From Voices to Action: A Conversation with AAPI Families

Young-chan Han:

Welcome to our webinar titled From Voices to Action: A Conversation with AAPI Families. We are so glad… We are so glad you’re here. I know we’re hearing… Hold on for a second. Please put where you’re from in the chat. We’re going to get started in a few minutes. I see some familiar names, and it looks like we have people from all over the country. Thank you… Hello. Hello, everyone. Thank you, I’m back. Let’s get started…

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, everyone. It is so good to see so many people joining us. I would like to start. I would like to introduce our first presenter, who will be bringing opening remarks. Susan Shaffer is the President and Co-Founder of MAEC, and also the Executive Director for the Center for Education Equity. It is my pleasure to introduce Susan, who will provide opening remarks and kick off this afternoon’s webinar. Susan, mic is yours.

Susan Shaffer:

Thank you, Young-chan. Welcome, everybody, from all of the staff at MAEC. Young-chan asked me to set a context for Voices to Action: A Conversation with AAPI Families. I want to thank her for the privilege of being able to speak with all of you this afternoon. MAEC condemns the abhorrent violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16th that claimed the lives of eight people, six of whom were of Asian descent, and seven of whom were women, magnify the intersectional oppression that so many of color face today, whether it’s racism, misogyny, language, classicism and beyond.

Susan Shaffer:

We recognize today that these murders punctuate the context of a terrible increase in anti-Asian violence, harassment and bigotry around the country. These recent murders are a reminder of the painful ways in which Asian Americans have been scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic. Words do matter. Over the past year, anti-Asian violence, harassment and bigotry in the U.S. have increased by over 150%, with almost 4,000 reported hate incidents directed at AAPI reported in all 50 states. Tragically, it is likely that many more incidents go unreported.

Susan Shaffer:

As social justice practitioners, we recognize the ways in which racism, language, sexism and classism intersect and shape who is seen as most threatening. We recognize too that this moment is neither isolated nor separate from the ongoing fight for racial justice. We know that our actions going forward must be part of a broader sustained effort to undo racism within our structures and communities. Today, we honor families. We provide a platform for them to tell their own courageous stories. A powerful way to fight racism is education.

Susan Shaffer:

Starting conversations with your children at young ages about prejudice can go a long way toward building empathy and acceptance, and offer an opportunity to provide context to Americans’ history of discrimination. We call on all of us to educate ourselves about the history and contemporary experiences of AAPI in the U.S. We engage each of us to stand up against racism and hate that deprive people of the means to live with dignity and compassion, so that one day we can live in a society built upon reason, compassion and justice. Today and every day, MAEC stands in solidarity with the AAPI community. We are with you. We see you. We can and will do better together. Thank you, Young-chan.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, Susan. Thank you for reminding us that our collective actions moving forward must be part of the sustained effort to undo racism within our communities. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Young-chan Han, a Senior Family Engagement Specialist at MAEC. I am your moderator today. Before we get started, we are going to review some webinar etiquette. Next slide. First, please use the chat box to engage with panelists and other participants. Please click on the chat icon on the bottom or top tool bar on your screen. For questions you want the panelists the answer, please use the Q&A box.

Young-chan Han:

I know many of you had already submitted questions when you completed your registration form. Thank you, and we will address some of your questions that were submitted during the Q&A time. For interpreting services, please select the interpretation icon on your webinar control at the bottom of your Zoom window. There should be a picture of a globe, and please select the language. Thank you all of our interpreters who are here today to support us. Next slide.

Young-chan Han:

Also, enabling or disabling live captions, live auto captions should show up on your screen by default. To turn them off, on your webinar controls at the bottom of your Zoom window, select the live transcript or closed caption button. Select hide subtitle to view them again. Again, you can repeat step two and select show subtitle instead. Next. This is our Web Support Team today. We have Nikevia Thomas, who is our ALIVE Program Director, who will be in charge of Chat Box Support. Yay, Nikevia. If you have any particular issues, you can reach out to Nikevia.

Young-chan Han:

Next, we have Jessica Lim, Finance and Bookkeeping Assistant, who is also in charge of technology. We have Kathleen Pulupa, who is our Communications Coordinator, who is monitoring our Facebook Live. If people are not on the webinar through Zoom, they can watch through Facebook. Thank you. Next, I want to share… Next slide. Share our AAPI Webinar Planning Team, which consists of both the MAEC staff and the AAPI community advisory members.

Young-chan Han:

I will introduce the Advisory Team first. Min Woo is with the International Student and Family Office in Howard County. Dr. Ming Li from Chinese American Parent Association in Maryland. Quan Quan, the [NMS 00:08:22] interpreter for Anne Arundel County and Howard County. Stacy Huh, Childrens Ministry Pastor from Maryland.

Young-chan Han:

We also have our MAEC staff. We have Dannele Ferreras, Data and Evaluation Specialist; Jessica Lim, Finance and Bookkeeping Assistant; Susan Shaffer, our President and Co-Founder of MAEC; Marianna Stepniak, Program & Communications Association; and Claire Ruhlman, Research Associate. Thank you to our Tech Support Team and the AAPI Webinar Planning Committee, who made this day possible. Yes, I’m Young-chan Han. I’ve already introduced myself, and I’m your moderator today. We’ll move to the next.

Young-chan Han:

We would like to share some background information about who we are and what we do, which will help us understand why we strive to connect and support all communities, including the AAPI community. MAEC was founded in 1992 as an education non-profit dedicated to increasing access to a high quality education for culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse learners. MAEC envisions a day when all students have equitable opportunities to learn and achieve at high levels. Our mission is to promote excellence and equity in education to achieve social justice. Next slide.

Young-chan Han:

One of our biggest projects is the Center for Education Equity, or CEE. We can go to the next slide, please… Thank you. We partner with [WestEd 00:10:14] and the American Institutes of Research, or AIR. CEE is one of our four regional equity assistance centers across the country, funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The next slide will show the map. This is the image of an overview of the region covered by the Region I Equity Assistance Center, the Center for Education Equity. As you see, we reach all the way from Maine down to Kentucky, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Young-chan Han:

Next, I want to share about CAFE, Collaborative Action for Family Engagement. It is also a project of MAEC, and we are a statewide family engagement center for Maryland and Pennsylvania. We help build sustainable infrastructure to support healthy family, student and community engagement. CAFE serves all educators, as well as families to promote high impact, culturally responsive family engagement.

Young-chan Han:

Now, I’ll share a little bit about today’s goals. Today’s webinar is in partnership with both projects, CEE and CAFE. Here are our goals for the session. We want to elevate the voices of the families impacted by anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander discrimination. Second, we will develop a shared understanding of the relationship between historical trauma against AAPI communities, and the current violence during COVID-19. Third, most importantly, we want to identify strategies to help families navigate difficult conversations with our children about anti-racism and xenophobia.

Young-chan Han:

You will see on the next slide the agenda. We already introduced our tech team, planning committee, and overview and goals. We have a very special guest speaker, Alexandra Ni, who will share her testimony. Next, Dannele Ferreras will provide an overview of American history of anti-AAPI bias and discrimination. After the presentation, we will have roundtable discussions with our parent panelists. Dr. Hyeshin Park will wrap up our conversations, and provide strategies to support families having difficult conversations with their children. Towards the end of our presentation, there will be an opportunity for Q&A.

Young-chan Han:

It is my honor to introduce our special guest speaker, who I met virtually after hearing her remarks during a recent AAPI solidarity rally in Howard County, Maryland. Her dynamic remarks captivated over 300 people, making a lasting impact. Please welcome Alexandra Ni, a seventh grade student from a Howard County public school, who is here to share her testimony, her story. Alexandra, mic is yours.

Alexandra Ni:

Thank you. My name is Alexandra Ni. I’m currently a seventh grade student in Maryland. We are here today with several AAPI families as panelists to discuss their experiences navigating racism and bias during the pandemic. The tragedy in Atlanta and surging anti-Asian hate crimes are horrifying. Every sensible person has showed their humanity. I want to offer a solution from the perspective of a student currently in the school system. I’m an Asian American girl. I was born in this country. In the past, I rarely labeled myself as an Asian American, or Chinese American specifically. I simply thought of myself as an American, just like all of my classmates.

Alexandra Ni:

About one and a half years ago, my perspective changed when my dad asked me to review a book, titled Factory Girls. I asked him why. He told me that he served in the school textbook committee to help recommend readings for students, and was surprised to find that there was no book dedicated to Asian Americans in the list. This also surprised me, and made me recall what I learned from my social study and history classes. I ended up finding almost nothing about the contributions made by Asian Americans. I wondered why. I decided to conduct some initial research myself.

Alexandra Ni:

I found the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the most decorated unit for its size in U.S. military history. I found Edward Day Cohota, an ethnic Chinese soldier who served in the American Civil War, and served 30 years of active military service. He was denied American citizenship due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was not repealed until 1943. I found nine-year-old Chinese American, Martha Lum. Her family’s Supreme Court case challenged school segregation in the 1920s Mississippi, which helped pave the way for 1954 Supreme Court ruling in the landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of Education. And many, many more.

Alexandra Ni:

But I found none of these, not a single one of these, in the classroom. None, not a single one of these in our standard school textbooks. Here’s my solution. It is not shouting towards shouting. It is not fighting towards fighting. It is not responding to hate with more hate. It is to genuinely acknowledge us, that we exist, that we matter, and that we are not insignificant. It is to truly let us be seen, let us be heard, and let us be counted. It is to finally include us, Asian Americans, as part of American history, as part of the American dream. Thank you.

Dannele Ferreras:

Thank you so much, Alexandra, for your incredibly moving testimony. Thank you so much. Before we transition to our panelists, we also wanted to provide a brief overview of the treatment of the AAPI community in our nation’s history, and how that is linked to where we are today. We know that there is no way to fully capture the history of racism and bias that has occurred against AAPI community in this short five minute segment. But we wanted to provide you all with this overview as part of the foundation setting for today’s conversation.

Dannele Ferreras:

To start, according to the 2019 Census Bureau, there are approximately 18.9 million Asian Americans living the United States, making up 5.9% of the total population. Asian Americans are an incredibly diverse group of people representing a wide array of nationalities and ethnic groups, including Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Pakistani, Thai, Cambodian, Burmese, Laotian and Nepalese communities. Pacific Islander Americans make up 0.5% of the United States population, with 1.4 million people. Also with a diverse set of ancestries, including Fijian, French Polynesian, Marshallese, Micronesian, Chamorro, Palauan, Samoan and Tongan.

Dannele Ferreras:

While Asian Americans are considered one of the fastest growing groups in the United States, the Asian American community has also been subject to unjust discrimination, prejudice and racism for centuries. Just at the social construct of race was used to justify the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Native Americans in the U.S., it has also been used to justify the unfair treatment of and violence against Asian Americans throughout their history, as well as the West’s colonization of the Pacific Islands. Thank you for transitioning to the next slide.

Dannele Ferreras:

Overall, Asian migration to the Americas dates as far back as the 1500s, with Asians taking part in trade that was based in Latin America. However, Asian migration to the modern day United States rose rapidly in the 1800s during the time of the California gold rush. During this time, the number of Chinese migrants to California increased from approximately 2,700 in 1851 to over 20,000 in 1852. The majority of these Chinese migrants found work as miners in the places that they settled. However, the while community resented the presence of the Chinese community, and felt that they were a competitive threat during the gold rush.

Dannele Ferreras:

This led to harassment, robberies and mob violence against the Chinese community, such as the Chinese massacre of 1871 in California. In addition, racial discrimination prevented the Chinese community from pursuing jobs, and thus many resorted to opening their own businesses, pursuing self-employment, and creating ethnic economies. It’s also important to note that during the time of the 1830s and 1840s, the study of phrenology was also on the rise, which was a pseudoscience that was used to justify the baseless hypothesis about the inferiority of non-white races.

Dannele Ferreras:

As Alexandra mentioned, eventually in 1882, after increased negative sentiment aimed at the Chinese community, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, which was the United States’ first immigration law that singled out an immigrant group for a large scale exclusion based on race. Following this, many other acts and events including but not limited to those that you see listed here, continued the U.S.’s longstanding history of bias, exclusion and violence against the Asian American community. One particularly harmful form of xenophobia was called Yellow Peril, which was used to portray Asian people as a danger to U.S. National Security.

Dannele Ferreras:

Other policies that restricted Asian American immigration to the United States included the Immigrant Act of 1917, otherwise known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act; the Immigrant Act of 1924; and the National Origins Formula, which was a system of quotas that restricted immigration based on existing population proportions in the United States. These quotas lasted until the 1965 Immigration Nationality Act was passed, which abolished the National Origins Law.

Dannele Ferreras:

In regard to Pacific Islander specific history, it was a bit more difficult to find information on the history of racism and bias towards this community. One key event was World War II nuclear weapons testing on the Marshall Islands in 1946, which has had residual health effects on this community, including prevalence of cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Next slide, please.

Dannele Ferreras:

Fast forwarding to the 20th century and present day, while Asian Americans are no longer barred from entering the United States, and many have been able to acquire economic success and the feeling of belonging in America, this community still faces discrimination in this current age of globalization and mass immigration. One of these phenomenons that I’m sure many of you are probably familiar with is the model minority stereotype/myth, whose roots date as far back as World War II and the Cold War. This myth falsely assumes that all Asian American individuals are wealthy, naturally high achievers and docile.

Dannele Ferreras:

This is harmful, because it ignores the struggles Asians in America face. It ignores the diversity of Asian American cultures as well. This myth has also been used to compare Asian Americans to other racial minorities, including the Black or African American community. These comparisons have contributed to inter-minority racism and conflict. Relatedly, the model minority myth also contributes to the false perception that Asian Americans are a monolith, one monolithic portrait of success. In addition to the rise of this myth, post-9/11 Middle Eastern and South Asians also faced post-9/11 backlash with the rise of Muslim peril.

Dannele Ferreras:

Lastly, other contributing factors to AAPI bias include the stereotype portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans in the media or the press, which also dates back to the 1800s with propaganda. It still exists today in different forms, including the portrayal of the model minority myth in film and TV shows. Transitioning to present day. Currently as Susan, our president, alluded to earlier, according to a national report published by the organization Stop AAPI Hate, there have approximately 3,800 reported hate incidents against the AAPI community over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. With verbal harassment and shunning being the top two types of incidents reported, followed by physical assault, civil rights violations and online harassment. We know that this number does not fully encompass all of the hate incidents that have occurred recently, but it does provide one data point of understanding of the current situation. Next slide, please.

Dannele Ferreras:

Again, in this time of COVID, and in this resurgence of violence against the AAPI community, it is important to understand not just what is happening right now in present day. It’s also important to understand what has led to what we are witnessing and experiencing now. As you see on this slide, if you would like to learn more about Asian American history, we have listed a couple of recommended books here, including The Making of Asia America, Yellow Peril!, and Myth of the Model Minority. Now, I’m going to turn it back over to Young-chan, who will facilitate our panel discussion.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, Dannele, for helping us develop a shared understanding of the relationships between historical trauma against AAPI communities and the violence ignited during COVID-19. Thank you also for setting the stage for our next segment of the presentation, to hear the voices of families impacted by AAPI discrimination. It is my privilege to introduce our distinguished panelists. First, Kevin Chhin. Kevin is a father of three children. He is one of the million survivors from the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia. Kevin is proud to be an American, a naturalized citizen, and lives the American dream.

Young-chan Han:

Kevin, can you please wave to everyone, show yourself? Good, thank you. Next, Stacy Huh. Stacy has been a pastor in the Korean community for 18 years. Pastor Stacy is passionate about equipping immigrant parents to raise children to be resilient so they can reach their full potential in life. Pastor Stacy, wave? Are you ready? Okay. Next, Dr. Ming Li. Dr. Li has served in the Howard County Chinese School community for over 10 years, and he currently serves as the chair of the board of directors for the Howard County Chinese School. Dr. Li is a first generation immigrant, a father of two, and works at federal government. Dr. Li?

Dr. Ming Li:

Hi, thank you for having me.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Min Woo, Min serves the diverse communities of our county, and is a voice for the voiceless. Her mission is to make certain students and families thrive in their new environment and country. Min, you know the drill. Okay. Next, Dr. Hyeshin Park. Dr. Park is a psychotherapist and owner of ARA Counseling, adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. Dr. Park works with individuals, couples and families who struggle with various mental health disorders and adjustment issues. She is passionate about addressing social oppression and systemic inequity through clinical practice and education clinical supervision. Dr. Park is with us today as our resident expert. Please wave to everyone.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Hello.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. All right. It’s such an honor to be among our parent panelists to hear your voices. As our title of the webinar states, from Voices to Action: A Conversation with AAPI Families. We are here today to elevate your voices, the voices of our families impacted by anti-AAPI discrimination. I’ll be asking questions, and two or three of our panelists will respond. As our resident expert, Dr. Park will respond to our panelist stories, as well as some other questions too. Without further delay, we will start with our first question. Question number one, can you share your experiences navigating racism and bias during COVID? Was there a time when you or your loved ones were targeted, and how did you respond? Kevin, do you want to start us on that question? You are muted.

Kevin Chhin:

Sure. First of all, thank you for having me to share my horrible story with everyone. I know that everyone’s experience is the same way. I don’t want to be silent no more. On Saturday, it happened to me again. This is now three times happen to me during this COVID. The one time that I want to share is, in the middle of July, 2020, I had encountered this issue at Home Depot when I went over to the store to get some stuff to fix my house. I was in line behind one guy, two African American customers. They went and paid for their things, and so it’s my turn. I pushed my cart towards the cashiers. The one individual with Spanish accents, he cut my line.

Kevin Chhin:

Of course, I said, “Excuse me. I am in line.” He said to me, “No, you are not in line. Go back to where you belong, man.” That’s one thing. I wasn’t expecting that at all from him. I was kind of sad. I said, “Excuse me? I’m in line.” He said, “No, I’m in line. Go back to where you belong.” Then I get another person comment to say the same thing. “You shouldn’t be here.” Then I said, “If I can’t be here, then you all shouldn’t be here.” I understand now, what is their point. They tried to say that I carry the virus, because I’m Asian.

Kevin Chhin:

In responding, I look around my surroundings. Then I saw two security guards and the cashier. They should be jumping in and diffuse this incident, this situation. While I’m turning around and doing that, the Caucasian man, mumbling say that, “Man, you should be going away from here. Just get out from here.” He tried to harm me. Then I heard that, so I project what he said. I said, “He tried to hurt me. I’m not that person that you will be able to hurt. I will speak up. I will call out so that everybody can come and help me.” When I said that, then he just silent.

Kevin Chhin:

It broke my heart that they don’t know who I am. Just because I am looking like what they call the Chinese virus. I just look Chinese. Then I say, “I’m not Chinese. I’m Cambodian.” It just hurt my feelings. We should find a way to come together to fight this deadly virus instead of picking and pointing to one particular race. I’ve been living here for 36 years. I never traveled outside of countries ever since I got married, which is roughly about 21 years ago. I don’t have money. They just picked a person that you are in the right time for them to pick.

Kevin Chhin:

Here I am, able to speak up for myself. I can’t imagine for those families that have the same image as I am cannot speak up. They are victims to this. We are all walking with fear. I am a healthy 205 pound man. People are picking me to be the victim. Imagine all of those that are elderly, the young ones, and who tend to be silent and unable to speak for themselves. We are all facing this language barrier, the language that we are learning and the language that we use, which is English. I speak with strong accent, but I will not let this accent stop me from speaking up for myself and for everyone that looks like me.

Kevin Chhin:

I feel sad that those bystanders just stood there and do nothing to help in diffusing it. I feel sad that some just jumping in and pour the gasoline into the fire and make it worse, not diffusing it. I am sad for our Asian community that we have to live in this beautiful world together with fear. This is all I have to say.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, Kevin. Thank you for such powerful stories. You’re so right. Racism is a deadly virus. Thank you for sharing. Gosh, so much going on emotionally. Dr. Li, do you want to share something? Your experience navigating racism and bias during COVID?

Dr. Ming Li:

Sure. I have something similar, a rant attack me, but not that severe as Kevin experienced. What happened in early March this year, I testified in the Howard County general council racial taskforce public hearing. This public forum was to solicit opinions from the communities to identify the topics with the taskforce to work on them. I represented the Howard County Chinese School and the proposal that the county should increase the AAPI representation in the public school systems and in the local government. After my talk, one anonymous person attacked me. They called me that Chinese, and said, “I along with many other immigrants, we were colonists. We should not come to the United States.”

Dr. Ming Li:

What make it even worse is that the timekeeper gave this rant a sum up, which later explains, they say the good timekeeping gesture. Those events, the incidents, are very hurting and confusing to the Asian American communities. After this incident, I wrote a letter to the taskforce and the general council to protest. Fortunately, later the whole Asian American community, we worked together, held a public meeting with the general council and country government. During that meeting, the council and government assured us that they will not tolerate any of the hate crimes and the racism in any form. This is my story.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you so much, and thank you for being a voice for our voiceless population, voiceless families. We really appreciate you standing up to let others know so that there could be some changes. We really appreciate you. I know we are pretty short on time, so I am going to go ahead and move to the next question. It is so important to talk about the rise in hate crimes. I mean, we don’t know what we don’t know. Unless people speak up, we won’t know that things of what Kevin experienced or Dr. Li experienced, those will be unknowns. Our next question is, why is it important to talk about this rise in hate crimes, bias and discrimination against AAPI communities? Min, can you share your thoughts?

Min Woo:

Sure, thank you. I believe it is essential that the AAPI communities speak up. I believe now is our time. In the history of America, things do not change until people speak up, that they utilize their political clout, that they vote, that they speak out. If you look at all the newscasts, the panels, the webinars that’s been going on, every single one quotes only one single source, Stop AAPI Hate. The reason why is because statisticians, journalists, everyone else felt that the Asian community was statistically insignificant to gather data, to find out what is the situation, what they’re experiencing. Until we have a seat at the table, things will not change. Americans have a saying, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” We need to be that squeaky wheel.

Min Woo:

I applaud our fellow panelists for speaking out and taking action, speaking out for MAEC to hold this important webinar. Those are parts of the mosaic that we need to create to make change happen. I believe it is essential that we speak out, that we teach our children how to respond, and that we continue this movement. I believe that there is a movement happening right now. In New York just today I read that there were two things going on. One, a group of over 2,500 parents and students have signed a petition to ask the New York curriculum office to teach Asian American history. Second, there is a group of high school students who are going to put a rally together this weekend. Just as we heard from Alexandra, I believe it is the young people who are going to lead the way. We are here to support. Thank you.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you, Min. Yeah, we really do need to speak out, so I appreciate your encouraging others to also speak out. Stacy, do you want to add anything to what Min said, or respond to the question?

Stacy Huh:

Sure. I totally agree with everything that Min said. Also, I think just in general, even among our circles of friendships and just our social media connections. What I noticed was that even when the Atlanta shooting was happening, a lot of non-Asian friends seemed completely unaware of these hate crimes as they’re happening. Business as usual. I felt that it is important for Asians to speak up and to raise awareness among non-Asians who seems unaware of these things, just to bring that public attention to the history of discrimination that we have faced. Even what you’ve mentioned, the lack of education about Asian American history. All of those things are so important.

Stacy Huh:

One thing else that I have noticed is that even among the Asian community, some Asians seem to have a very hard time acknowledging that these crimes are actually anti-Asian hate crimes. I’ve seen very many Asians try to minimize these things, saying, “It just happened to be an Asian person. It’s not a hate crime.” I’ve really pondered why it’s so hard even for our Asian fellow brothers and sisters to acknowledge this. I think ultimately it is maybe a very painful thing to say that this is still our reality. That this is not something 100 years in the past.

Stacy Huh:

Even though it’s painful, I do think it’s important to acknowledge this. To talk openly about the existence of anti-Asian hate crimes, about discrimination in general so that it can lend validation to Asian people, so they can begin to find more confidence and proactive solutions. Not just being traumatized, but moving towards action.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, Pastor Stacy. Totally in agreement, we do need to speak up, just like what Min said. Be confident what we want to share, and know that these things are happening. Dr. Li, is there anything that you would like to add?

Dr. Ming Li:

I totally agree with Min and Stacy’s observations. I’m sad that, as Stacy pointed out, there are so many of the Asian Americans, they still believe, they say the individual incidents. That’s why it’s so important, we need to speak up. Not only to wake up ourselves, but also to wake up other people. Just ask a simple question. “Why Asian Americans are hated? What did we do wrong?” I heard the word scapegoat, and also I hear the words model minority mix. We need to think about that. Our life philosophy, don’t make trouble, don’t confront with others, we should treat the people because we expect other people treat us the same way back. Many times, this life philosophy was taken as a weakness. People tend to take Asian Americans as scapegoats. I think this is a wake-up call. We need to wake up. We need to speak out, and we need to start fighting back. Thank you.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you so much. Ooh, I know everybody’s processing all this, and really appreciate you speaking up, speaking out. I know we have a lot of conversation taking place in the chat box. Because of the time, we’re going to move on to the next question. It’s so important that we also communicate that’s happening with our children. At times, we don’t even have the language. We don’t know how to communicate with our kids. What can you say to parents who feel uncomfortable talking about race with their children? I guess, Kevin, do you want to chime in? Then I’m going to ask Dr. Park to also say a few words.

Kevin Chhin:

Sure. As I heard everyone say, I have these huge emotions how my mom told me to just ignore and walk away. It is very difficult for our Asian parents, who just migrate here to U.S. for a better life and better opportunity for our family. My family, we escaped war, oppression from the corrupted government. Other family might come here because of gangs, poverty. I like to use these words, 21st century silent slavery, because we don’t know. They sell their land, don’t have a place to… The next thing you know, parent is giving the son, the daughter, to the people that they owe the money to, to enslave, to just working for them for free.

Kevin Chhin:

Now, we are here in United States and face this hatred, racist problems. Being mistreated here in U.S., despite how much you are educated, going to school and being educated. Your color, the way you look, they will see you different and will treat you different. With my own parents, I came here in 1985. When we got mistreated, this is what she said to me, “Ah, just ignore them. Those ignorant people can never see the truth. Just move on, go on with our life.” That not going to solve the problem. I am now 50 years old, facing this problem again, Mom. 15 years ago, she said to me, “Forget about it,” and now I am facing.

Kevin Chhin:

I am facing with my own daughter. I brought my daughter to Walmart. I mentioned it to you before, Young-chan. We entered the wrong exits. There was an exit, and we entered there. The security guards too is the Caucasians and the African American guys, say, “No, you can’t come this door. You have to go to the other side.” I walked to the other side. By the time we get almost to the entrance, this is what they said. “This is what we should do to them.” That hurt. I’m a father. I’m spending quality time with my daughter. I’m busy, just like every single one of us here and every other place.

Kevin Chhin:

When we have quality time, we want to spend that time as much as possible, talk and have fun. That’s what I expected to have with my daughter at that moment. Since that happened, I can see the look in my daughter. “Are you going to let these people talk to you like that, Dad?” That kind of expression. I just carry on with her, and then I told her, “They are ignorant.” Then I realized that I am walking my mom’s steps. I’m walking my mom’s steps.

Kevin Chhin:

So when we check out, I said, “I’m not going to be silent, baby. I’m going to tell somebody. I’m going to talk to the manager.” I spoke to the manager, and this is what he said. “Oh, I saw what happened. Forget about it. I handle it.” You know that nothing going to happen. That is bad. I told her, I told my daughter, I said, “We need to educate other people. When it come to hatred, there is no color, no shape, no size. It doesn’t matter who it is. Sometimes we Asians have hatred against each other. Sometimes other color have hatred each other.

Kevin Chhin:

One thing that we need to do is, we need to care for one another. We need to teach them. We need to educate them, and listen. Not just listen, listen and do it.” I told her, I say, “Look, I’m going to talk to the manager. If the managers decide to do it, or not do it, but that you have a voice. That you talk to somebody about that too.” She looking at me with a smirky smile, and then we walked to our car. She said, “Dad, I’m sorry that this happened to us.” Why does she have to say that to me?

Kevin Chhin:

I live in the United States. I should live freely like everybody else. This is the land of the free. I have family that serve in military, in Navy and Air Force and Army. I am serving the community over 27, 28 years. My car, my garage, office is full with everything that people give, I can give the people that are in need. Now I am in need, when my daughter say that to me. It’s sad that we have to live through this. I hope that everyone that attends this webinar don’t say silent. Speak up.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Everyone who is participating in this webinar is our allies. We really need to let others know. Again, even training of our bystanders, what does it mean when you witness something? How do you react, and support our AAPI community? A lot of questions could be unleashed from this conversation. Dr. Park… I can’t see where you are.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Yep.

Young-chan Han:

Can you add something to what we’ve been saying so far?

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Right. I mean first of all, I hear you, Kevin. I think your experience is not just yours. This idea of, we shouldn’t talk about racism. Parents in some ways are oppressing this conversation, and preventing it from happening. Why are we uncomfortable talking about racism? Maybe first as parents, or adults, we have to stop and examine what happened in the history of immigration that makes this conversation difficult? The pressure to assimilate and to acculturate into a white dominant society has told us that if we stay in a minority mentality, we cannot rise above. Therefore, we shouldn’t have this conversation.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

If we go back, there is a sense of a little bit almost self-hatred, like an internalized discrimination in that dialogue. I like the direction that we’re headed. We’re saying, “You know what? Let me pause, and think about it. Let me look at the history. Let me look at the societal and cultural messages that we’ve received over the years. How has it impacted our lives, our children’s lives, communities? How did it create the systemic injustice?” Kind of like what Min said. There is a statistical lack when it comes to Asian research.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

It’s really difficult to find funding for anything with Asians. It goes to, honestly, the whites and quite a bit to the African American community. They’re used to this dialogue. In some sense, this is a time for us to think about, “What do we have to be aware of? Can we look back? Can we encourage ourselves to be honest with our experiences so that we can actually create a different atmosphere for our kids to talk about things that are uncomfortable?” In some sense, sometimes I tell parents… Not just parents, but students to look at the black culture, the African American culture.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

They have been having this conversation. What kind of conversations do they have? What kind of literature is out there? It’s not so different. Then we can look for our own, too. That intersect of minority experience, plus just ours. Be open about it. It’s not that we’re trying to… We’re trying to train our kids to have a critical mind, not necessarily a victim mindset. We want them to be aware of what’s happening. I want you to question, and not be afraid. Think about it. Engage in that meta thought. See where the butterfly effect happens, and be vocal.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Park. Because of the time, I am going to move to the next question, which is also really, we want everybody to share about their stories. The next question is, as an adult, what do we do to support our children? How do we teach? How would you teach or prepare your children from microaggressions or racism towards AAPI people? We already alluded to this. Kevin already shared a little bit. If we can add to what was already said. I’m going to ask Stacy to respond to the question.

Stacy Huh:

Sure. I really do want to try to equip my children, and have these conversations. I really want to help them answer people, especially… The smallest thing that I think they can encounter at a young age is being asked where they’re from, or maybe being told to go back to where they’re from. Those kind of things. I had an incident. I think living it out and showing them and modeling it is very important. One incident was when a person in our neighborhood greeted me, saying, “Ni hao,” to which my children were watching. I answered, “I’m not Chinese.” The man stood there, looking very confused.

Stacy Huh:

He asked, “Oh, then how should I greet you?” I said, “You can just say hello.” Then we walked along. Then later on, I used that as an opportunity to talk with my children about how we don’t have to be mean about it, but we can correct people when they assume things about us just because of the way we look. Another thing was, I was watching my kindergartner in his online class a couple weeks ago. His teacher was asking the children where they’re from. All the children were answering where they were from. When it was my child’s turn, he answered a very long and complicated answer.

Stacy Huh:

This is a kindergartner, he said, “I’m Asian. My ancestors are from Korea, but I’m not from Korea. I think I’m Korean Asian American.” I was listening from the kitchen. I was so proud of him, but then his teacher corrected him, saying, “Oh, that means you are from Korea.” I was so upset. My child has never been to Korea. My child does not speak any Korean. He does not understand any Korean. He’s a third generation immigrant child. I wrote to the teacher, explaining why that was not helpful to my child. Why it was harmful, even though she meant well.

Stacy Huh:

Then I also wrote to the principal, asking her to commit to educating the teachers better, with the teachers’ understanding of Asians in America. Better ways to affirm the Asian American identities of children, rather than perpetuating the sense of being other. These are just two examples, golden opportunities. Teaching moments that I used to talk with my children and explain to them at their level something that happened to them that could be ignored, but I used that to try to tell them that we are worth these conversations.

Stacy Huh:

We are worth speaking up. We are fully American. I can still really affirm that this is important to young children. I do think, if we don’t talk about it, they internalize these things. It will affect their self-esteem. I would like to continue in these intentional conversations with my children.

Young-chan Han:

So well said, Stacy. So well said. A lot of times, our children feel like they should be other. When you ask that question, “Where are you from,” a floodgate of emotions can be seen. Min, do you have anything that you can add?

Min Woo:

I agree with what Stacy said. As a parent of a teenager, my son’s in the ninth grade, I’ve made it a point for us to talk about history. What’s included in the history that’s taught in our public schools, and what’s not included. We are Korean American. He knows that Asian American, the terminology is a social construct. The model minority is also a social construct. Who named it? You have to think about the power dynamics. What, Young-chan, you said about when you’re asked, “Where are you from,” that’s a power dynamic. That is innately saying that the questioner is stating their position to say, “I am the one in power. I belong. You are the perpetual foreigner. Where are you from?”

Min Woo:

Those are small examples of microaggression. My child being older, we talk about latent racism and we talk about microaggression. The other thing that we have to think about is, when our children grow up and they go into their designated fields, are they going to be able to move up in the hierarchy? We have something we call the bamboo ceiling. We heard about the glass ceiling for women. The bamboo ceiling is Asian Americans or AAPI community not being able to move in. If you look at statistics, such a small percentage of leadership is from the AAPI community. We have so many talented people in those fields, but they’re at mid-level or lower.

Min Woo:

I think we have to teach our children to use their voice, to speak out if there are blatant incidents like Kevin shared and Dr. Li shared. Then check with your gut. When something is said to you, or when a gesture or facial expression is given to you, you have a gut reaction. That tells you, that was not right. I teach my child, you trust your gut instincts, and you respond. Always report back to me, so that I can add my adult voice. I need to respond to who or what, et cetera. I think that we need to work together. I typed in the chat box about solidarity.

Min Woo:

All these social constructs were created to divide and conquer all of us marginalized folks, all of us people of color who have come from different parts of the world. We come here to enrich the culture. I saw a tee-shirt recently that said, “Love us like you love our foods.” I think we need to teach our children to be wise and smart about how to respond, so that it is a teachable moment. As Alexandra put so eloquently, we don’t fight hate with hate. We need to use our wisdom, our knowledge. I think a good place to start is, we need to teach history in the correct way. If you look at history, there are many instances of the Asian community, the AAPI community standing with other marginalized communities. But that’s not taught, that’s not highlighted. I think that’s another way to address some of that too.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, Min. I’m going to turn right over to Dr. Park, because I know she wanted to say something. Go ahead, Dr. Park.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Both your examples, Stacy and Min’s examples, they are very nuanced ways of covert racism. “Where are you from?” “What is your identity?” As though you have to explain these things to people in positions of power. The other piece is, speaking of model minority, Kevin, you said you really hate this idea. It gives that monotone, the single experience of all Asians. Because of the model minority myth, and because of covert racism, the way that we’re experiencing this type of overt racism hasn’t happened in a long time, but it’s kind of revived. Gained this I guess frequency since COVID. More than likely, our children are going to experience what is called covert racism incidents.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

The questions that we ask our children are not necessarily, “Were you hit,” victims of aggression because of your Asian American identity? Rather than that, it’s more, “Were you expected to be good at math?” “Were you given more tasks because people thought you would do it without complaining? That you would be submissive? That you wouldn’t question from people in positions of power.” These kind of questions, it’s sort of awakening that idea that, “This is actually not a good thing.” These assumptions that people make. “Well, you must come from a good family. Your parents are probably dedicated about education. They probably are wealthy.”

Dr. Heyshin Park:

These assumptions that they experience at school, I want them to stop and question. Why is this happening? Is this a good thing? Sometimes, the model minority myth is such a Catch-22. It’s very confusing for a lot of Asian Americans. Well, it’s not serving me poorly. The cops are less likely to take me, because I’m harmless. The kind of questions that we ask our children may have to be a little bit different than that of a different minority group. I just wanted add that.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Park. We actually went a little over. I know we could probably talk another hour, but we do want to honor everybody’s time. We’re going to wrap up a little more as we entertain other questions from the Q&A. I think what we’re going to do from here is to move to the questions that our participants have generated. Marianna, if it’s okay, because we already have a couple questions that a lot of folks have provided. It’s a question that I think we already kind of alluded to. Why don’t we go right into one of the questions that the participants have asked. That is, what can non-AAPI allies do to support AAPI communities? Which is what we want, right? Our allies, how can they help us? How can they help our community? I’m trying to see… Dr. Li, are you there? If you can respond to that question, please?

Dr. Ming Li:

Yes. Yes, this is a big question. I heard Kevin’s story. He was discriminated by people from different skin colors. Again, I repeat my question. Why they hate Asian Americans? What did we do wrong? Who misled them? Who put Asian Americans as a scapegoat? I recall Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech. He talked about the divisiveness. He talked about people in power purposefully to divide the communities, to weaken the resistance from the human rights movement, against the human rights movement. I want to use his words and his thought here. We need to stand in solidarity. We need to unite. If we unite, we’re more powerful. If we’re divided, we become weaker.

Dr. Ming Li:

We people of color, including the Jewish people examples, we are experiencing so many discriminations. Why we within ourselves, people of color, people underrepresented and underserved, why we fight each other? Hate each other? Why shouldn’t we understand each other, and unite and work together, and stay in solidarity? Fight all the racism and discrimination in all forms? That’s my thought behind that. By following these thoughts, the Howard County Chinese School, we work toward this direction. We work with Asian American communities. We work with Jewish communities. We have the [inaudible 01:07:06] foundations, collaboratives with people of different colors. We work together to address this discrimination and the racism issues. I’ll just stop here. Thank you.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you so much, Dr. Li. I’m going to turn it over to Min, if you can share something about what our non-AAPI communities, allies could do to support AAPI community.

Min Woo:

I think it’s important for us to support one another. For example, when Black Lives Matter rallies happened, it’s important for the AAPI community to stand up together. The shooting at the, I think it was the FedEx processing center in Indianapolis, I believe four of the people who were killed were of the Sikh community. It’s important for us to stand with them to say, “We are with you.” I think whenever acts of hate and racism occur, it’s important that we stand together, literally and metaphorically. I think another way is to make certain that, when you are at a table of a decision making body, it’s important that we look around the table and say, “Is everyone represented?”

Min Woo:

Then advocate for the diversity that’s in your community is there. For example, there was a question in the chat about, what can we do in education? I work for an education system. I believe it is important that teachers and leadership reflect the diversity of the body. It is important that curriculum is taught in a very inclusive way. One small example is, the Intercontinental Railroad was a significant accomplishment for America. When they took the picture, when the final pic was put in, the only people in the picture were the Irishmen who had come over.

Min Woo:

What the history books do not teach is that the hardest tracks were laid by the Chinese men. That for every two mile of track that was laid down, three men died, who were from China. Why aren’t we taught that? There’s so many things in history. We talk about Vincent Chin, who was killed. When the auto industry were going through a recession, he was scapegoated, like Dr. Li was saying. There are so many incidents in our history. We can’t just teach it one month of May saying, “Oh, it’s the AAPI Heritage Month. We’ll just focus it on that.” We are AAPI the whole year, every day of our lives.

Min Woo:

I think we need to teach that so that our children feel pride in the accomplishments, the contributions they have made. And that non-Asian students also learn that, so that we build solidarity together. Dr. Li, you posed, “Who misled them? Who scapegoated?” People in power who don’t want to share that power, the power dynamic. I think we need to name things what they are. We have a history of racism in this country, and we need to address it one-by-one. Not in silos by ourselves, but together. I’m so grateful that there’s so many people from all over the U.S. gathered here. We need to have more conversations like this, so thank you.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you so much, Min. Oh, such a powerful conversation. I wish we had another half an hour to share more, but that’s not the case. I heard a lot of things. It’s not just how parents should support our children, but also how can the educators support our children? How can non-AAPI communities support our kids and our families? It’s not just at the school level. It’s at the district and state and federal level that we really want to see people that represent our community. Are we at the seat when the decisions are being made? That’s exactly what Min alluded to.

Young-chan Han:

I’m trying to see time-wise. I would like to move to the next question, if that’s okay. This also is a question that others have submitted. We already talked about this. In response to the recent rise in AAPI hate crimes, what changes would you like to see in your school or school district? This is really specific to what you want to see at the school and district level, and see if we can focus in on that. Stacy, I think if you can share something, please?

Stacy Huh:

Sure. I think there’s been a lot of conversing in the chat box about this too. I think just Upstander Training in general for younger students, older students. For staff, everyone, in order to make the school systems a little bit more of an inclusive environment, and safer for AAPI community. Also, just all people of color. Also equipping Caucasian students and staff to have a voice as well, instead of only vilifying. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault when it comes to the community itself. I think a lot of times, it’s lack of knowledge of how to even help. I think Upstander Training would be helpful for that.

Stacy Huh:

I know Min had mentioned, it shouldn’t only be during the AAPI Heritage Month. Actually one of my things was, I would like to see more of AAPI Heritage Month spotlighted. I don’t feel that it’s as spotlighted, even in my own children’s schools, or in social media. I don’t see as much attention to it, compared to like say the Black History Month. I don’t think that it’s reflective of our community maybe, that Asians can be generally a little bit more passive about these things. I do want to see more of that being put into the curriculum, and more showcasing of that, so that they can a better opportunity to learn in those focused times. Yeah, those are the couple things that I was thinking about.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Yes, more visibility. Not just the AAPI Heritage Month. It is throughout the year. I totally understand what you’re saying, and I agree. Also, educating educators about how to support our students, what it means. What are our children going through in schools and at home? Very well said. How about you, Min? Do you want to add to what Stacy has just shared?

Min Woo:

I think I already spoke about several points. One of them I feel very strongly is that history needs to be taught, and include all the different contributions made by everyone. Even just in the past week, we’ve had members of Congress make misleading and hurtful comments. Not just about COVID and AAPI communities, but also about the Native Americans. We need to teach the people in seats of power that we will be silent no more, just like Kevin said. We need to mobilize our groups to register to vote in their districts. Many of our board of education members, council county members, county executives, they’re all voted in.

Min Woo:

Now that the Asian community is the fastest growing community in the U.S., we need to demand seats at the table. We need to flex our political muscles. We need to learn to work together with other marginalized communities, so that together we will rise and together we will gain that strength together. I think that is crucial. As an Asian American woman, I know that I stand on the sacrifices that the African American community made. They shed blood, sweat and tears, and gave their lives. The strides that they had made in the civil rights movement, I am a recipient of that, even if I am not an African American.

Min Woo:

I think we need to teach our children and our community that too. There are many times when media or others want to differentiate us, and put us in corners, and try to target one another. We need to really examine history, and see where they work together. There were AAPI communities who marched in the civil rights movement. When the Latino community did the demonstrations our west in the farming community, the AAPI community were there. We need to speak about those things. When we teach history, you cannot teach history that encompasses 48 different countries in one week.

Min Woo:

That’s what I mean by, it needs to be taught throughout the year. I also agree with Stacy’s point that not enough is highlighted. I would encourage parents to form organizations, join the PTA, have a seat at the table. That is so crucial in making movement happen. You need to have a seat at the table so that your voice is heard. Behind you is the other members of your community who for many different reasons cannot be at that table. I truly believe that it is only when we are united, and speak in one voice for the betterment of all marginalized communities, that change will start to happen.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you so much, Min. I was visualizing as you were speaking that there are about 5,000 immigrant parents behind you. You are speaking for other people. I really thank you. We are running out of time, but there is one really good question in the chat box. I would like to quickly read and see if any of you would like to respond. It says, do you have suggestions about specific language that our children can use if they encounter this kind of racism? I am the parent of an adopted Korean son, who is a freshman in high school.

Min Woo:

My son is a freshman in high school as well. We’ve had many conversations. Please understand, teenagers have their own language, but I always say, “We need to be kind and compassionate. We need to educate people who are ignorant of history or situations.” Like Alexandra said, it’s not fighting hate with hate, but educating them. You can call it out. “What you said, what you did was very hateful. Was that your intention?” Make them pause and think about, “What did I say? What did I do?” You have to name it. Say, “It was very hurtful. It was inaccurate. Was that your intention? If it is, you and I have very different opinions, and we have very different ways of dealing with one another.”

Min Woo:

I always say to him that… When they’re little, we always teach our children to, “Use your words.” I would say, “Take your SAT language and use those to respond.” Even in high school their children, many times children can say the most damaging, demeaning, hateful things. It’s because they heard it, sometimes from their parents or their close contacts. Children repeat what they’ve heard. Let’s assume that they were speaking from a position of ignorance. Ignorance meaning, not they’re ignorant, but they’re ignorant of the situation, of the history, of the ramifications of what they said and did.

Min Woo:

Let’s educate them. Let’s open a dialogue, if possible. I always say, “You need to tell an adult in the building, and me. If there is an opportunity for restorative dialogue to happen, that should happen. If it’s an opportunity to teach, that’s where we go.” There are many different ways of solutions, but we need to address it, name what it is. Then we can take the next steps. That would be my suggestion.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you so much. We are really running out of time. Dr. Park actually wanted to say a couple things about the question that was just posed. Dr. Park, can you [inaudible 01:22:00] things, and we will end our webinar after? Go ahead.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Sorry, this is my children’s pickup time. I just wanted to point out, with an adopted child there is a little bit of a different context. I’m guessing the family’s ethnicity is different from the parents. They think it’s the parents whether… I mean, I don’t know the context. I don’t want to presume what ethnicity the parents are. “I am interested in your experience, just because of the way you look. I want to learn with you the history, the types of racism that maybe you experienced. The explanation that you want to give. The experience of adoption, as well as race.”

Dr. Heyshin Park:

Having that curiosity, transmitting to the child that I am there with you, is probably the type of language that we want to give. Then learning the specific languages that everybody else has discussed together. What I guess I hear is, through this COVID experience and all the things that the news is pointing to, is elucidating the kind of systemic issue that we have in America. Instead of being silent, what I’m hearing is we all want to actually attend to this. We no longer want to be silent. We don’t want to be seen as submissive or docile anymore.

Dr. Heyshin Park:

We want to have a voice. We want to address it, because there is a butterfly effect. We want our children to live in a different and a better community and country than we currently do. What do we have to do as parents, as educators, as adults, as community leaders to address this issue? I mean I think I’m really encouraged by everybody’s interest and the level of I guess stamina that I see. I just hope we don’t lose it, and instead make policy and changes. Not just in communities or schools, but especially in the home.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Park. You know what? As long as we keep talking, as long as we raise these issues, and as long as other people are helping us raise these issues, we will make a difference. Minority history is going to be American history. There will be a lot of educators who would look like us, principals, superintendents. We just need to keep talking, and not hold it back. Thank you, everyone who participated in today’s webinar. I think we had about 300 registered, and a little over a couple hundred people participated.

Young-chan Han:

For the next minute or two, I know we right at 3:30. We want to thank all the panelists. Also please, if you can, complete the survey. This is the only way we will know from the voices of the participants what we should do to move forward. I’m hearing, “We need to do this more. We need to do this more.” Unless it’s said in our survey, we have nothing to show for us. Please complete the survey. I see we have about 142 people still here. I hope to have about 142 surveys responded in a couple minutes. Dream big.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, everyone. We appreciate all those wonderful comments in the chat box. I know this is recorded, and this will be uploaded. Those who had to leave early, everybody will get a link. Please re-listen. Listen to all these great suggestions and recommendations, and practice what we’ve shared. Be a voice for our voiceless families. Forge ahead to make sure that we are part of that change that is about to occur.

Young-chan Han:

Thank you, everyone. Everyone have a wonderful rest of day, and rest of the week. Thank you, the team who was behind the scene to help us get through. We really appreciate your support. For our panelists, if you can stay a little bit, I would appreciate that very much.