“Your Skin Color Defines You” — Donald Trump
I had always thought that who I saw myself as was who I should be. That the slant of my eyes, my lightly tanned skin, and off-colloquial accent didn’t label me as different from anybody else. It shouldn’t, and most of the time, I don’t even notice it — but there are moments in my life, where my appearance causes others to turn their heads, or occasionally having my hidden accent on my otherwise “perfect” English makes someone strain their ears to listen a little more carefully. Questions based on asking whether I always had an accent, which country I’m from, and what sort of national identity I represent. Sure, those moments don’t bother me, not as much as it did when I first stepped into this country, but sometimes, it does make me irritated, profoundly confused and appalled that others still saw me as the Other — someone who doesn’t belong.
What, I often wondered, did they look at when they see me. Do men see me as the exotic Asian woman, or maybe a classmate thinks to themselves that the reason I do well in school is because I am Asian, not because I worked hard for the grade, but because I am my defined race? What if the discerning logo that comes with being an Asian- American not only ascertains my position in society, but also amplifies the perceived notion of what it is to be Asian in the United States? If the classification of a race applied to real people, and the stigmas that loves to adhere itself to meaningless titles were worth its grain in salt, I would have been a college graduate at the age of 10.
An example of someone classifying a group based on race is presidential candidate, Donald Trump — widely known for his inappropriate speeches and biting words against diaspora communities, especially Mexican Americans, he has been vocal on his point-of-view using stereotypes as a way to garner attention against those of Latin origins. During his June 16th campaign announcement, Trump had said Mexico is “sending people that have lots of problems” to America including rapists, drug runners, and other criminals. Describing them as something to be feared, Donald Trump has found a way to criticize and humiliate a minority group based on misunderstood titles that has got half the American population voting and rallying against.
It gives me fear, to know that biased stigmas and unadulterated misconceptions can drive hate crimes to occur between groups of people, just because someone was senseless enough to create a problem nonexistent in the first place. Since Trump’s rise to candidacy, there has been a statistical increase in hate crimes between not just the Mexican- Americans, but those part of the Muslim community as well. Muslim hate crimes, since the start of Trump’s presidential candidacy, has increased tremendously since the attack of the twin towers on September 11th, 2001.
Donald Trump targets the minority groups by exposing their negative stereotypes to the public, which causes those ignorant enough to be unable to see past the misinformation he provides to the public. Perhaps this ignorance is the irritation I get whenever I see judgmental eyes and ears in my direction, because there are always those who are willing to go the distance to inspect and criticize those who are regarded as the Other. Or is it possibly the provocation that comes with the questions based around my identity — of whether I fit in enough in a subjective society to by pass those who are willing to let the continuously stereotyped Asian girl fade in the background of a country built on diaspora communities.
