On the Amsterdam Museumplein, a demonstration against anti-Asian racism was held for the second time in a short time on Saturday. More than a hundred demonstrators were on their feet under the heading ‘Stop Asian Hate’. The event was prompted by the attack in Atlanta, United States. A month ago, eight people were shot in shootings there, six of them of Asian descent. In the Netherlands, especially since the corona crisis, the pain has been extra felt.
Kayan Lam (26), marketer
“Dirty Chinese” or “sambal bai”: in my youth in the village of Arkel, all kinds of things were thrown at my head. But since the corona crisis, it does not stop with words. I recently walked down the street in Utrecht and out of nowhere a passer-by spat on the ground at my feet. ‘Go back to your land, go eat some bats. Thanks to you, the corona virus is in the Netherlands. ‘ And that’s not an incident: it happened to me several times. Sometimes it’s spit, sometimes it’s a push. I am firmly in my shoes so I can take a push, but I especially hate that spitting. It’s so disrespectful. You will be dismissed as dirty. Then I get upset and start grinding: did I do something strange? While of course it is the other who was wrong. I understand that corona is very intense: almost everyone is affected by it. But why should I be addressed about it? I suffer as much as you do. ‘
Kevin Green (37), coach
‘They are everyday scenes when I am confronted with racism. Recently I gave leadership training for a multinational in the transport sector. During a workshop, the vice president walked into the room and asked, “Who’s in charge here?” The group of employees looked at me, and I said, “That’s me.” The vice president looked at me, turned to the group, repeated the question, and walked over to the first white man in the group. That is so humiliating. Apparently, with my Asian appearance, I am not seen as a leader. ‘
‘I regularly travel by train to Germany for work. When the border police come on board, my passport is invariably asked for and my work bag turned inside out. Those officials see a wagon full of white people and me and think: there must be something wrong with that. In situations like that, I freeze and close. Only once do I dare to mention the injustice. I have been adopted and in my white environment there is a lot of misunderstanding of what I am experiencing. If your family doesn’t understand you already, how am I supposed to explain to a stranger the pain it causes? ‘
Lucy Filip (19), communicatiestudent
‘In Hong Kong, where I grew up, we think the Netherlands is an open and idyllic country. That was my first impression when I came to study in Amsterdam last year. Until recently I was waiting on my bike at the traffic light and got a push. I stumbled and fell over. I turned my head and saw a man looking at me and shouting: ‘you are chinese, you have corona’. I was amazed. The first thing I could say was: ‘what the fuck!’. I never thought something like this would happen to me. ‘
‘They are not always such clear-cut acts. Much more often it concerns micro-aggressions. When I say I’m from Hong Kong, people ask if it’s in North or South Korea. Or they bow and say ‘ni hao’. When I ask if they don’t want to bend, they don’t respect it. ‘
‘Recently my work group member asked me with great seriousness if I could see enough, because’ your eyes are so small ‘. That’s ridiculous and not okay. ‘It’s shitty’.’
Jason Tan (37), businessconsultant
‘When I was 12 I was bullied for months. Guys called me “yellow” or “slit eye.” My Indonesian parents are first generation migrants and did not want to make a fuss about it. They told me not to worry. Or had to swear back with ‘cheese head’. In the end, I hammered away out of anger. But I hadn’t processed it with that. Since then I made less easy white friends. And more than twenty years later I noticed that sometimes could get into anger and start throwing things. During conversations with a psychologist, we discovered that racist bullying was the cause of this. ‘
“Two months ago, my daughter told me that the class was singing ‘Hanky Panky Shanghai’ on her birthday. I called the school. Teachers think it is a harmless song, but I have explained that it is hurtful. My parents used to be quiet, but the younger generation stands up for themselves more. That is also what my children want to learn. Today I took them to Museumplein, so that they can see that they can take their own place. ‘
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