What more will it take for you to bridge
the hyphen in Asian-American and see who we are;
that we share this troubled home with you?
That we belong, too?
We adopted language and culture;
gave our labor and food, but still,
we are your oriental nightmare and Asian fetish.
When taunts for being Asian are accepted and unchecked,
they escalate to otherness and hatred.
And when that hate is emboldened and valorized,
it escalates to violence.
How much blood must we shed and
how many decrying statements need there be and
how many viral videos be disseminated
until you see that the violence is real?
That our pain and suffering
under white supremacy is palpable
regardless of the slice of life we live?
How much proof must we exhaust
before you see that we, too,
are American;
are human;
are exhausted, ourselves?
How much deeper my heart breaks
remembering that our community is not alone in
facing violence for existing outside of whiteness:
murder while running
while walking
while sleeping
while existing.
We know the terror of lethal white supremacy:
the ugly foundation of this country
that we call home.
What more will it take until
you stop using us as collateral for
your white rage?
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