AAPI Hate

Today I got a text from my mom that said she’s scared for my dad to go out and walk the dogs. It broke my heart. My mom, a first generation immigrant who grew up without a father for 16 years because her father left for America to work in getting them over here, was afraid that she will be randomly picked and attacked due to how she presents to the world.

My dad, who was born in the Philippines, grew up with both his parents and an older sister to take care of him. Until his father was randomly murdered in the streets of Iloilo.

My mom and dad’s family both escaped communist China, both of their families had everything taken away from the army. Both had more hardships of losing fathers in their new homes. Both of them survived through it, got away, and made it to America for a better life. 

This past year, protecting themselves from Covid, my mom’s father passing away in July due to complications with Covid, and now hate crimes popping up all over the country, and especially home in SF, there’s a sense of hopelessness to it. 

That’s what I’ve reflected on a lot this past year. That at any moment, without warning, they could be chosen off the street, and attacked. That’s my current fear, not for me to be targeted, but for my parents who have gone through so much for that American dream.