20 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 8, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
‘I don’t feel safe at all’
Queens Asian American teenagers open up
about recent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes
BY ERIN YOON
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e recent infl ux in hate crimes
directed toward Asian American
communities in Queens and
across the nation has garnered
much public attention on the
subject of racial hostility.
While there have been several
protests throughout the borough
in recent weeks, the anti-Asian
sentiments have not gone away.
In Queens alone, there have been
several recent incidents, including
one in which a man hurled
anti-Asian slurs at a woman on
board a subway train before
destroying her phone while she
made a call on Tuesday, March
23. Th at incident came aft er a
group of teenagers attacked a
13-year-old Asian American boy
on a Flushing basketball court.
As the issue continues to
plague the borough and the
country,Asian American teenagers
in Queens transparently
shared their thoughts with QNS
upon being asked to explain
their feelings toward the current
situation.
“I don’t feel safe at all,” said
Tyler Lee, a high school senior
residing in Flushing. “Although
I haven’t been aff ected personally
by the recent attacks, it’s both
threatening and infuriating to
see a list of new crimes against
Asians on the news each morning.
” Th e hate crimes, according
to Lee, are not committed due
to the wrongdoing of victims.
Th e victims so far were innocent
individuals; they were simply
attacked for their racial identity,
Lee said. For this reason, violence
against Asian Americans
cannot be justifi ed in any way,
according to Lee.
“It’s crazy because last year,
I was afraid to leave the house
due to the virus. But now I don’t
want to leave my home because
I could easily be attacked while
walking down the street or waiting
for a train,” claimed Sarah
Wang, a high school senior who
lives in East Elmhurst.
Wang said her parents, who
own a beauty supply store in
Astoria, have been told “go back
to your country” a countless
number of times since the outbreak
of the coronavirus. Wang
suspects that the sudden projection
of anti-Asian sentiments
is an outcome of the blame that
Asian Americans have taken for
the ignition of the pandemic.
However, it is also evident that
racist attitudes toward the Asian
American community are not a
part of a new trend; they have
been present long before the
recent surge in hate crimes.
“I attended a private institution
for fi ve years during my
elementary and middle school
days,” said Sandi Shao, an 11thgrade
student who resides in
Bayside. “I was the only Chinese
student in my grade, and I was
shamed for it.”
Some of her non-Asian classmates,
Shao recalled, were quick
to make insulting generalizations
regarding her background. She
said she was oft en fallaciously
mocked for being a “dog-eater.”
Because she wished to feel less
isolated and belittled by her surroundings,
Shao made eff orts to
blend into the American-style
atmosphere of her school environment
Gabriele Holtermann
and to conceal her traditional
background as much as
she could. However, such actions
collected more sneers from her
classmates.
“Some kids would joke around
saying that I was a ‘banana’: yellow
on the outside and white
on the inside,” she told QNS. “It
took me a while to realize that
I wouldn’t be appreciated and
included either way.”
Th e current rise in anti-Asian
sentiments, she continued, provokes
her to use her past experiences
to raise her voice against
the confl ict. In order to make
change, more people should
explore the issue and help fi ght
against it, according to Shao.
Sunnyside residents hold a rally standing up against Asian hate crimes on March 6, 2021.
“It’s crazy because last year, I was
afraid to leave the house due to the
virus. But now I don’t want to leave
my home because I could easily be
attacked while walking down the
street or waiting for a train.”
— Sarah Wang
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