astound me, especially since I like to remind myself that no one really means to be racist because it’s 2021. She asked, ‘Are you Chinese?’ in a super thick Southern accent. Technically I always say no because I grew up with white parents in South Africa, but I know what they really mean by asking that question. So, I always say yes. Then she asks, ‘Have you had any problems with COVID-19?’ My answer was no because I researched and followed the rules about COVID-19. But if I was a Chinese kid who had issues with COVID-19, I think things would’ve gone down differently.”

Jason Lee

“Being an Asian American wasn’t the easiest when I was younger because that was when everyone was learning to have respect for others and people made mistakes but now, even when I hear about hate crimes, I am proud to be Asian and even in the moments where someone makes a ‘very funny joke’ about my eyes being small or whatnot, I wouldn’t take back a single thing about being Asian.”

Dianne Celemen 

“Growing up and going to a private school when I was younger, a large majority of the people there were not Asians or people of color so it was hard for them to understand they need to treat other people the same way they treated each other, and this lets a lot of discrimination that was intersectional at the time, since I am a woman and a person of color, it was kind of hard to navigate that because I didn’t know how to respond, because I always thought it was normal.”

Faith Kim

“I’ve experienced racism that I didn’t stop to realize was racism. Like in middle school, a group would pick on my short lashes. There was also the people that surrounded me that were internally racist as they put down their own race to make others laugh.”

What should be done?

Faith Kim

“I think a really huge factor to getting to stop these hate crimes is to start with the Black community first. They’ve been here much longer than asians have and suffered and endured so much more (slavery and years of hate crimes). As well as address our own issues, we should work first to address and help put an end to anti-Black hate crime. Once they see that we are not the enemy and we are truly there for them, helping to fight, they’ll help us. We can both help each other. That will help to reduce tensions and increase support which will help to reduce hate crimes in general.”

Adam Kashmola 

“I hope that the Asian community can come together so that we can work to face the unjust treatment that has been happening.”

Dianne Celemen

“I think right now, with a lot of public figures speaking out on it [the hate crimes], it’s capturing a lot of the media’s attention which is really important for it to stop the hate crimes, but it’s only a small part of what we need to do. I think a big part of it starts at home, and starts when families have kids and they grow up and the first values that they learn are with their parents, so if the next generation will become more aware and sensitive to these issues, hopefully the next generation will become more aware of what they teach their kids and other people around them.”

Avery Dille

“Personally, I think the stigma of COVID19 should be addressed: education is stronger than the public thinks. I also think cities like NY, Cali, and mostly Asian populated areas should have more protection like neighborhood watches, not the police. It’ll promote Asian communities and the safety of Asians.”

Jason Lee

“I think different races need to simply care and be more thoughtful towards other races. Obviously hate crimes should be dealt with properly, but we should focus on being more collective and unified as a community.”