Story of a Korean painted as Asian
Hye Ji Lee (through Radio New Zealand)
Auckland, February 4, 2018
Only about half a year ago, Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy launched the Give Nothing to Racism campaign featuring Taika Waititi, highlighting that New Zealanders were suffering in silence in face of increasing racial intolerance.
Children dont live in vacuums. Racism in schools should be no surprise.
I moved to New Zealand in 2002 as an 11-year old from Korea.
Maneuvering Identity
On my first day I learned that a) I was Asian, and b) that this was something to be made fun of. In the following years, being Asian would play in or against my favour and I was to learn how to maneuver this identity.
My first school was majority Pacific Islander and Maori students.
There, I was a Fob from China and the designated greeting for me was Ni Hao.
I worked hard to improve my English and once I became fluent, I learned I could stand up for myself by asserting the same Kiwi accent as them.
My second school was predominantly white. There, it didnt matter how I spoke English. It was what I looked like and who I was associated with. I made conscious efforts to stay away from the Asians and instead blend in with white children.
There, I was a cool Asian. I learned to laugh at Asian jokes directed at me and the Asian children to fit in.
Complex politics
The racial and identity politics were subtle and complex, but real, and in full operation every day. The target of racial jokes changed erratically, and the cruelty would vary depending on the targets position in the coolness hierarchy at school. It didnt matter what you were – Maori, Indian, Islander, Arabic, Asian et cetera …if you werent neutral by way of being white, you were never safe.
But here is what the racism I experienced, witnessed and sometimes inflicted on others, ultimately taught me.
I cannot change how I look and how others choose to treat me.
Even when I have done my best to blend and fit in, it will not always protect me.
I carry with myself, an unchangeable marker of being different, of being an outsider in this country. Yet, like many others, whether that be discrimination based on race, gender, ability, I continued to live my life.
Strength and Resilience
My experience of racism in school taught me to be strong, to be resilient, to show up and get back up no matter what knocked me down. Although not perfect all the time, I learned to be compassionate to others, reminding myself of how I felt when I was knocked down for something I could not change about myself.
My story is not unique. There exist countless more New Zealanders whose strength and kindness go unnoticed. We are blessed to live in a society with many whom despite obstacles, choose to move forward.
Upon reading this report, I felt a surge of empowerment, picturing the young students speaking up about their experience of racism, unprompted by the researchers.
I feel privileged to be amongst their tenacity and courage.
I feel hopeful for the kind of New Zealand to come.
Hye Ji Lee is a writer of politics, culture and media based in Tmaki Makaurau/Auckland and London.
Photo Caption:
A foreign student in a classroom. File Photo under Special Arrangement with www.rnz.co.nz
