By Matt Mikalatos
Last week a CBS reporter named Weija Jiang asked President Trump a question, and he told her to “go ask China.” When she asked why he would say that to her specifically, he responded by saying that he would have said it to anyone who asked him that “nasty question.”
Setting aside politics, this is what breaks my heart about the current reality for my Asian and Asian-American friends right now. They are dealing with the same problems as everyone else: the trauma of the unexpected changes in the world; the potentially life-and-death decisions of whether to stay home and for how long; the boredom or fear or worry that comes in the midst of stay-at-home orders and/or re-openings; illness; and the loss of loved ones.
But they are also dealing with the reality of anti-Asian bias, of different people stoking the fears of “Yellow Peril” to distract from reasonable questions about our own response to the pandemic. They are facing the possibility of unpleasant encounters, micro-aggressions, being blamed for the pandemic, and even assault.
I have a number of friends who are Trump supporters who say the above example wasn’t racist or biased. It was (and here there will be a long explanation) the president saying that all of the problems we’re facing are China’s fault (China the government, not Chinese people and certainly not Asian people and definitely not Asian-American people).
But that’s not what was said. We’re all left to put our own spin on it, to figure it out, to check for dog whistles, and make decisions about whether the racist reading of the interaction was intentional, or just the result of unexamined bias.
Meanwhile, I have Asian-American friends who went out for groceries and were spit at. I have friends who have asked their white friends to do their errands for them. I have friends whose parents don’t feel safe when they leave their homes, not because of the virus, but because of other people. And again, all of this on top of everything we are all facing in this time.
When the Asian American Christian Collaborative was founded and released the “Statement on Anti-Asian Racism in the Time of COVID-19,” two friends reached out to me and asked if I would consider signing it. One of them was Dr. Michelle Reyes, the vice president of AACC. We have never met in person, but she has been very generous and kind to me, coming on our podcast and doing a two-hour phone call with me about story and fairytales to help me with a book I’m working on. She’s someone I deeply respect and have learned a great deal from.
The other was someone I’ve known practically since she was a kid, Sandhya Oaks. She and I have talked multiple times over the years about the specific challenges she has faced working in majority-white spaces (the same place I was working).
Then, when I looked at the site and saw the amazing people who had written the document, I saw people like Margaret Yu, who has ministered alongside me more than once, and who has been a wise and caring presence in my life. I vividly remember a time when I was navigating a sticky situation related to ethnic diversity in our organization. She not only supported me through it, but she also stood up for me and helped another leader understand where I was coming from when I couldn’t clearly express myself.
I saw Vivian Mabuni, who is a friend that has talked with me more than once about writing and ministry. We’ve exchanged advice and prayed for each other. I’ve watched in amazement as she’s gone on to build an incredible platform of teaching and writing.
And then I saw Helen Lee, whose voice has been informative and encouraging on Twitter, and whom I consider a friend.
Looking at the others on that page, they were nearly all people with whom I had mutual friends or whom I knew by reputation. Even some of the graphic design on the site was done by a friend, Jocelyn Chung, whom I had the great pleasure of hanging out with last summer.
I saw that this statement had been drafted by people I know, love, trust, and respect. That was all before I had even read the statement.
After I read it, I didn’t have a long, soul-searching decision to make. I honestly don’t understand why anyone—individual or corporate—wouldn’t sign it. It’s a call for an end to anti-Asian bias, hateful rhetoric, and violence. I signed it gladly and without hesitation.
These are my friends, and I have many, many more friends who are Asian or Asian American who also deserve to be treated with respect. My sister-in-law is Asian American. My nephew is Asian American. Of course I would sign this statement, and I hope, if you are reading this and haven’t signed, that you will too.
Currently, over 10,000 people have signed the statement or joined the Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC). People I know and love have experienced anti-Asian bias, and I’m guessing that’s true of your friends and family as well. I want to invite you to sign if you haven’t, and join the community.
Let’s speak up for one another and stand together.
Matt Mikalatos is a speaker, and author. His latest nonfiction is an evangelism book called Good News for a Change, and his YA fantasy series starts with The Crescent Stone. To learn more, check out his website at www.mikalatos.com or follow him on Facebook.