I use to think that
Written by Julie Yeeun Kim
Asians in America were
an invisible people.
Then in grad school, I learned that
no, we are not invisible people but,
more appropriately, an erased people.
America has had a major theme regarding us:
to erase our existence and deny our problems.
They smudge us out of textbooks, news,
photographs, surveys and statistics,
offices and momentous events of all kinds.
Then in my first year teaching young
Asian Americans, I learned that it’s not
just something done to us.
We’ve been made faithful servants
who complete the task of our own erasure.
We mute our voices, shame our truth-tellers,
starve our consciousness, burn our books,
everything but prepare for moments like these
when our realities erupt onto the scene.
So, if you’re of Asian descent and
you’re unaffected by what’s happening,
or if you find yourself here at this moment
without the language, tools, knowledge
to make sense of this and move forward,
I have questions without judgement:
When and where did you last see you?
At what point did you allow this world to erase you?
Julie Yeeun Kim is a lecturer of Asian American Studies at CSU Long Beach and a seminarian at Fuller Theological Seminary.
She spends her free time writing, singing, and putting her creativity to positive use for her communities.
