仇恨，一般來說，從來不是一件正面的事。畢竟，以厭惡、憤怒、甚至無禮的方式對人和事作出負面反應，絕不是甚麼好事。作為一個亞裔青少年，特別是自疫情以來，有相當多的刻板印象和針對我們亞裔的仇恨。那，為甚麼會存在對亞裔的仇視呢？
為了理解任何類型的仇恨，我們至少應該先理解仇恨的定義。根據韋氏詞典，仇恨的定義是「強烈的敵意和厭惡，通常來自恐懼、憤怒或傷害感」。簡單地說，仇恨的定義是由於害怕受到傷害和憤怒而對某物或某人產生的極端厭惡。我們由此可以理解和發現，恐懼是群體中的個人為甚麼憎恨某人或某事的一個重大因素。
知道和理解了恐懼在仇恨中的作用，我們應該弄清楚它的來源。你知道，恐懼症等許多恐懼都來自對死亡的恐懼。根據Paul Ekman Group的官網，「恐懼是隨著傷害的威脅而產生的，無論是身體的、情感的還是心理的，真實的還是想象的」。簡單地說，恐懼會加劇仇恨。
現在，綜合仇恨的定義，我們可以知道，人們是出於對他人和自己受到傷害的恐懼而仇恨。仇恨的來源有很多，通常來自可怕的和創傷性的事件。一個最明顯的例子是在2001年9月11日這個致命的日子裡，雙子塔遇襲。根據9/11網站，在9月11日清晨，四架飛機被來自一個伊斯蘭極端組織的19名恐怖分子劫持了。其中兩架飛機撞上了雙子塔，另一架撞上了五角大樓，最後一架「幸運地」墜毀在一塊田地裡，而不是華盛頓特區。無論如何，這些極端分子的目標是通過攻擊美國人的「象徵」來向他們的內心灌輸恐懼。這一企圖極為「成功」，許多經歷過那一天的恐怖的美國人對此仍然歷久彌新。
大腦思維從本質上要讓人們找到一個可以指責的對象。在傳播信息方面起著很大作用的媒體認定這19名恐怖分子來自一個伊斯蘭團體，因此，大多數美國人開始將這一可怕的事件歸咎於伊斯蘭文化，儘管絕大多數伊斯蘭人不可能參與其中。那些悲劇受害者的家人可能因為恐怖分子的種族和宗教背景而開始憎恨穆斯林。事實上，根據《國安和國防計劃》的一篇文章，穆斯林在9/11襲擊後遭受了「人身攻擊、情感虐待和歧視」。他們成了替罪羊，承受一切指責。
大約18年後，類似的勢態開始針對亞裔，特別是那些中國血統的人。一種新的病毒（後來被稱為Covid-19）開始在中國出現。有一些科學家推斷，該病毒源自蝙蝠。由於一些蝙蝠湯的視頻與中國網紅有關，而且病毒確實是從中國開始的，很大一部分人認定，這都是15億中國人的錯。在一位名叫特朗普的總統決定將新冠病毒稱為「中國病毒」之後，人們對亞裔的仇恨更加嚴重了。許多人相信了總統的宣傳，並很快得出結論，全部中國人都是罪魁禍首。其中許多人開始將病毒種族化，發表種族主義言論，一些針對華人一些針對其他亞裔社區。紐約市一個人文組織的《解決反亞裔偏見、歧視和仇恨的工具包》中說，「在新冠疫情過程中，紐約市針對亞裔和亞裔社區的騷擾和暴力事件急劇增加，特別是對亞裔長者」。這一切都在錯誤的信息、揮之不去的仇恨和政治人物的操縱陰謀的混合作用之下發生。
現在說說關於中國人甚麼都吃的指責。我的父母都是在中國長大的，我曾多次去中國，住在我祖父母家。我得承認，是的，我們確實吃一些奇怪的動物，但是不，我們沒有人吃過任何蝙蝠。事實上，在中國文化中，蝙蝠代表著運氣，吃蝙蝠被認為是非常不敬和不吉利的。然而，在疫情期間，我在互聯網上看到許多人對我們華人開了貶低性的玩笑。那為甚麼我們，或者說為甚麼任何一個種族要因為少數人的仇恨和陰謀而成為替罪羊？
我必須指出，媒體和政客也助長了當前困擾我們國家的仇恨和恐懼。你知道，當一國想與另一國開戰時，為了讓本國人民願意支持戰爭，宣戰的人必須為他們的行動辯護。因此，為了支持和維護戰爭努力，媒體會傳播有關所謂敵人的宣傳，而那些容易受宣傳影響的人就開始支持戰爭，這樣，國家就可以開戰了！更不用說，雖然媒體聲稱其報道是公正的，沒有偏見的，而實際上，它往往是有偏見的。在無偏見的信息中，可能總會有一些有偏見的信息融入其中。9/11事件的恐怖分子被歸類為伊斯蘭恐怖分子就是一個很好的例子。我們真的不需要知道恐怖分子的宗教信仰，因為最重要的一點是，他們是恐怖分子，他們恐嚇了我們的國家。然而，媒體仍然在新聞報道中迅速使用「伊斯蘭恐怖分子」這個詞。這樣做讓相當多的美國人被誤導將伊斯蘭世界當做替罪羊，因為媒體報道廣為流傳。而現在，這種仇恨和恐懼也被引向了亞裔。
人類歷史發展時至今日，某些人會由於膚色、宗教、性別、階級、性行為和許多其他因素而選擇仇恨他人，這令人難以置信地沮喪和失望。畢竟，我們是由皮膚、骨骼、肌肉、血液、水等生物材料組成。我們所有人都在努力在這個世界上過活。在這個星球上，除了我們的經驗和知識之外，人類之間確實沒有根本的區別。這是一個事實，可悲的是，有太多的人不承認。
那為甚麼「仇視亞裔」會存在並且不受控制？或者說，為甚麼我們必須因為少數人的錯誤和欺騙者的宣傳，去仇恨和恐懼其他種族群體？如果在內心深處，我們是由相同的物質和精神構成的，那我們為甚麼要仇恨穆斯林、亞裔、非裔、拉美裔、土著人，或者任何人？畢竟，我們都是人，不是嗎？
【英文組並列二等獎，本報翻譯為中文以饗讀者，英文原稿如下】
Rachel Chen 聖荷西
Why Asian Hate
Hate, in general, is never a positive thing. After all, having a negative response, often found in the form of disgust, anger, or even disrespect, towards something or someone is never good. As a teenager of Asian descent, specifically since the pandemic, there has been a fair amount of stereotypes and hatred targeting us Asian folks. So why does Asian hate exist
To understand any type of hate, we should at the very least understand the definition of hate. According to Merriam Webster, the definition of hate is “Intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury” (Webster 1). To put it simply, the definition of hate is an extreme dislike of something or someone due to fear of being hurt and anger. From this, we can understand and discern that fear reveals an enormous factor to why individuals in groups hate someone or something.
Now, knowing and understanding fear’s role in hatred, we should figure out where it comes from. You see, many phobias and other fears derive from the fear of dying. According to the Paul Ekman Group’s official website, “fear arises with the threat of harm, either physical, emotional, or psychological, real or imagined” (PaulEkmanGroup 1). Simply put, fear exacerbates hatred.
Now, integrating the definition of hate, we can tell that people hate due to the fear of harm to others and themselves. Hatred can come from a variety of sources, usually from scary and traumatic events. One most notable example is the attack of the Twin Towers on the fateful day of 9/11/2001. According to the 9/11 website, in the early morning of September 11, four planes were hijacked by nineteen terrorists from an Islamic extremist group. Two of those planes crashed into the Twin Towers, another into the Pentagon, the last one “thankfully” crashing into a field instead of Washington D.C. Either way, the goal of the extremists was to instill fear into the hearts of the Americans by attacking their “symbols.” The attempt was extremely “successful,” and many Americans who experienced the horrors of that day still remember what happened.
Due to the nature of how the human brain works, individuals found someone to blame. The media, which plays a big part of spreading information, identified the 19 terrorist as from an Islamic group, and so, the majority of Americans started blaming the Islamic culture for the terrifying incident even though the vast majority could not have been involved. Those who have families who fell victim to the tragedy may have started hating Muslims due to the racial and religious backgrounds of the terrorists. In fact, according to an article from National Security and Defense Program, Muslims suffered from “physical assault, emotional abuse, and discrimination” after 9/11 attacks (Pandith 1). They became the scapegoats and were blamed for everything.
Approximately 18 years later, the same type of dynamic started to target Asians, specifically those of Chinese origin. A new virus (later on known as Covid-19) started emerging in China, and some scientists deduced that the virus originated from bats. Due to several videos of bat soup being linked with Chinese influencers, and the fact that it did start in China, a “good” majority decided that it was all 1.5 billion Chinese people’s fault. The hatred against Asians was compounded after a certain president named Donald J. Trump decided to refer to the Covid-19 virus “The Chinese Virus”. Many people fell for the president’s propaganda, and very soon concluded that the entire Chinese population was to blame. Many of these individuals started racializing the virus, spewing racist remarks, and some Chinese and other Asian communities. From A Toolkit for Addressing Anti-Asian Bias, Discrimination, and Hate from the NYC human group, it says that “During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City saw a sharp increase in harassment and violence against Asian people and communities, especially Asian elders” (NCY human group). This all happened due to a mix of misinformation, lingering hatred, and political figures’ manipulative machinations.
Now, to the allegations that Chinese people eat everything. Both of my parents were raised in China, and I have visited there numerous times staying at my grandparents’ house. I must admit that, yes, we do eat a few strange animals, but no, none of us have ever consumed any bats. In fact, in Chinese culture, bats represent luck and eating them is considered highly disrespectful and unlucky. And yet, during the pandemic, I witnessed many on the internet making demeaning jokes about us Chinese people. So, why must we, or rather, why must any race become a scapegoat due to the hatred and machinations of the few
I must point out that the media and politicians also contribute to the current hate and fear that plague our nation. You see, when a country wants to go to war with another, in order to make the people of that country want to support the war effort, those who declare war have to justify their actions. Therefore, in order to support and maintain the war effort, the media spreads propaganda about the so-called enemy. And those who are prone to propaganda start supporting the war, and now, the country is able to go to war! Not to mention, although the media claims that its coverage is fair and unbiased, when in reality, it is often biased. There might always be some amount of biased information integrated within the non-biased information. A very good example is when the terrorists of 9/11 were classified as Islamic terrorists. We really didn’t need to know terrorists’ religion, because the most important point is that they were terrorists and they terrorised our nation. However, the media is still quick to use the phrase “Islamic terrorist” in news reports. By doing this, a significant number of Americans were misled to scapegoat the Islamic world, as the media is quite widespread. And now, that same hatred and fear is being directed towards Asians.
It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing that at this late date of human history, certain human beings choose to hate others due to skin-color, religion, gender, class, sexuality, and many other factors. After all, we are made of skin, bones, muscles, blood, water, and other biological materials. All of us are trying to get by in this world. There is really no fundamental difference between human beings on this planet, except for our experiences and knowledge. This is the truth that sadly, too many people do not acknowledge.
So why should Asian Hate exist and go unchecked Or rather, why must we be conditioned to hate and fear other racial groups due to the mistakes of the sole few and the propaganda produced by the deceptive Why should we hate Muslims, Asians, Africans, Latinos, Natives, or honestly anyone for that matter, if underneath, we are made out of the same matter and spirit After all, we are all human, aren’t we?
