Prejudice is a Disease

Do you know why so many Asians wear masks? (Even prior to Covid-19)

What are some of the first things that come to mind when you see an Asian person wearing a mask?

There have been a lot of interpretations, but over the past month, the perceptions around Asian people wearing masks have evolved, and disturbing thoughts and actions have been revealed. How much of that are you aware of?

Many people know that Chinese businesses have been suffering, but did you know that many Asians are being targeted and violently attacked? Did you also notice how that’s not really being published on the news?

Wearing a mask is common courtesy in many Asian countries. It’s like coughing or sneezing into your elbow. It's a mainstream accessory for commuters, and in my experience in Japan I saw masks all the time. On the bus, in my classroom, on TV, you name it. And most of my time spent in Japan was during the summer… not during flu season.

Most people don’t enjoy wearing masks, you’re basically wearing your breath on your face and it gets kinda gross after a while. But it’s not for comfort, it's more of a public duty. It's so wild to see how people’s reactions to Asians wearing masks have changed so drastically in the past few weeks. Asians are being harassed for wearing them, but now people are also targeted for not wearing them. Please, mind your own germs and also mind your ignorance.

This is a really good time to investigate the way you’re consuming and processing information. Especially for those of you spending a lot of screen time at home during your quarantine. Really comb through the nuances of how you, like most Americans, have prejudice against POC (People of Color). The racist foundation of this country is still visible today, but let's make sure it doesn’t show through you.

As a response to the rise in hate, I hand stitched a delicate and translucent lace to mimic what’s commonly seen as a face mask. It's a similar shape to the ones I use to see commuters wear in Japan. Clearly, this is not a functional object.

The objective was to highlight what the mask symbolizes today. Mask or no mask, my face invokes fear. Mask or no mask, my face can cause me to become the next target of hate. Even if these images are appealing to some, my existence remains controversial.

I will say that I don’t usually wear masks. Spending the majority of my life in the U.S. as an Asian American, I have been conditioned to not do anything “too Asian” to avoid making a spectacle of myself.

(For those of you who don’t understand what I’m saying, I’d wear shoes from Payless, or a Jansport backpack, or really… anything, and I would be called out by my classmates and neighbors on how ASIAN I was. I wouldn’t be doing anything differently from them, but I was still made to feel like I was a freak show. My outfit is just like yours, the only thing Asian about it is that it's made in China.)

It took me decades to realize I can never be too much of myself, and that I don’t exist for the mere comfort of others. I hope you all have been enjoying some of my recent experimental posts. You don’t have to post anything to be expressing yourself to the fullest. I just wanted to inspire some of you to explore a different part of your mind. I wanted to remind you all to love yourself a little harder today. You’re not alone in this weird journey of life.