I grew up being bullied, picked on because I’m Asian.  I was picked on for being fat and unathletic.

I went to a private high school where bullying shouldn’t have happened.  People said I had anger issues. People in school thought that I would go “postal” because I was angry.  This was right after Columbine.

Wouldn’t you be angry getting picked on for 4 years in a row?  No one ever asked why I was angry or upset.  No one offered me help.

I had told the counselors multiple times, their answer?  Go to a different school.

Talk isn’t enough.

The school I went to was Los Angeles Baptist.  The counselors were Mr. Robert Chevalier and Ms. Natwick.

Chevalier told me to transfer schools.  Natwick said I would never get into USC.  No one provided options.  I had to find out about them myself.

People like them are complicit in the racist America that immigrants, people of color and their children experience.  Don’t hide behind religion or political ideology.

I would wake up crying, dreading going to school every day.

I made it my mission to get into USC and succeed.

I made it my mission to show that I wouldn’t be bullied.

I made it my mission to show all those people, that their hate, racism, and narcissism wouldn’t hold me back.

 

 

Fast forward, my diploma hangs proudly above my desk, with combined degrees in computer science and business.  This isn’t bragging,  the diploma represents the promise and testament I made to myself, to be successful in lieu of all the hate, racism, and anger I had to deal with.

I bring all this to you because you should know the type of hate and racism isn’t only pervasive in some distant city, state, or country.

I bring this to you, to make it personal.

Are you all going to help me and others make this better, for current and future generations?

Are we going to keep talking about race while crazy people run around (like the terrorist in Atlanta) and we get more people like Chevalier and Natwick telling our future generations to deal and normalize racism, bias, hate, and mediocrity?  Put your child in my shoes.  What do you want for them?

If you want to help, here’s how.

You either have money, time or expertise.  Use them.

Donate money to causes, spend time and mentor your expertise.  Spend money on educating the underserved.  Help minority kids succeed and go to college.  Donate to schools that need the money for supplies, tuition, and meals.

Spend your time and mentor the underserved.  Help students young and old succeed.  Remember the SAT?  My family didn’t learn about the tests (nor the study groups) until two months before I had to sign up.

Spend your money on minority owned businesses.  Educate yourself on where that donated dollar goes.  Donate and spend with deliberate intent.

Become invested in seeing someone succeed.  Don’t spend money because you want to alleviate yourself about feeling guilty.

Invest yourself in each other.  I’m tired of reading books about race, talking about race, or virtue signaling about race.  I’m tired of inaction.

Take action.  Invest.

And let’s be clear, the intent is not to make anyone feel guilty.  I don’t care how much or how little privilege you had growing up.  We’re beyond what feels right, wrong, good, bad, or ugly.

Move past feelings.

Take action.

Invest in each other.