Coronavirus reminds Asian Americans like me that our belonging is conditional.

Growing up as a child of an immigrant, we never talked about racism or even entertained the thought in our family, as we were fully entrenched in the “model minority” myth that if we worked hard enough, race would not disadvantage us. Sadly, history has proven that our acceptance of this illusion of “raceless-ness” will not protect us – nor will make people accept us as “American”. There’s nothing more American than speaking out against injustice, and it’s admirable to see John Cho using the platform he has as an actor to speak out against racism … #RESPECT!