A Letter to My Future Daughter

By Ella Lee / Spring 2021

Dear Daughter

The world I am living in now has suffered for almost two years due to a pandemic outbreak called the COVID-19. The presence of this virus was first found in a city called Wuhan in China. This unfortunate event has added fuel to the fire of social racism against the Asian immigrants living in different countries. People around the world called this infectious disease the “Wuhan Virus” or “China Virus” and started blaming Asian citizens and immigrants around them. The United States was no exception. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, reports of hate crimes and slurs against Asian-Americans grew significantly. Not just the news stories or statistics proved this, but I saw my family members and close friends experiencing the virus-related harassment and discrimination against them. This epidemic has made many people sick, not only physically but also mentally. Yet these events have provided me with some valuable opportunities to reflect on the history of Asian-Americans, something I was never really interested in before. As I went back year by year, from 2021 to the 1800s, I became ashamed that, as an Asian immigrant and as an American resident, I should have known this better and earlier. So I want to give you a glimpse about this story – the history – and I hope that this will help expand your view of what is happening in your society right now.

Have you heard of the term “xenophobia”? How about the “Yellow Peril”? I hope that you are living in a world where these terms are no longer used. However, I know that these ideas will still be around you, just in a different form, in disguise. The xenophobic/ anti-Asian sentiments did not just come out of nowhere but from Kaiser Wilhelm II who came up with the “Yellow Peril” theory trying to justify the invasion and colonization of Asian countries in the 1880s. This idea became incredibly prominent in the U.S. as well and continued to be reinforced through media until the early-20th century. Asian countries were portrayed as a growing threat to America. Not long after that, in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. As you can tell from the name, it was a very racially biased policy that banned the immigration and naturalization of Chinese people who Americans thought were “stealing” their job opportunities. This absurd policy stayed for more than 50 years, and similar events accompanied by systemic racism took place within, as well as after, that time period. In the early 1900s, an epidemic of bubonic plague struck San Francisco. When the disease was recognized, the health officials called for a quarantine which only covered Chinatown. Chinese people were kept segregated while the white people were allowed to leave. Most people, including the governor, believed the plague was a “Chinese disease…” Does this sound familiar to you? Yes, a hundred years ago and now, nothing much has changed. The economic recession, the unfortunate epidemic… Asian-Americans have been blamed for many social unrests and crises since a long time ago, serving as a convenient “tool” for society. We are often under an illusion that our society has become more equal, more just and more mature. In fact, the oppression, segregation and systemic racism stay with us, but in a different form that is often hard for us to notice. Perhaps this is what the American writer Mark Twain said “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” You might wonder why – Why is it so hard for our society to completely wake up from these illusions? Why can’t these problems ever be fully resolved? It is because these ideologies are deeply embedded in our society in forms of education, culture and beliefs. If we don’t look at things deeply, we cannot understand them clearly, as said by a Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh.

I hope the world you are living in is the one with true equality and justice. However, if our society is not there yet, or even if you believe it is, stay awake and alert. As an Asian-American and as a woman, we may be faced with more struggles than others. You may also see other minority groups in similar situations, their rights and freedoms being oppressed by the social system. When the tough times come, don’t be a victim nor a perpetrator. I hope you will be able to question what they teach you in schools, and what they call the “truth,” or the “ideals” in the media. I hope that you look back on this history, and remember the “rhyme.”

Yours, with love,

Ella