Young Asians Facing Racism In Mississippi Delta Say It’s Time To Speak Out

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Watch CBSN Originals documentary “Being Different in the Delta” in the video player above. It premieres on CBSN on Sunday, November 14 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET.

The sign on the door of Friendly Market in Greenville, Mississippi, is clear: “No mask, no entry.” Inside, Ryan Kwan and his brother Sean help their mother serve members of the community where their family has lived for generations. They have strong southern accents and feel proud to be from the Mississippi Delta. But Ryan says being of Chinese descent hasn’t been easy. He describes the past year as one of the worst he has seen in terms of racism.

“People told me to go back to China,” he said. “People have accused us of spreading COVID because we are Chinese. ”

Chinese immigrants began to settle in the region in the years following the Civil War and have become an integral part of the South, but many Americans are unaware of their history – or the challenges their descendants continue to face. .

Ryan Kwan Ryan Kwan works in his family’s store in Greenville, Mississippi. CBS News

In the 1970s, several thousand Chinese lived in the Mississippi Delta, but by the time Ryan Kwan, now 31, was of school age, many families had moved. He says he felt very lonely when he was young.

“I remember the first day I started school, I walked into the classroom and had to sit alone,” he recalls. “When I was older, I felt like I was targeted because I was Chinese. Other kids called me ‘Chink’, which was the worst term I heard.”

The events of the past haunt him. His grandparents owned another store in town, and during a robbery, his grandfather was shot and killed. In another incident, her grandmother was seriously injured. He says they were targeted because they were Chinese.

“I think it was the stereotype, that because he was Chinese, he’s weak and he’s not going to do anything. I’ve heard about lots and lots of Chinese store owners who have been shot. When they come out. , they beat them. “

Kwan started going to the gym, believing that becoming physically strong would deter bullies. He joined an all-white fraternity in college and says he’s started to “fit in”. But when the pandemic began, the kinds of racist comments and slurs he had been subjected to in his youth began to resurface.

“Last year was probably the worst year for us at the store, in terms of racist slurs,” he said. “People would tell me to go back to China, and the racism could come from a black or white person.”

Hate crimes against people of Asian descent began to increase before the pandemic. In 2019, these crimes were at their highest level in the United States for more than a decade. In 2020, the FBI recorded a 73% increase in racially-motivated attacks against Asians. The incidents were violent and frequent: a Thai immigrant died after being pushed to the ground, a Chinese woman was set on fire, eight people were murdered overnight in shootings at Asian spas in the Atlanta area.

And as incidents got more frequent, Ryan Kwan got more vocal. “If I have to go through this phase again where people start bullying me again, guess what, I’m going to stand up to you. I’m not your average Asian.”

Although he is concerned about the repercussions of speaking out because he says Asians are taught to keep their heads down and not to “make a scene,” he thinks he needs to represent young Americans. Chinese origin.

“It’s time for people to recognize who we are. I am a voice. That’s what matters.”

He is pursuing postgraduate studies at Delta State University and says he would like to become a teacher and try to influence the younger generation to speak out more against racism.

Gilroy and Sally Chow Gilroy and Sally Chow CBS News

Like many Chinese immigrant families in the Delta, Gilroy Chow and his wife Sally both grew up in grocery stores. “It was southern food: sausages, hogshead, cheese, bologna, salami, they were staple foods for southern communities.… And they were very reasonably priced,” did he declare.

For many years, the Chinese Exclusion Law of 1882 and the strict rules of segregation affected many aspects of life. The Chinese were not allowed to buy houses, so they lived in the back of their grocery stores. Chinese children could not attend public schools. The church provided a refuge for education and the community.

“You talk about Mississippi and you think black and white, but the Chinese have always been there, have always done our thing, survive financially, economically, socially, maybe by not making so much noise. were not seen as a threat to whites or blacks, ”said Gilroy Chow.

Although they were not allowed to become citizens, as many as 20,000 Chinese immigrants signed up to fight in World War II, or one in five Chinese Americans at the time.

“My Uncle Pap said he saw the sign with Uncle Sam and he said it said, ‘I want you,'” said Sally Chow. “And Uncle Pap said, ‘I have to do this, I have to help the country.'”

But they were not recognized for their service like their fellow soldiers. After years of campaigning, Chinese-American veterans are finally receiving the Congressional gold medals they deserve. The Chows attended the medal ceremony in Washington, DC to receive the award on behalf of his uncle after his passing.

“It is right and proper that they are recognized now, even after all these years,” said Gilroy.

Gilroy Chow made his own significant contribution to the United States. He went to the University of Mississippi, became an engineer, and was part of the team that designed the lunar module that landed men safely on the moon and returned them to the command module. He is now retired and lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He recognizes that he is part of an older generation who has a traditional view of self-reliance and determination, but he also recognizes that there is a math going on and that the younger generation wants to chart a different course. .

He says he is saddened to learn the things Ryan Kwan has faced over the past year. “It’s disturbing to me because it’s a bit close to where I live. There are people who think like that and act like that. It’s hurtful.”

But the way he responds to them is different. “I choose not to be on the streets with picket signs or to try to change the world,” he said.

Baldwin Chiu Baldwin Chiu with his wife, Larissa Lam, and daughter, Caliya. CBS News

“So much of the elderly Chinese community might have trouble expressing themselves. Even growing up, I was told to keep my head down,” Baldwin Chiu said.

He and his wife, Larissa Lam, live in Los Angeles with their daughter. When he discovered his American roots were in the Mississippi Delta, he set out on a journey of discovery to learn more about his family’s past. The couple made a film about their trip called “Far East Deep South” which they hope will now be used as an educational tool in schools to teach Chinese history in America. They are strong advocates of the Chinese-American community and have made short videos to fight the racism that has erupted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I hope the new generation doesn’t feel like they have to silence their voices either,” Chiu said. “There’s this’ model minority ‘thing that’s been in my life, my whole life. We felt like this thing kept saying,’ Keep quiet and you’ll be okay. You’ll finally be accepted by. the majority if you don’t make waves. ‘”

He says he also bought into this way of thinking, but now regrets it. “I think it ended up silencing not only our voice, but our history as well.”

Her daughter, Caliya, is a sixth-generation Chinese-American, and at only 8 years old, she is confident in expressing her identity.

“Just because it’s Chinese-American history doesn’t mean it’s not American,” Caliya said of her family’s history in the Delta.

“There is a perennial belief that Asian Americans are strangers, that we are not theirs,” said Larissa Lam. “It is the daily micro-aggressions that have a profound effect on society.”

They are part of a generation of Asian Americans who want to speak out to bring about change, but they believe it must be done through an understanding of history – that by teaching the past they can help forge a different future for their community in America. .

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