So, what are all the Asians doing?
Our black brothers and sisters are fighting hard against all the challenges and trauma they face, which is very respectable. They don’t just complain and wait for somebody else to make the change; they are making the change happen. Our Latino brothers and sisters are also fighting. But … where are the Asians?
Wooster has more students of Asian descent than ever, especially with the rapidly growing international population, the majority of which are Asian.
However, we rarely hear anything about the problems that these students face in the U.S. as a result of their ethnicity. Nobody even asks, where is the Asian voice on campus? We have African Americans, we have Latinos, but Asians seem to be the invisible race. Are people ever racist towards Asians? Well, the answer is yes. My Asian friends and I believe we have made some progress by hosting the MLK Day Justice Dialogue on the Emasculation of Asian Men and Fetishization of Asian Women. Now that we have caught the campus community’s attention, we want to raise more awareness about the issues we face as students of Asian descent. However, there is a significant challenge to this movement: there is a big divide between Asian-American students and Asian international students. I know that there are many international Asians who are friends with the domestic Asians, and vice-a-versa. However, there are few student organizations led by both international and domestic Asian members, and no united organization that solely aims to serve all students of Asian descent and tackle the problems they face as a race. There is a Black Students Association, there is Proyecto Latino, but there is no Asian Students Association here in Wooster. Having served as president of the International Student Association, I believe this is because international students and domestic students have very different experiences growing up. Even if we might look “similar” and share some cultural backgrounds, we go through completely different things depending on where we grow up. These experiences affect how each of us views the “race” issue. Are we being treated as an outsider? An exotic being? A fellow American? I worry that most of us, including fellow Asian students, overlook the fact that we have different views because of the diversity within our race. This is a challenge we need to acknowledge, but something we can overcome eventually. I believe that soon enough there will be such an organization on campus.
When I first joined ASiA (Asia Supporters in Action), the majority of the members were Asian international students, so most of the events we hosted were cultural events. Two years later, half of our board members are international and half are domestic. We are working harder than ever to bring our shared struggles to the surface. The Justice Dialogue was one step forward, and this semester ASiA will be hosting and co-sponsoring a few other events, including our annual ASiA Conference in April. At our first ASiA conference two years ago we tackled the Asian adoption issue, and last year we talked about media representation of Asian Americans. This year, we will be talking about the model minority myth (if you don’t know what it is, Google it!).
So what should you do if you want to help after realizing that racism toward Asians exists? As an international student from Japan, I definitely cannot speak for all Asian students, but I think the first step is to learn proactively. Come to the events that the various Asian organizations on campus host. Google what kind of comments would be considered racist, and avoid them. Call people out when you see or hear racist comments. Sometimes the subtle, yet blunt comments hurt us, even if they’re not deliberate; these situations can be avoided if you are more aware of what is going on. Don’t just wait for people to provide the information to you; this is not a restaurant. This is a college. If we’re going to tell people that Wooster is diverse, include Asians in the picture because we are trying our best. We are not an invisible race, and we want you to know that we have struggles too.
Nanako Ito, a contribut ing writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at nito17@wooster.edu