“I had a more unique experience growing up because I attended a Chinese bilingual program, and so because of that I grew up heavily immersed in an Asian community that didn’t really face any anti-Asian hate in the same way that some of my peers did. It wasn’t until the pandemic started that things started to change.
I was moving to the Niagara region right when the pandemic started and this region is predominantly caucasian. My parents were worried for my safety and I knew that I had to take precautions because of that “what if” worry in the back of my head. I had to make sure I had all my errands done before sunset. And every time I would go out for a run, I would make sure I would share my location with someone. I would make sure that I had my phone with me because I used to not always do that. If I saw a car slow down in my peripheral vision, I would take out my headphones just so I could be more alert of my surroundings.
When these situations are brought up at the dinner table, my parents are obviously worried about my safety and they try to tell me to let things slide. I think as Asians, we were kind of always taught to remain silent, to be passive, and this isn’t something that we can continue to do.
However I do want to emphasize that when we do stand up and take a stand against anti-Asian racism, we also have to use our voices to take a stand against racism against other visible minorities as well. As we have seen since the pandemic, a lot of events have triggered the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Black community has suffered so much this past year and in the past as well and we can’t stand up for ourselves without standing up for others who have been affected and oppressed by racism as well.
我从小生活在亚裔社区和就讀中英双语学校，因此我没有面对亚裔仇恨的亲身经历。直至新冠疫情爆发，我曾搬到以白人为主流的東岸尼亚加拉区生活，才意识到無安全感，要小心出入。我的父母虽然也很担心我，但仍让我去过自己選擇的生活。亚裔对种族歧视抱着要不要保持沉默的态度并不能解决问题，我认为我们应善用自己的声音，捍卫自己的权利，反对针对任何少数族裔的种族主义。” — Lauren
REN Project 