From One Survivor to Another

things i don’t understand about racism against Asian people

• Some Asian person gets famous and 1000000 white journalists who think they’re being clever decide to make a double entendre with the word “chink”. Like seriously…do you even check with your editor before doing that?
• I tell a person my name (Chungyen) and they hear it backwards. “Yeng Chun”. Like where does this come from, seriously. I literally just said it one way and you heard it in reverse. I would not say “Aras” for Sara, so why would you do this to my name?
• Teacher reads my already westernized, anglicized name on the roll and completely butchers it so that it sounds more “foreign” or whatever. Often, this includes dumping in vowels or consonants that weren’t even there in the first place. Changyun, Changyow, Chingyen, Shungyeen, etc. If it’s Spanish class and the teacher says “Choongyen” because that is how the Spanish vowel works, I totally understand. But where do people get these extra, nonexistent vowels and shit? It’s like suddenly my name bends the fabric of language so that U’s become I’s, and N’s become Q’s.
• People call me by the name of some other asian dude who doesn’t look a thing like me, like the time I was called the name of this Bolivian guy who is a foot taller, has a totally different face, has much shorter hair, and is stouter than me.
• Everyone assumes I am related to Jackie Chan. Okay did you not get the memo, there’s like, 2 billion Asian people in the world.

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    Q’s.” The thought process behind...definitely “Hmmm… these foreign names are tricky,

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15. dinocopter said: The only people I’ve seen do that backwards thing are white asian studies majors that think your entire name is chungyen. so they want to do the ‘respectful’ thing and put what they think your last name is first. i’m always like “yeeah he’ll hit you”
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17. littlearietta said: Uagh! Some people honestly have problems with pronouncing letter combinations or feel like they have to mimic asian-sounding vowels. I can add to that list- People assume I can’t speak engish or that I speak chinese / japanese when i’m neither
18. soliloquize said: loool my last name is “Chen” and IT GETS MISPRONOUNCED. SOMEHOW.
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25. bad-dominicana said: wthhh i get the name thing all the time too. adding extra vowels and consonants. the hell.
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