Dear #EvanKlinger
An open letter to Evan, his parents, family, friends, colleagues, employer, and supporters…and I guess the entire world, really.
My encounter with Evan Klinger was covered by SF Weekly, Raw Story, HuffPo, Angry Asian Man, Next Shark, Buzzfeed News, and there is an Everipedia entry about it. Click here to see the abandoned first draft of this letter.
Dearest Evan,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits — I suppose. I began writing this letter a few days after our incident with the hope to publish it soon after. However, the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, and now we are here, a year after our incident occurred. I had lofty goals when I began writing. I wanted to help people understand the intersecting systems that come into play when it comes to systemic racism in America. When I discuss race and racism with people who haven’t had the privilege of the education my immigrant parents worked hard to provide — and later in life, an education I paid for myself using my literal blood and marrow — it becomes painfully clear how gigantic the chasm of information and understanding is between my interlocutors and me. Sometimes, it’s clear that the chasm is a result of my interlocutors being denied access to quality education. Sometimes, that chasm is a result of being insulated by privilege and a geographic bubble of liberalism:
I realized there was no way I could address all the intersecting issues that came into play in our encounter. I abandoned my initial draft of my open letter to you. I decided it would be best to pen a letter from the heart. (Though I do plan to write a series about how different modern systems intersect in America that serve to perpetuate the anti-blackness and colorism borne from Black chattel slavery.)
Evan, I’m ashamed to admit this, but I haven’t been on my bike for a year. I don’t want to attribute this to you. It’s humiliating for me to admit that a jerk who had the gall to start calling me a bitch — repeatedly — in front of my daughter had the power to deprive me of the joy in an activity I relished so much with my children and husband. Did you catch the article in the SFChronicle that mentioned our brief brush? Here is a link to it if you haven’t seen it.
I never wanted you to lose your livelihood, Evan. I have never expressed that — not once. I gave an interview with the Bay Area’s ABC7’s Tim Jue, and at the conclusion of our interview, I was asked why I stated I wanted your friends, family, and employer to see the video. My response? I wanted your friends, family, and your employer to examine the elements of our culture that fosters attitudes and finds actions like yours permissible.
The day after our encounter, the New York Times broke its story about the culture of harassment in tech. What apt timing, I thought. While your transgression was no where near the severity of the Silicon Valley venture capitalists who were being reported about, I think your actions all stem from the same rotten core.
On one end of the spectrum, you have assholes like Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Steve Jurvetson, Justin Caldbeck, Chris Sacca, and Dave McClure. On the less extreme end of the spectrum, you have individuals like yourself, Evan. That is, people who seem to have such an unwavering, unwarranted confidence they are correct even when they aren’t that they feel empowered to hurl verbal abuse and humiliate law-abiding mothers in front of their daughters since they believe their time is more valuable than the lives and safety of others or the law.
In some ways, you deserve my thanks. Your actions, along with the support and backlash I received, inspired me. I asked one of my white friends why I encounter people like you. “Is it because they think I’m stupid?” I asked. He responded that it is because they don’t expect me to fight back. Big mistake.
However, I don’t want to fight with you. I want to understand you. I want to understand why you did what you did. What made you think it was okay? Do you still think what you did was acceptable? How did your parents react? Do you have siblings? How did they react? What about your friends? Did they support you and your actions? I’d like to engage in an open dialogue with you.
I’d also like to invite you to get involved in a project you inspired me to get involved with — Kekcoin. Evan, my husband and I were early cryptocurrency adopters, and I am a tremendous advocate of free speech and decentralization, particularly the decentralization of power. I relish my privacy, so we have been careful to keep a low profile over the past 8 years. My brush with you and the recent events that have plagued our country have convinced me I can no longer remain in the quiet, comfortable space I have carved out for myself. I’m tired of people like you who make so many inaccurate assumptions about me and what I am capable of.
I saw your surprise, Evan, when I chose to defend myself from your barrage of verbal abuse and attempts at intimidation. I want to know what caused you to behave the way you did. I have attempted to connect with you within the past year. I found your new Instagram account, and you blocked me. You were so eager to make sure I noticed you in our first encounter. Why are you shying away now? Talk to me, Evan. Talk to me, and let’s work together.
I also received a lot of hate mail on your behalf. Someone was brazen enough to suicide-bait me, too. I will be posting screenshots of the messages I have received on AskAWoC.com. I will be responding to every single message.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Evan, you can contact me via the contact form on my website, Brownwashed.com. I invite you to peruse my art as well at Bae.MoM — you are the impetus behind why I began making art again. You can also contact me in the Kekcoin Telegram chatgroup.
Kindly,
Paula G. Nuguid
