Michael Luo, an editor at the New York Times, was “told to go back to China” over the weekend, and Asian Americans respond by sharing their own stories of racism.
In an open letter published Sunday, Luo talks about the experience, and says he and his family had just left church when a woman they were blocking yelled, “Go back to your f—ing country.” Luo tweeted what he heard.
Well dressed woman on Upper East Side, annoyed by our stroller, yells: “Go back to China…go back to your f—ing country.” #thisis2016
— Michael Luo (@michaelluo) October 9, 2016
The incident comes fresh off a controversial Fox News segment last week, which critics argue perpetuates Asian stereotypes. The clip mocked a Japanese man asked to demonstrate karate and an elderly woman who could not answer questions because of a language barrier.
Luo, who was born and educated America, has been working at the Times since 2003. And despite his success and the friends he has made, he still “often feels like an outsider” – a feeling, he has found, that is not exclusively his.
Following his tweet, the AAPI community flooded social media to support Luo and to share their own stories from the “outside.” Armed with #thisis2016, here are some of the things they said:
At my 15 yr olds HS, after she introduced herself, a white girl said “No your name can’t be Skye, it’s Ching Chong Oh!” #thisis2016
— Ellen Oh (@ElloEllenOh) October 10, 2016
@michaelluo I received these texts from my younger sister AS I was reading your article. We’re 1st generation Americans #thisis2016 pic.twitter.com/9TQmQTQaDZ
— KP (@KP_erez) October 10, 2016
@michaelluo I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told over the years that I speak ‘really good English.’ #thisis2016
— Tomoko Hosaka (@TomokoHosaka) October 10, 2016
“You seemed, well, normal,” Luo said in the letter, describing the woman, who looked as if she could be a parent at one of his daughters’ schools. “But you had these feelings in you, and, the reality is, so do a lot of people in this country right now.”
