Asian Americans continue to fight two pandemics:
One against COVID-19, the other anti-Asian racism
This time, COVID-19 is the thinly veiled analogue
To the Japanese auto-industry
This time, We lost Park Soon Jung
Kim Hyun Jung, Kim Soon Cha, Yoo Yong Ae, Tan Xiaojie
Feng Daoyou, Ho Pak, Vicha Rattanapakdee, Zheng Yong
Juanito Falcon, Christian Hall, Angelo Quinto, Ee Lee
Last time, it was Vincent Chin
But Asia's rise and the Pacific Century remain dominant motifs of a fearful, anxious West
The cabal of old superpowers, threatened by this Asian menace
Like the orient, we Asian Americans pose a threat
Like in Gran Torino, we were, and are cowed into silence
We stood in for a mute, terrifying and despotic Asia
When we spoke up, we were told that it was a harmless joke
And our pain and hurt were met with the question of why we couldn't take a joke
We were always told what we were
We were always told how to feel
We were always told that Asians had it too good, never feeling the real sting of racism
The point was: we were told, never listened to
Those who have killed us had the last word,
They spoke for the dead
Just as the West spoke for an imagined Orient
But the imperative will always be for us,
To check our privilege
Because that's the violence of being spoken for
So we say "No more."