The Asian American community is not a monolith. It is a broad community with many ethnicities that represent myriad nationalities and generations. Subsequently, there is no singular narrative or voice that captures this diverse group of people.
When I first read the news about the massacre that took place at three different Asian owned businesses here in metro-Atlanta that left 8 people murdered, 6 of whom were of Asian descent, my immediate reaction was confusion, followed by anger, followed by frustration. However, because of how diverse the Asian American community is, I knew that not all would feel the same way. Here are four different responses that have been expressed directly to me over this past week.
First is the “don’t ruffle the feathers” posture. This type of reaction was ingrained in me as a Korean child by my mother and by the broader Korean culture. There is a Korean word called “yangbo” that was at the core of my being. This word essentially means, “defer and sacrifice your needs for the benefit of the other.” So although many may feel hurt or anger at the tragedy that took place, the comment I hear from this position is “just keep your head down and this too will blow over.”
The second response is shame. The three Asian own businesses were spas and quickly speculations began to circulate amongst the community as to the nature of these spas. These are simply allegations, yet these unconfirmed rumors were powerful enough for certain Asian Americans to want to distance themselves from it because of what I surmise as shame.
I’ve found that the third reaction is related to our own personal experiences. I immigrated to the states as a 5-year-old kid in 1978, and as such, experienced multiple direct acts of violence because of my race. While playing in front of a church following Korean school, as an elementary-aged child, I was attacked and beaten by several teenage boys because of my ethnicity. In another incident, as my mother and I were walking to our car after buying “back to school” clothes for me, a group of college-aged men in their red pickup drove up to us, spat at us, and threw their drinks at us, all the while hurling racist slurs.
These are just a couple of the race-motivated violence that I personally experienced. What I realized, however, is that many Asian Americans have not experienced these types of bigoted acts. And thankfully so. Consequently, for those who haven’t experienced blatant racism, the third feedback is that it is difficult for them “to see how the murders are race related and that people are jumping to conclusions in attributing race as a factor.”
The final posture is its visceral pain and anger. People are angry because the warning signs have been there for the past year, at least. People are in pain because, in the victims, they see their grandmother, they see their mother, they see their aunts, they see their sisters, and they see their friends. People are infuriated because the actions of this murderer were chalked up as someone having a “bad day” and that it was immediately dismissed that race had no determining factor because that is what the killer self-proclaimed. The pain is real, the pain is raw, the pain is growing.
I don’t know if you can personally relate to any of these four responses above, but if you are like me, you may still be questioning things, wrestling with all sorts of emotions, and still processing all that has happened. It is in moments like this that I have no choice but to lean into my faith and into my God and in doing so, I’ve gleaned four ways that I believe are biblical responses to such a tragic event.
The first is to lament and mourn. Too often we want to move into action and try and do something about a situation. Instead, I believe that our first response is simply to lament the tragic loss of life. Even if you are struggling to see race as a factor in these murders, what cannot be dismissed is that eight precious lives, who were all perfectly made in the image of our Creator, were taken. Romans 12:15 unequivocally commands that we are to “mourn with those who mourn.”
Once we lament and mourn, I believe our next step is to enter into collective corporate prayer. I know that this sounds so much like the patented Christian response and subsequently, I fear that this will fall on deaf ears. However, in Acts 4 we see the church experiencing trials and tribulations for the very first time from the broader community in Jerusalem. I marvel at their response to this challenge. Instead of strategizing or trying to figure out what to do, “they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” In other words, I believe that as the Asian American church, we need to raise our collective voices in prayer, seeking God’s wisdom because this problem of race and bigotry is a God-sized problem.
Through collective corporate prayer, according to Acts 4, the Holy Spirit moves us to where we can now act, specifically be empowered by him to speak boldly. It is emphasized in Acts 4:31, “After they prayed…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
What I believe this to mean is that the Holy Spirit empowered the church to have a prophetic voice. In other words, the church had the boldness to call out sin and proclaim the truth about God and God’s will. I do believe that without knowing, the church has abdicated its prophetic voice by conflating God’s purposes with other selfish agendas. Through collective prayer, it is time for the church, the Asian American church to once again regain its prophetic voice and call out sin, in particular the sin of racism for what it is. Concurrently, with this boldness, the church will proclaim the will and heart of God, which leads me to the fourth and final response.
Finally, the Asian American church, with its bold prophetic voice, needs to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). In other words, the church needs to stand up for those who are encountering injustice and provide mercy to those who are suffering. To walk humbly does not mean for us to bow our heads and project false humility. Rather, it simply means to put our wills aside and seek the will of God. One can actually say that to walk humbly with God is to act justly and love mercy. All this to say, I do believe that it is the proper response of the church, the Asian American church to stand up against injustice like racism and demonstrate mercy to those who are suffering, like the victims’ family and the broader Asian American community.
If I can be honest, I am barely scratching the surface of all that needs to be processed, addressed, and tackled. I fear that in time, things will be forgotten and that would truly be shameful. My hope and prayer is that the Asian American church and the Asian American Christian community will see this tragic moment as a call to action for us to not simply proclaim the love and grace of our Lord Jesus from our pulpits and our pews, but that this will be a catalytic moment for the church to tangibly demonstrate the Gospel by jumping into the fray as ambassadors of justice and mercy.
Editor’s Note: On Sunday, March 28, churches all across the country will be gathering to respond in lament and prayer. To find out more and to join, click here.