Authors: Jo-Ann Yoo and Curtis S. Chin
Apolo Anton Ohno (Photo courtesy of Curtis S. Chin)
There are more than 125,000 Asian Americans in Seattle. According to the U.S. Census, a record 22 million Asian Americans can be traced back to more than 20 countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. However, when we are inevitably asked such a question, “Where are you from?” “Seattle” or “Portland” or “Houston” or “Alexandria, Virginia” never seems to be satisfied.
Although a seemingly innocent question, asking where Asian Americans are from can be seen as assuming that the answer is not just the United States. It can be interpreted as assuming that we are less American than our non-Asian friends and colleagues.
This “alienation” has led to today’s crisis of anti-Asian hate crimes.
From March 2020 to September 2021, Stop AAPI Hate recorded 10,370 incidents of hatred against AAPI community members. Seattle is by no means an exception to this wave of hatred that hit the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. From January 2020 to March 2021, the Seattle Police Department reported 87 prejudice/hate crimes.
Combating anti-Asian hatred requires combating the model of alienation and exotic Asian American communities.
This is why the Asian American Federation launched the “I Really Come From” campaign. We work with AAPI artists, leaders, and storytellers to share stories about their sense of belonging from American cities. The event aims to debunk the assumptions often contained in “Where are you from?” Ask questions by showing the stories and lives of Asian Americans in a place they call home.
The collaboration between the artist and the storyteller has led to the creation of unique travel posters that portray American cities through the personal perspective of our AAPI storyteller. One of the posters portrayed Seattle through the eyes of Apolo Ohno, our favorite hometown Olympic speed skating gold medalist.
For Apollo, his home is a hair salon his father has run in Belltown for more than 40 years; his home is buying Korean food on Federal Way; his home is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Cascade Mountains, the Olympics and the Puget Sound.
Through this campaign, our goal is to help other Asian Americans to be proud of their hometown, no matter what this means to every member of our community.
We hope it reminds them of the connection with where they come from and shapes their culture.
For our non-Asian friends and neighbors, we hope that this sport will change the narratives and attitudes that affect the way you see us. Next time you consider asking an Asian American where they are from, we hope you ask yourself three things before speaking.
First of all, would you ask white people the same question?
Second, why do you want to know? Are you just curious? Or are you curious because you think they are not from here?
Finally, how do you express it better or put it in context?
To stop the wave of anti-Asian violence, we need to build a culture that recognizes the deep personal and unique American experience of Asian Americans. Through art, storytelling, and understanding of each other’s complex connections with places where we feel at home, we can change perceptions and build the necessary empathy to undermine the deep-rooted xenophobia and racism that have hurt our AAPI community.
Jo-Ann Yoo is the executive director of the Asian American Federation. Curtis S. Chin is a member of the Advisory Board of the Asian American Federation and a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank. Follow them on @AAFederation and @CurtisSCin.
