SuChin Pak.Photo: Rachel Luna/Getty Images
Pak, who was born in South Korea and moved to California at the age of 5, said she didn’t say anything at the moment because she was afraid “to cause a fuss or be seen as difficult or too ‘sensitive.'”
She said she fought to have the person “removed” and stopped going into work.
“The executives tried to mediate to reconcile but I refused,” Pak wrote. “It dragged on for months. I did not do this because I had an agenda or even courage, I just had this sinking feeling in my gut that I had to do this. It’s the kind of sinking feeling though that doesn’t give you strength, or bravery, it was the kind that kept me in bed for a month, crying, scared and uncertain about everything.”
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Her post comes days after a 21-year-old gunman allegedly shot eight people —six of them Asian women— and injured another person atthree separate spasin the Atlanta area.
Pak referenced the violence against the AAPI community in her post, writing, “In this moment, as many of you are shaking with fear, uncertainty and anger, feeling like you don’t have any power to do anything, know that in the midst of feeling small and invisible, you have a deep sense of dignity, of self worth and holding on to that in the darkest of places is enough.”
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At the end of her post, she shared that she carries the memory of the racist incident with her to remind herself “that my dignity is something that can never be bargained with, isn’t something for me to put away so someone else can feel comfortable.”
“And one more thing I know now something that I didn’t quite understand then, Asians have been the butt of jokes, but these jokes are not to be dealt with lightly,” Pak concluded. “These jokes are just the timid veneer that hide violence, hate, [misogyny], racism and white supremacy. Our grandparents, our elders, our brothers and sisters are being spit on, punched, shot, attacked and murdered while these ‘jokes’ are being spit in our faces. Be angry. Be f—— enraged. And then do something to repair this damage. Read, donate, volunteer, share and hold one another as we find our way through this pain.”
To learn more and to report crimes, go to:Asian Americans Advancing Justice,Stop the AAPI Hate,National Council of Asian Pacific Americans,Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA, andAsian Pacific Policy & Planning Council.
source: people.com
