Dear America,
Today, you have devastated so many of my friends and me. I’m sitting in class heartbroken right now. But I refuse to be the silent Asian American that white America wants me to be, because I can’t stand to see my friends crying over the fear of their families being torn apart or the fear of being killed for their skin color. I’m going to use my art, and create radical representations for women of color because I don’t want future children to feel helpless like I do right now. I’m sick to my stomach this morning and could barely get up to go to class. I’ve had so much anxiety since election morning, and even had an anxiety attack at work on November 8. I feel super on edge right now, and honestly can’t get rid of my anxiety. I feel absolutely helpless and powerless right now, but my friends are slowly making me realize that we need to mobilize and organize. To my friends of color, I’m here for you. I’m an inbox, a text, or a call away. Let me know what you need right now.
White allies, especially cisgender white straight men, it’s your call to step up as so many of us that are of color are in mourning and beyond upset right now. I don’t have the energy to do anything right now. Even going to class is so much emotional labor for me and for so many others that I know. I don’t even have the strength to cry anymore, I’m honestly just numb at what happened last night. To the white peers I work alongside, the microaggressions have added up to this atrocious incident of his win. Racism was covert, but now it’s blatantly out there—oh yes, hate crimes will go up. It’s your responsibility to understand what we’re going through emotionally right now. Don’t ask me or any of my friends of color to explain our experiences with racism that we feel on a daily basis. Use your white privilege, and speak up because right now I’m not in a place to do so (with the lack of energy and sleep I have right now). It’s on you, my white straight cisgender male allies, to speak up but not speak over people of color, non-men, LGBTQ+, immigrants, religious minorities, and so many others affected. This is not about you nor should you make it about you, it’s about everyone that will be affected by this. So to my white allies, are you with us or not? I need you right now more than ever.
Sincerely,
A woman of color feeling vulnerable this morning in her 8 a.m. class