It All Matters
It matters when I’m asked where I’m from and you don’t accept New Jersey as my answer
It matters when I hear someone say “ching ching chow,” mocking what you think is my language, and then ask if I speak English
It matters when I didn’t want people to come over my house as a child because I was embarrassed of the smell of my mother’s cooking
It matters when I was a child and I heard someone tell my mother to go back to her country
It matters when I tell you about a tradition I’m proud of and your response is, “well you’re in America now and that’s not how it works,” instead of, “that’s interesting, tell me more”
It matters when I get a call from mother crying after the tragic Virginia Tech shootings and begs me not to leave the house in fear that someone would attack me in retribution
It matters when I hear COVID-19 referred to as the “kung flu” and “China virus”
It matters when a man drives to two different counties, three Asian-owned businesses and kill eight people, six of whom are of Asian-decent, and you don’t call it a hate-crime
IT. ALL. MATTERS.
But do you know what else matters?
It matters that you reach out to check on your AAPI brothers and sisters
It matters that you call out racism and hate
It matters that you’re curious to learn more, even if it makes you uncomfortable
It matters that I’m hopeful that things will get better for my son and daughter
It matters that we stand together
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