Our Deaths Aren’t Funny.
To white supremacists, our lives are cheaper than a greasy box of late-night takeout.
Whenever Asian people die, someone in the press will make a piss poor joke about our names or cuisines. To them, we’re nothing but a punchline. To white supremacists, our lives are cheaper than a greasy box of late-night takeout.
SAY THEIR NAMES.
Yan Zhiwen, 45. Father of three young children, immigrant from China.
Three pieces of white trash at the New York Post clearly thought Yan Zhiwen’s brutal murder was the perfect time to make a pun about Asian food. Yan leaves behind his loving wife and young daughter. An immigrant from China, Yan worked seven days a week as a food delivery worker. He was working three jobs trying to provide for his family and survive through difficult times. Yan was shot while delivering food and left in the street. His killer vanished despite the city knowing his identity, and was only arrested at the beginning of June- more than a month after murdering Yan. Another Asian life brought to a cruel end, with nothing but insulting headlines and more pain for an already traumatized community.
Updated June 6, 2022: To add insult to injury, the New York Post continues to harass the remaining workers at Yan’s restaurant, asking them to pose for photos with duck sauce containers and feigning surprise when the traumatized workers refuse.
Yan Zhiwen deserved better. Where does it end?
The passengers of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, 3 of whom died, with another 187 injured
Western media had a lot of fun coming up with their favorite anti-Asian punchlines and racist jokes for a devastating plane crash that left 3 dead, including two teenagers. A local TV channel displayed four made-up “pilots” that mocked Asian names and joked about the last moments before the crash. Cartoonishly funny, see? You can almost imagine their squinty little eyes popping out as their plane hits the ground!
Two people were already dead at the time this headline was published. Two dead, and the media has nothing better to say but a cheap dig at Asian accents. Could you imagine the uproar if the press put out a headline like this for a plane full of white passengers?
Never mind the fact that a brave flight attendant on Asiana 214 saved hundreds of passengers before being the last to exit the flight, putting her life in danger and becoming a hero to the world. Some nobody always has to crack one about Asian drivers. Please, sign me up for more victim blaming!
Kuanchung Kao. 33 at the time of his murder. Father of 3. Immigrant from Taiwan
Kao Kuanchung was murdered by the police in 1997. He leaves behind his wife and three children. The cops murdered Kao in front of his wife and daughter, prevented his wife from administering medical aid, and lied about the event afterward. Kao’s wife Wu Ayling was left struggling to raise the three children herself, forced to sell most of the family possessions, and fell into severe depression while coping with the trauma of losing her husband. The cops responsible for the murder were never charged or punished, and the shooter retired to become the mayor of a Texas town.
Chinese victims of COVID-19
Hey Bill, how does it feel to be an imperialist running dog? Here in China, even a single COVID death is one too many. That’s why we have fewer total deaths than the US state of West Virginia, while you’re fighting a losing propaganda war for a failed fascist state that’s allowed 1 million Americans to die. Not that anyone in China cares what you think, you Zionist fuck.
Palestinians murdered by Israeli settler forces
Maher is hardly the only Zionist I have on this list. Remember that there are more Asians than just East Asians. Our Arab comrades suffer some of the most gruesome and horrific violence on earth, and we share the same oppressor. Our survival is linked and no conversation about anti-Asian violence is complete without discussing the brutality endured by West Asians. Down with the false Israeli settler state. Down with those who kill Asians for fun.
What does this mean?
When Asian deaths are funny or entertaining, that simply encourages people to want more of us dead. Zionist settlers, US troops, and the colonizer cops see our deaths as a fun game where they can rack up points for each kill. At best, cracking cheap jokes about our deaths makes our lives worth less. A white death is tragic, an Asian death is funny. As a child of immigrants, I’m all too familiar with non immigrants refusing to take my parents seriously because of their accents, small stature, and perceived foreignness. We don’t matter, and our deaths don’t either. With record levels of anti-Asian violence in the USA and other white-majority countries, the future is dire. The press treated Yan’s life like it was worth less than the box of takeout he was carrying. What are we other than servants in life and disposable boxes in death?