Ingrid Yeung ‘23
Community and Equity day in St. Mark’s always provides students and faculty a safe space to openly discuss their own identities, experiences and concerns. This year, the student-led workshops during C&E day addressed various issues in our current society: body image, social media influence on inequality, privilege, racism, and many others. Although all the workshops tackled different problems, all aimed to combat the discrimination and inequity in our society. Out of them all, one workshop intrigued me the most: International Student Identities. By discussing how international students define themselves, whether through nationality, culture, mother language, or birthplace, we recognize the complexity of international student identities. In this particular time period of active antiracism, where is the international student’s place in this fight against discrimination? What are the experiences of international students with racism? How can international students define and defend their own identities? Antiracism is not a one-race war, but a war for all races against racism.
To understand how international students can participate in combating racism, discussing the discrimination that people of international backgrounds have experienced is vital. For the most part, antiracism work dedicates itself predominantly to address the inequalities that African Americans experience in American society. International students may seem irrelevant to the center of this issue. However, that does not mean that people of international backgrounds do not experience similar discriminations. Many international students have experienced microaggressions while studying abroad. That is mainly due to their unfamiliarity with the second language, their distinct cultural backgrounds, and even their names. Such aggressions might not be dedicated directly to their race or ethnic backgrounds, but international students’ stories cannot be neglected in this battle against racism and discrimination. Especially after the pandemic had broken out, people of East Asian descent experience much more intense aggression than before. Their properties are destroyed, and their safety is being threatened. All signs show that international students should not be excluded in advocating anti-racism and defending their own identities. When coming to combating racism, international students can make up a powerful group to tackle the problem.
What exactly can international students do in fighting racism? Through observation, the general norm of international students does not lean towards intense activism. Most of the time, international students lack the ability to defend their own identities. In the safe-space that the student workshop presented, several students shared stories of their experience of microaggression. Their stories are all different, but one thing those students had in common was that they never reported any of the actions even if they felt extremely uncomfortable. Not reporting or simply ignoring these actions doesn’t contribute to the process of problem-solving. Microaggressions and discrimination will only continue to grow without bringing those in front of the community under the light. International students, making up not a small amount of the entire student body, can also play an essential role in combating racism. Instead of facing the issue passively, students should actively seek a resolution and stop discrimination from happening.
The combat against racism is not just a war for the African American students, nor is it only a battle for the international students. There are no permanent victims, nor are their permanent aggressors. Anyone of any race could potentially become a victim of racism. Every student in our community is responsible for antiracism. When everyone within a community is aware of the issue and intentionally minds their behaviors, the fight against racism will be much more achievable.