ANna's Blog

Right now, I am working on launching a project within Seeing Myself Writing. In this generation and in many prior, racism against Asians has been mocked and taken as a joke. We have been told that we are "too sensitive." When the virus was and still is on the rampage, racism was virulent against our Asian community, and it was made into a joke. Yet now, when the severe discrimination against the black community is being brought to light, the same people that had joked about the racist towards Asians are now posting onto their Instagram stories and "advocating for equality." How is it equality if not all races are included? Specifically in the South, racism is huge, and people remain ignorant and stubborn. Racism against the Asian community has gone on for decades and centuries with little attention and acknowledgment being brought to it. People need to understand that racism against ANY group outside of the white race is still racism, specifically racism against Asian people is just as horrific and severe as racism against any other race. People continuously refuse to acknowledge this and pass it off as being a "joke" or that we are simply being too "sensitive" when we bring it up to them.

​The root cause of this is the lack of education and acknowledgment that has been made towards Asian racism. This has been an ongoing issue for several years. In the 1900s, Asians in America were put into internment camps, and the racism against them came in the truckloads. But so few know about that. Why is that? Schools refuse to implement this piece of information into their curriculums. How are we to move forward in society if people refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoings?

My project addresses and works to solve this by educating the people of the severity and horrors of their actions. We need to educate those that have no knowledge of this racism. We have to make people understand that racism against Asians isn't something to be laughed at or tossed aside. It is an important issue that must be dealt with. My project hopes to bring awareness to this issue, educating others, bringing this knowledge to schools, spreading it across various platforms, working with people across the world, and to hopefully bring some justice and attention to the discrimination our Asian community has continued to face for decades. I am planning on working this alongside Seeing Myself Writing to maximize platforms and awareness, but I would love to get more ideas and opinions and help in implementing this and fixing this issue. If you are interested and passionate about this issue, please reach out to me!

One of the major themes of Seeing Myself Writing that we try to bring to light and to awareness is the constant discrimination against the Asian community.  Stemming from my own experiences in middle school, I felt as if my own thoughts and feelings were suppressed for several years. I couldn't say anything without fear of being alienated by my classmates, and in all honesty, there was nothing I wanted more than to have the normal middle school experience at a school where I so clearly did not belong. 

Coming to Phillips Exeter Academy, where diversity is high, thoughtful discussions are valued, and opinions are respected, I could finally pursue my passions and express the pain that I had kept bottled up for so long. As a result, I created SMW as a means of allowing my own pain and struggle to be turned into something beautiful and meaningful. I hope to allow others to know that they are not alone in their struggle, and that the talent of our Asian and female community needs to be valued and acknowledged in high regards.

For the past few months, I have been working on a project called the Asian and Women’s Initiative (AWI). Through the AWI, there will be an online platform and initiative expressed through Seeing Myself Writing, an organization that works to enhance the self-esteem of and highlight the work of Asians and women in various fields through various genres of work such as writing, art, music, etc. In AWI, we are planning on forming both an online and print magazine/issue composed of the history in discrimination against both Asians and women, interviews with influential Asians and women on the matter, personal stories and experiences, pieces of art, and other expressions. 

In this day and age, especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic, there continues to be little to no information taught to students through the school curriculum in education. Specifically, in the Southern parts of America and more conservative and less inclusive areas, this lack of knowledge and history being taught to students beginning at young ages such as in middle school is one of the root causes of the ignorance and normalization of the discrimination that occurs against women and Asians, but specifically the Asian community. 
Our project works to increase a mutual understanding among all groups of people of the background and history of the virulent discrimination that has occurred against Asians and women and works to educate and enlighten all on this information through an online empowering medium. It empowers women/girls by educating and urging them that they need not stand anymore for the discrimination they face in a society that has normalized such actions. We increase civic participation in communities and develop 21st-century skills by calling all to take it upon themselves to become leaders and educate themselves and others.

My project addresses the need for more education and teaching of the history of discrimination that women and Asians, specifically Asians, have faced and continue to face. The virulent sexism and racism against such groups has been normalized by society, and this stems from the lack of education in schools on such topics. In my Southeast state of Georgia, there is severely limited knowledge on the topics of racism against Asians and sexism against women across most schools. As a result, non-white women and most Asians have been marginalized, harassed, and singled out by their peers.

Beginning through an online platform and organization that has already gathered and empowered influential women and Asians from all over, we will begin to present stories and important background to the past discrimination that has occurred.