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The people who assaulted me today, yesterday, and likely will assault me tomorrow are probably Cornell students. I don’t accept this, but I won’t counter it with a dangerous vigilante action. I should be protected from this type of injury by law and by the university. This school offered me a chance to gain an education, not to feel dejected and ridiculed. This school advertises a broadening of minds, a passion in learning, and a fair institution. Yet, in my years here, I have heard the problems debated backwards and forwards, often in vain. In my short collegiate lifetime, the results are overwhelmingly clear – no action, no equality, no equity.
When I first came to Cornell, I used to feel shocked and hurt by racially loaded statements such as, “Con wu tall meee wair Hong Kong Westa-wong is?” Now, I just roll my eyes and walk on. What can I do? Engage them in a pointless argument, seek revenge, or call the police? As I walk around on campus and receive verbal drubbing from strangers, who automatically assume that I am a foreigner simply because of my skin tone and facial features, I feel powerless. I feel forgotten.
When those racial attacks roll off my back nowadays, I’m not ashamed for not doing anything. I’m not angry at those who attack. I am certainly not angry at myself. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of those empowered few who do nothing to stop it from happening. Those empowered few who keep looking for a solution. But I could care less about that. I want respect. I want fair recognition and protection as a citizen, a student, and a human being. I’ll be satisfied as long as I see some action. That’s all I ask.
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