"We don't take immigrants"

As an undergraduate student, I would attend career fairs held at my university to find an internship/job. Many companies that come to these fairs are national labs/government agencies that require applicants to be US citizens. I was waiting to talk to a company representative for one such organization. The moment the agent was free, I stepped up to give my elevator pitch. However, before I could begin to speak, the man told me "we don't take immigrants". I was taken aback, and all I could say was "I'm not, I actually grew up in a city close to where your company is located". I went on to give my elevator pitch and try to have a conversation, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I am a headscarf-wearing, brown-skinned South Asian woman, it is hard to tell whether the headscarf or the skin tone (or both) caused the man to assume my immigration status. This happened a few years back, but it is a small event that has larger implications. How many national companies are making such assumptions and limiting the diversity and talent they can bring to their corporations? How many of these corporations are helping shape government policies from an uninformed standpoint related to the make-up of America's melting pot?

"Deep emotional pain"

I was working for Club Demonstration Services, giving out Costco product samples in Alpharetta, Georgia right when Costco first began giving out samples again. An old man strolled his shopping cart up to my cart and ended up talking after he had his sample. He told me that the US should kill all the Chinese for what has happened due to the pandemic. As a representative of the company, of course I didn’t get into much of a discussion with him. I did tell him that if all groups killed those who wronged them, that we might not have any people left. Yet, the incident triggered deep emotional pain.

Turning a Blind Eye

This morning when I was walking from Metro North to the subway, a man walking in front of me suddenly turned around and said "Go back to your country" and then started cursing at the 3 police who were standing by the temporary check point. The man then walked up the staircase and I told the police "he just told me to go back to my country". One of the police just nodded and didn't say anything. The most scary thing about the whole incident is not because of what the man did, but is that law enforcement turning a blind eye. Just by not doing anything, they are actually encouraging those behavior, letting some people think they have the right to harass anyone.

Attacked in Essex Market

My wife and I were in Essex Market (in Manhattan) when I accidentally bumped into someone. I apologized but she proceeded to curse me out and threaten violence. We walked away when one of her friends starts shouting after us too. She threatened to slap us and called me a "ch-nk". My wife yelled back at her telling her not to call me a "b-tch" because she heard her say "b-tch" instead of "ch-nk". The girl then walks straight up to me and punches me in the face. We then fell to the ground wrestling as I was trying to protect myself, and she continued to hit me and choke me. Her friend (the girl who I accidentally bumped into) then joins her and starts hitting me too. My wife ran over to try to get them off me when the girl I bumped into turns around and punches my wife on the head. The shop owners jumped in to stop the fight. The security guard was called but did absolutely nothing while we watched the girls and their friends flee the scene. By the time the police arrived, they were gone.

"Why did you hit me?"

My mom, 67, was assaulted in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York today. The assailant is being charged with a racially motivated felony assault. My mom was on her daily walk of ten thousand steps when they crossed paths. She saw him coming but it didn’t seem to her she was in harms way. She could hear yelling as if someone was shouting into their phone but dismissed it because people talk loudly in New York all the time. As she walks pass him, he turns around and hits her in the head with his fist. She grabs a fence to keep from falling and yells "why did you hit me?" He hits her two more times in the face, and runs off. I was at home nearby when it happened. She calls me and I rush out to find her with two good samaritans who confirm his description and his whereabouts. I call 911 and officers show up immediately, and we proceed to tell them everything. They're able to apprehend him minutes later down the street and escort my mom and I to the scene to confirm his identity. He's arrested and we're all escorted to the police station where she's examined by EMS and determine it is not imperative she go to the hospital, which she agrees. We head into the police station to make a report. She's ok physically, except for a big bruise on her left cheek and probably a black eye. She seems ok emotionally.

A walk in the park

My mother and I were going on a walk to our neighborhood park with our dog. We were pleasantly surprised to see a friendly (though unleashed) dog that began walking alongside us to the park. We were having a good time. Suddenly along the way, we see a middle aged woman walking from the distance. The unleashed dog started to approach the woman (causing no harm whatsoever). The woman immediately began to make disgusted and angry facial expressions towards us. She quickly yelled at us "get your dog away from me, NOW!" We responded to the woman and tried explaining how the dog wasn't ours. She immediately cuts us off and things escalated quickly. Out of nowhere, her voice was exponentially louder screaming, "I SAID, GET THAT THAT F----N DOG AWAY FROM ME, YOU CH-NK. GO BACK TO CHINA OR WHEREVER THE F-CK YOU’RE FROM." "EVEN BETTER, WHY DON'T YOU GO CUT YOUR DOG UP TO SLICES AND EAT IT" My mom and I were startled, speechless and just shook. We tried walking away, but she started to follow us to the park and repeated those phrases multiple times what seemed like for another several minutes. She finally stopped after we kept walking away.

The irony of it all

This incident occurred in June of 2016 in Pasadena, California.

My landlord stood in my driveway discussing how much he hated all things Chinese at the top of his voice in a neighborhood where at least half my neighbors are Chinese, and honestly it was embarrassing for me because I was raised in an Asian family even thought I am Caucasian... His rhetoric has occurred on a bimonthly basis from 2016 until I stopped talking to him last year 2020. Since he was our landlord we tried to be social, and invited him over for holiday party in 2017, which he brought his sister over and even his sister said the same thing to us about despising the Chinese people. Yet just the other day he hired a Chinese home appraiser to come to look at his property - the irony is there.

Refused help and further support

The incident happened outside of the Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda, MD. The music center is located in an affluent community and is also home to the youth orchestras, which comprise of more than 50% Asian youth musicians with an age range of 8-18 years.

It was a Wednesday evening around 7:30pm. When another parent and I were walking outside the music center, a bike approached us and a mid-aged man started charging at us with foul words. He humiliated us and accused us of being people who do not understand English and who carry the viruses. Then he got down from his bike and walked towards us and threatened to hit us. He did not touch us, but he continued to walk towards us and screamed racial slurs towards us. We then ran back towards the music center and he chased us for about 20 feet until we reached the entrance and called for help. A security guard and a staff came out and the guy fled.

We later reported the incident to the police located at the other side of the building and requested more patrols in the area and further investigation. The requests were dismissed. The police said this is outside of his duty and he refused to send patrols or investigate further into what happened. He also refused to write up a report.

"It's happening every day to those kids."

I heard from one of the workers at an Action Day Primary Plus preschool in California about a case of a teacher who spoke out loud that she doesn't like Asian kids and violently yelled many times targeting Asian kids in her classroom. Most of the kids there cannot talk yet, so the parents did not know. However, the principal and most of teachers in the classrooms next door can hear clearly her anger with Asian kids. Due to the COVID-19 situation and lack of staff, the principal and management from that Action Day Primary Plus location didn't take further action to prevent their staff and educate them about hate crime or giving advice, strict warnings, or punishment. It's happening every day to those kids.

"I want justice."

While pumping gas at the Shell Station in Fortuna, CA I was assaulted by a male. I recovered quickly and began to defend myself and the situation was de-escalated by an off-duty sheriff as he calmed me down. I began explaining that I was attacked by this man for no reason, but he said he couldn't do anything other than stop the fight. He handed me his card and told me to call the cops and make a report, all the while not bothering to question my attacker and ultimately letting him drive away. I am a Filipino American public safety worker and this happened while on duty and was captured on my truck’s camera. I want justice.

"I’m sure people in their houses could hear... Everyone outside was doing absolutely nothing."

I'm a young Chinese trans woman. I was just walking in my neighborhood when a middle-aged man on a porch started screaming at me. “Hey ching-chong. You’re not fooling anyone.” “I’m going to come out and beat you. I can do that.“ “You’re not fooling anyone.” “I’m going to come out and beat you. I can do that.” I started walking away thinking if I should record him or just walk by acting like I didn’t notice. I didn't want to escalate.

“I can smell you from here, your smell stinking up everything. You smell like sh+t tr+nny” “F+cking f+ggot, no one is fooled f+cking f+ggot.” “You’re a man, you’re a boy.” “I’ll f+cking kill you, you’re disgusting.” “I’m going find you and murder you.” “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to come out there and kill you, I’m serious, that’s something I can do.” “You in school? I’ll find your school, I’ll find you there, I’ll f+cking do it right there in your dorm.” “I can tell you’re afraid.” “I can tell you can f+cking hear me. F+cking f+ggot tr+nny I’ll find you soon.”

He kept constantly repeating that he was going to find me and murder me. I could see it in his eyes. Such clear intention. If there weren’t people eating dinner in the yard he would have done something. When I started moving away, he started screaming so loud and long that I could hear him from three blocks away. I’ve really never seen someone so angry and loud in my life. I’m sure people in their houses could hear him. Everyone outside was doing absolutely nothing.

Elderly Korean man targeted by hate

Elderly Korean man was driving in his van near the corner of E. Washington and S. Central Ave in Los Angeles. A woman approached the van and started beating on the windows, yelling at him to go back to Asia and other negative comments about Asians. She yanked the windshield wiper of the car until it broke and damaged the car. The elder waited until she moved back to drive away and avoid further damage to the car. He was not sure how to deal with the situation with his limited English speaking skills.

Heartbroken and angered

My 15 year-old daughter was harassed and bullied by her three classmates who were supposedly her friends. They started off snapchatting her racist comments which led her to call them. She recorded their phone conversation and made it go viral. On that phone conversation they called her ugly, a coronavirus bitch, that she should go back to wherever she came from etc. We’ve called the cops and notify the school district. They incident also made it to the local news. The boys texted her back begging her to take down her post because they will lose their sports privilege and that it will ruin their lives. I’m so heartbroken for her and angered that she has to even deal with this.

"Traumatizing, denigrating, dehumanizing and degrading."

About 7:30pm on Tuesday evening I was exiting the 7 train subway station in Long Island City when a female behind me came up the subway steps shoving me and telling me to, “Go back to China.” When I turned the corner I asked her, “Did you tell me to go back to China?” She then said, “You should be raped.” She then went into her apartment, but I stood in the pouring rain and began video recording in my phone. I shouted up to her window that I lived on the same block and asked if she, in fact, told me to go to China and get raped. She told me she was calling the police on me and that they would believe her and not me.

I called my husband to come and help then I called the 108th precinct to file a hate Incident, left a message. The female came out of her apartment about 5 times threatening me, two times she left her apartment to run down the block in the rain telling me the police were coming to get me pointing at an active police car who was not coming for me. She came back to her apartment went inside, came back out with a pitbull to try to threaten me and my husband who had just arrived. After 5 minutes, I walked to the police station and filed a incident report.

This person lives in my community on the same block and I made this report to prevent her from doing this to others. I’m a 43 year-old, female, Korean American citizen. This experience was traumatizing, denigrating, dehumanizing and degrading.

A targeted push

(My daughter is writing this for me): I was waiting to cross the street. A young man (maybe early 20s) walked to pass in front and very close to me and then disappeared. Then I didn't know but a couple minutes later, he went behind me. He pushed me (on my left shoulder). Not hard enough to make me fall. He then ran across the street and looked back at me. He did not say anything. A young woman was near me and saw it happen and came over and she shook her head and said sorry and checked on me. I said thank you. She stayed a minute and the light turned green and we cross the street.