Tiffany Zhu, 3/26/21, PD 8, Day C

Tiffany Zhu
Period 8
3/26/2021
Day C
Modern Mythology 2021 

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

With the recent crimes across the country, I feel very angry and scared.  Asian hate crimes have increased by 11% since last year whether it was online or out in the streets. I find it very unfair that having a “bad day” is a reason to commit murder. 8 lives were lost because of a “bad day”. I think about their families and how sad they must be. Their loved ones have died because a stranger had a “bad day”. I began to worry about my friends and family; the fear of being possibly attacked because of my race. The thought of even stepping out of the house scares me. And we aren’t the only ones who feel this way. People of color in general don’t feel safe because of the society we live in now.  

Inequity, oppression, and power will continue to exist no matter how much we try to present it. This is because some people aren’t willing to change and have not been exposed to these situations. However, people are trying their best to educate others and themselves about the struggles of other people. Ideas such as the model minority should be eradicated because it only causes division amongst people and it ignores those who have endured a lot in replacement with their accomplishments. 

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

As an Asian American, I’ve been told to ignore these racial slurs and to just move on. That these little comments shouldn’t affect us and we should be focused on achieving a better life. However, it doesn’t mean that we don’t feel hurt. Growing up I’ve been told that “you are smart because you are Asian”. This statement has probably been told to many of my peers as well. I feel hurt when hearing this statement because it ignores how much money our parents spent to send us to prep or how much time we worked on assignments to achieve a good grade. Our achievements are defined by our race but instead our hard work. Due to our belief in always looking forward and ignoring what others say, we have let many incidents bypass. However, I am glad that we are finally realizing that there is a problem not just within the Asian community. Movements like the Black Lives Matter, and Stop Asian Hate has been so widely spread to educate others and fight for our rights. That while we move forward we shouldn’t disregard these comments but instead fight for ourselves and become stronger. I hope that as a community that we fight together and spread our story.