In the first person’s voice as an Asian belonging to AAPI
(AAPI : Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders)

We, the Asians can run but we can’t hide
Our faces give away our identity
We may be born and raised in the US
But, we will always remain a minority

We may be fifth generation Americans
Still questioned – where are you from?
Unless we marry white Caucasians
to the majority, our looks don’t conform

Model minority is a cross we have to bear
Go back to your country, we often hear
In silence we bear pain, without shedding a tear
Getting attacked in public places is a perpetual fear

Insults come in many shapes and flavors
From verbal to mortal, and everything in between
Young or old, fit or frail, all are a fair game
we can’t but feel depressed, not sanguine

There is enough blame to go around
Hollywood’s objectification of Asians,
US government’s paranoid suspicions
Easy to get laugh target for comedians

Our accent has been mocked
Our looks have been caricatured
The greatest insult of them all,
Even in Asian roles, Whites are featured

Don’t be fooled by rhetoric about rights
We dare not stand up for our rights
If we did, we will be cussed and derided
We may even end up in unwinnable fights

We or our ancestors chose to migrate
Hoping to one day fully assimilate
Unlike Blacks, we didn’t have to segregate
And our economic success is not up for debate

But no matter how successful professionally
We are still a “foreigner”, not welcome here
Hate is buried just under the skin
Even without provocation, it may appear

We are visibly invisible in the corridors of power
No Asian can be found among Biden’s secretaries
Our loyalty is always questioned and suspected
In times of crisis, we are viewed as adversaries

Hate crimes against us not taken seriously; tormentor’s act
may not rise to physical attack, still tears the soul apart
Verbal harassment in elevator, restaurants, taxis, sidewalks
Foreigner once foreigner forever, a label we can’t discard

For better or for worse, we are here to stay
We hope society will look at us for who we are
We too are Americans, part of the intricate quilt
Let’s live in harmony and love, not hate or war

Editorial Commentary
America has gone to war with Asian countries to
“save” them from real or manufactured “enemies”
Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam
Americans have come to see Asians as “commies”

America dropped atomic bombs,
Yes you guessed it, only on an Asian country
Even in million years they won’t dare to
inflict the same cruelty on European gentry

Racism is the foundation stone of this country
Land “stolen” from native “Indians”
Forced and unpaid labor from enslaved Africans
Cheap labor of unskilled and undocumented Mexicans

Whites are unlikely to give up their privileges
Just look at the plight of African Americans
Worst form of racism may be passé; still
Black lives, institutional racism threatens

Don’t hold your breath, not much is going to change
Whites will ensure they retain their supremacy
Don’t look at politicians or courts to help you out
Even the Supreme Court has a blemished legacy

Governments’ Complicity
The “dishonor” list of US government’s explicit and implicit discriminatory acts includes:
– The Chinese exclusion act, though Chinese built the rail road
– Internment of Japanese, many US born, simply based on war hysteria
– Immigration law favoring Europeans at the expense of black, brown and yellow people
– Muslim ban

State governments are as guilty as the Federal government.  Consider the following:
– Jim Crow laws
– Black Voter suppression using poll taxes and other barriers
– The latest campaign to disenfranchise Black voters, especially in the South

A South Asian’s Voice (that is me – Ashok Gupta)
I do not fall under the definition of AAPI since I am from India.
I have been a victim of racial hatred just the same.

– I have been told to go back to where I came from on multiple occasions
– I have been called names, even by my manager at Xerox
– I have been profiled/singled out at the airport and in the plans
– I have been “Karened” in my own integrated neighborhood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_(pejorative)