Let's Combat Hate with Anger and Love
Dear Beloved Community,
After I wrote my last blog at the end of the last semester, I sincerely hoped that the next time I addressed you would be about something we could celebrate, maybe the end of another semester or the announcement that we are hosting an in-person event. Yet, here I am, writing to you about a tragic and a discriminative experience.
What happened in Atlanta on March 17 hit me differently. It hit me harder than the death of George Floyd or any other crime that has happened in the past; the people who were shot looked like me, and who were just like my mom or my grandma.
Recently, I have been waking up before sunrise to take pictures of birds in Central Park. Ever since an Asian man was stabbed early in the morning four blocks away from where I live, I have been carrying a pocket knife with me every time I go out in the morning because I fear for my life.
This pandemic and the accompanying anti-Asian rhetoric and hate crimes have transformed the discomfort I felt from being different from all the other students in a white-dominated high school into fear. Yet, what happened after this tragedy has made me realize that I am not alone; my experience is shared with millions of others in the world.
I wasn’t able to process some of these feelings until after different communities gathered together to mourn, to pray, and to support each other. I realized that my burdens and feelings are shared by and carried with countless others. Here is an excerpt from an email from Reverend Matt Terrell, Spiritual Life Advisor at Reformed University Fellowship, that I think perfectly captures the humanity and the truth we all need to hear.
For those of you who are sensing the sting of being targeted and devalued in a fresh way, as a pastor I feel a deep burden to remind you that you are loved — by me and my fellow Spiritual Life Advisors, by your peers on campus in your faith communities. But, most importantly, you are loved by Jesus. He adores you, actually. And when the world you live in says that Asian life is insignificant or discardable, he says otherwise. You are unspeakably valuable to His church and His world.
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I know this is not new. This week’s murders in Atlanta and the recent rise in hate crimes in America against image-bearers of Asian descent are just a few examples in the long history of racialized terror that you’ve been asked to endure. What an evil, cursed burden to bear. Perhaps it has left you feeling exhausted, afraid, angry, sad. In whatever way we can, we want to carry that weight with you.
We grieve with you.
We pray with you.
We love you ♥️.
What happened in Atlanta and has been happening to Asian communities in many countries have one commonality with what has been happening to the Muslim community, the Jewish community, the Black community, the Hispanic community, and many other minority communities – hate. I can assure you that Jesus is weeping in Heaven when He sees those hatreds and what us have been going through. As Matt wrote: “Not only are you loved by Him, but you are understood by Him.” Because He was once hated, targeted, hunted, persecuted when He was on earth, He hates and understands our pain.
What the murderer did not expect was that the crime he committed would evoke something in all of us which would bring us together and make us stronger. When I attended the virtual vigil NYU Global Spiritual Life hosted for the victims of the Atlanta shooting and the Lament event hosted by Christian leaders, I did not only see Asian people in the room but also people from the Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Native American communities. I did not only see grief and anger, but also love.
I am sure that you are pissed right now. I am pissed. Let’s use that anger to fight against hatred. Let’s transform that anger into love as “hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Prov.10.12, NIV) Our love and Jesus’ love will make us stronger, give us hope, bring us together, and heal the brokenness in our communities.
This past week has not been an easy time for anyone, particularly for the Asian community. Let’s continue to mourn, pray, hope, fight, and love together.
Sending thoughts, virtual hugs, and prayer,
Yijia Chen
CIFC President 2019-2021
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Cor. 1.3-4, NIV)
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Editor’s Note: The wording describing the Atlanta hooting was slightly altered on March 22, 2021.