After immigrating from China, OU graduate student Haifan Xiao expected the common challenges of living and studying in another country. She said she never imagined she would have to face a far greater obstacle — not feeling “normal” in the midst of a global pandemic.
Xiao and a friend left the airport in Ames, Iowa, after Xiao’s flight from Beijing, China, which lasted over 24 hours. Xiao’s arrival in Ames marked the first time she’d traveled to the U.S. Hungry from the trip, Xiao and her friend decided to head to a local fast-food restaurant. When the pair sat down — the only Asians in the restaurant — and began speaking Chinese, Xiao said she felt as if every eye in the restaurant was trained on their table.
Today, Xiao said she’s even more cognizant of the attention she can attract in public and the potential safety risks she could face during simple trips to the store because of her appearance.
The coronavirus pandemic has not only brought devastating public health challenges across the globe, but it has also forced Asian Americans to adapt to sometimes hostile environments. Asian Americans have faced discrimination and battled stereotypes for centuries in the United States, but the pandemic has enhanced the fear of being targeted almost anywhere — including spas, massage parlors, convenience stores and subways.
Members of the Asian community at OU said they are afraid to go out alone for simple tasks like grocery shopping due to an increase in violence against the Asian community triggered by the pandemic.
‘And even today, in these COVID times, I don't leave places to go by myself.’
Violence and harassment against the Asian community in the United States spiked during the pandemic, with around 2,800 reported hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the U.S. between March and December 2020, according to Stop AAPI Hate.
Anti-Asian discrimination and xenophobia in the United States dates back to the 19th and 20th centuries, when the spread of diseases was commonly attributed to Asian immigration. American public health and immigration policies such as the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, “have targeted, and continue to target, immigrants from Asia because of the perceived threats they pose to America’s dominance domestically and abroad”, an article from UC Berkeley read.
#StopAsianHate advocates attribute the increased violence to xenophobic rhetoric that blames Asians for the spread of COVID-19. This rhetoric was popularized by former President Donald Trump’s references to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus.”
Xiao said although she hasn’t experienced physical violence, she doesn't believe Asians or Asian Americans have to experience such violence to speak up.
“Since the pandemic, my Chinese friends texted me, ‘Be careful when you go to grocery stores,’” Xiao said. “My colleagues in (the sociology) department also texted me to say, ‘Hey if you need help, I can go to the grocery stores for you (and) buy you stuff.' I’m afraid I might get attacked in grocery stores just because of my appearance," she said.
Xiao said she sometimes wears glasses in addition to her COVID-19 mask when she goes to grocery stores, so people are less likely to recognize her as Asian. Dressing this way makes her feel safer during this time, she said.
“I know that a lot of the members in my communities, either Chinese or other Asian ethnicities, are all worried about their safety issue (and) we (have lived) in this feeling of fear for a long time,” Xiao said. “(It’s) really not a normal situation that an Asian is afraid to be recognized as an Asian in grocery stores. Personally, I'm proud of being an Asian. I love my culture, but I really do not like living in fear.”
Myong McClintock, a second-year student at the OU College of Law and member of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, also said she has faced racism throughout her life because of her appearance.
As a Korean American, McClintock said strangers were often surprised she could “speak English very well.” She also shared that when she was in middle school students would throw rice at her and say, “Eat rice, bitch.”
“It was really hurtful because that was the first time that somebody had really pointed out that I was different from them,” McClintock said.
McClintock wouldn’t bring Korean food to school because she said she knew others would make fun of her, she said.
“It's like we have to shun our own identity by not bringing our own ethnic food to school because other people will judge us,” McClintock said. “And even today, in these COVID times, I don't leave places to go by myself. I almost always have my husband with me because I fear for my safety. I worry that somebody is going to say, ‘Oh, she is a 5’2” Asian woman. She's an easy target.’”
McClintock said the climate of hatred against Asians in place since the beginning of the pandemic created fears she never thought she would experience.
“If I go to the store by myself, I definitely get looked at differently. I get looked at, and people are wary of me. They walk around me,” McClintock said. “I've had some people coughing my direction, these really just terrible and rude things. But if I go out with my husband, people don't do that, because they see ‘Oh, he's a scary dude, so I'm not going to try and fight with him. But they see me by myself and they're like ‘Oh, I can take advantage of that.’”
‘I don't really feel like I am included within the community’
Although she was born and raised in the U.S., McClintock said she doesn’t feel included in the OU and Norman communities. She said although she feels welcome in the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, it is a small organization of around 20 people, and the rest of the law school “largely doesn't recognize the API hate.”
“After Atlanta, President (Joseph) Harroz sent out a school-wide email, and from my understanding that was actually after somebody had emailed him (saying they wanted) to hear something from the OU leadership recognizing this problem,” McClintock said. “And that is an issue ... itself because he should have (taken) the initiative to send an email on his own to recognize ‘Hey, there has been a rise in Asian hate, and we need to address this problem. If the leadership is silent, then everybody else will follow that silence.”
With the support of her sociology colleagues, Xiao was one of the community members who wrote a letter to Harroz after the Atlanta shootings asking for university support of the Asian community.
According to OU Director of Media Relations Kesha Keith, the letter from President Harroz and OU leaders sent out after the Atlanta shootings was “was a pre-planned collaborative communication” independent of community prompting.
Xiao, the organizer of the Norman rally protesting anti-Asian violence, said as an international student, she had never planned this type of event. She said she wants the public to know “the predicament Asian communities are faced with.”
McClintock, who also participated in the rally as a speaker, said many people don’t recognize that anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander racism is different from the racism faced by other minorities.
“They tend to lump all minorities together, but all minorities don't face the same problems within different communities. I'm not a Black person, so I don't have to fear a police officer pulling me over and shooting me. That is something that Black people have to face every single day,” McClintock said. “Asian people just face different problems, and it's important for leadership and administration to recognize (and) acknowledge that to be able to convey that to people so that they also know.”
C. Aujean Lee, an assistant professor of architecture, is conducting a research project on government actions related to anti-Asian incidents and has also published an article on how hate against Asian Americans can be used to plan future “anti-racist frameworks.”
Lee also said her racial identity has affected how others view her “in a lot of different ways.”
“One way is (that) my research on Asian Americans is seen as unimportant versus research on the total population, because Asian Americans are a smaller population,” Lee said. “This view may also tie to some perceptions that Asian Americans are a monolithic group and are all successful, rather than understanding there is a lot of nuance and diversity.”
Lee said although there are quite a few faculty who are of Asian descent, there are not enough Asian faculty experts on race and ethnicity who can help students better understand anti-Asian incidents.
In fall 2020, OU reported 1,685 of its 27,782 students were of Asian descent alongside 507 of its 12,047 faculty and staff.
“Campus climate goes beyond having enough numbers of every group. Numeric representation is only one factor that contributes to a welcome, more equitable campus climate,” Lee said. “In higher education studies, there are three more factors that create a more inclusive campus: addressing the institution's historical legacy of inclusion or exclusion of groups; psychological attitudes or perception of groups — in other words, if you perceive racial conflict/discrimination — and behavioral dimension, actual interactions between groups or lack of interactions.”
OU Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Assistant Vice President Teara Flagg Lander, said the office has been adjusting to provide resources to the Asian community.
Lander said the office created a partnership with Multicultural Programs and Services April 5. She said the MCPS office has recently hired a new coordinator for Asian programming services who will work closely with the DEI office.
“We learned there has been an increase in anti-Asian violence, unfortunately, over the past two weeks, so it's definitely something that's top of mind for our office,” Lander said. “We have also just been very diligent in reaching out to different community partners, whether it be MCPS, or our employee resource group (to see how we can) better support our students and make sure that they feel safe.”
Lander said although the DEI office is not a mental health office, it plans to connect students to necessary resources through its strong partnership with the Health Sciences Center.
‘Silence is violence.’
Lander said it is important for faculty and students to become comfortable speaking up for their Asian or Asian American peers and professors, understanding the inequities they face and how to support their communities.
“If you're a faculty member and you have a student that may have a name that you are not familiar with, ask the student what their name is and work on saying the correct name instead of asking them for an alternate name or a nickname or something that they go by. If you're a student in the classroom, to do the same thing, advocate for that student,” Lander said. “Silence is violence. So, when you're silent, you could also potentially be doing harm.”
McClintock said she has had professors that avoid calling her by her first name and refer to her as “Ms. McClintock” instead.
“It's a really simple question of ‘Hey, how do I pronounce your name?’ and then learning how to say my name. It's not offensive to ask me that if you are unsure,” McClintock said. “I’ve had professors that have blatantly just completely ignored my first name and gone straight to my last name, even if they've called everybody else by their first name.”
She added it is important to have resources and programs available for minority students, as their voices are often unheard, and that the administration recognizes the differences between Asian cultures.
“By having diversity and inclusion events, it's important for the speakers to talk about what is racism (and) what that looks like and that way students can learn, otherwise my voice isn't going to do anything because they don't believe me,” McClintock said.
Lee said there are several ways OU can improve its support for Asian American students. She said the university should connect with Asian American student groups, Asian community groups and nonprofits in the region to ask what they need for support. She also said administrators should explore the local and national history of Asian Americans through course offerings and workshops.
Lee believes it is necessary to identify how Asian American issues reflect larger racial climate issues that affect other students, faculty, staff of color, which she said can overall “support a more racially inclusive university,” and look to hire more faculty members who have expertise on Asian Americans.
Xiao also commented on how she believes it is possible to be more inclusive towards the Asian community on the OU campus and in general. She said learning about Asian communities is the best way to “communicate and help eliminate stereotypes.”
“Sometimes people get to know Asians from what they heard from others, what they watched, what they read from mass media, or other places, so I would really appreciate (it) if people are willing to just talk to us, or are willing to listen to our stories and know how we feel,” Xiao said.
McClintock said she agrees with Xiao that individuals need to take part in the issues that affect the Asian community.
“Don't hate minority groups, don't be a racist — be an anti-racist. Learn how to be an ally for minority groups, educate yourself on the issues that minorities face,” McClintock said. “If you see somebody on the receiving end of a hate crime, stop that, defend that person, don't just stand there and watch. … We shouldn't just be bystanders. We should be active and jump in and protect people that need to be protected, defend people that need to be defended.
