A happy Lunar New Year to those who are celebrating. I had a wonderful dinner this past Saturday with my immediately family, hot pot style. I don’t always go back to my parents’ house for dinner, but when I do, it’s the traditional year-end dinner on the night before Lunar New Year. The dinner symbolizes togetherness, a renewal of familial bonds. It’s practically the Asian version of American Thanksgiving. It’s that important and special.
Of course, there’s money in those little red envelopes for the kids. Imagine getting money from your parents for Thanksgiving? Oh wait, that’s called Christmas.
Unfortunately, the holiday spirit was dampened tremendously on the day of Lunar New Year. Horrific news out of Monterey Park - a predominantly Asian enclave in Southern California - of a mass shooting with 10 people dead. A 72-year old Asian male opened fire into a dance hall Saturday evening, just as folks are gathering to celebrate the incoming new year. That male is now dead, having shot himself after a standoff with police on Sunday.
The sadness and anxiety is through the roof for Asian Americans. We can’t feel safe anywhere. Since the pandemic started we’ve witness massive uptick in armed robbery, elder abuse, and home invasions against the Asian community. With this latest incident, it seems we cannot feel secure even in our community centers, from our own people.
I have latent anxiety for my mom who goes to Chinatown every single week. Nothing has happen thus far, thank god (and knock on wood), but I never feel truly safe about it. There’s no reason that Asian Americans - or any American - have to live like this. What a sad state of affairs.
Pink Floyd-ish.