Paradox Blog

Recently a survey showed that seven out of ten Americans have somewhat or very negative opinions toward Chinese Americans. Was this a surprise to you? Haven't you felt the hostility in people's gaze? Haven't you felt the need to work as hard as can be just to prove you are worth it? I know I came from a foreign country and have kept many subtle foreign ways about me so I can just grin and bear it. But I feel so unfair for my child and many other Chinese Americans who were born and raised here that they would be discriminated against just because they look different.

When we look inside of us, it should not be a surprise to us that people fear and resent the unknown. If you were asked the same questions in the survey about some other ethnic groups, can you say for sure you would answer differently? I don't have a solution to this age-old problem. But we have to think positively about ourselves and about others. Always give people a chance so that we would be given a chance. Keep an open mind so that doors would be open to us. For the sake of our children, we should at least try.