This was an article I wrote for friends and coworkers during the height of the coronavirus and the BLM protests. It was a call to action, particularly geared towards folks who work in tech, towards recognizing privilege for those with a lot of it and hopefully doing something about it. I recognize this article reads quite virtue-signal-y and dramatic, but I felt that it was an important piece to write and share, especially at the time, for the specific audience in mind.
- Stephen, 2022
Right now as the events of 2020 unfold on the world's stage, many of us have watched from comfortable shelter, unaffected personally by the civil unrest and social injustices, responding with emotion but often inaction. We've watched as "I Can't Breathe" plays out for the second time and further demonstrates the extent of police brutality and racial injustice to African-Americans in America ([1]). We've watched the response to George Floyd's murder and so many others often prompted a debate about rioting and looting instead of a dialogue and actions to resolve deep-rooted injustice and abuse ([2]). We've watched as unemployment reaches record highs ([3]) and moral obligations to social distance during the coronavirus pandemic are disregarded by many to party, reigniting new waves of the virus ([4]). We've also watched so many heroes fight the good fight.
I grew up privileged with an excellent educational system and incredible mentors but with so few people of color around. I grew up never fearing the police despite clearly speeding through our tiny suburban neighborhood to get to class many mornings. I grew up talking about buying Timex watches and J.Crew clothes but never the feeling of being followed in a store for no reason than my skin color. I grew up feeling completely validated becoming a software engineer as an Asian-American male who was good with math and computers and never faced glass ceilings or societal forces against my academic and career progression ([5]).
I can't fully understand the daily struggles the black community has had to endure in centuries of systemic racism and inequality, nor can I fully empathize with so many who are struggling with the immense impacts of the coronavirus on their communities and livelihoods. I've watched Asian communities both become recipients of immense hate as a response to the coronavirus ([6]) and have at other times also been transgressors of prejudice (and so have I). Meanwhile, I've been only ever been subject to inconsequential racist comments and assumptions, and my life amid the pandemic has been completely tolerable.
Working at a stable tech company, I'm fortunate to have been financially stable through the coronavirus pandemic. While watching local businesses that I frequent get closed down and struggle financially, my work patterns have been largely unaffected other than being subjected to slightly awkward conference calls and losing a few in-office perks. While watching my friends lose their loved ones and my friends and family struggle with employment and academic crises, while watching people that I know and love stand up for what they believe in, I've responded with emotional platitudes but ultimately inaction.
Throughout the last 5 months, spending time with people, whether virtually or physically, there's often been this air of ethical ambiguity and back-and-forth. We've internally or externally questioned whether we should hang out, whether to wear masks for various activities, whether to hug or high five or fist or elbow bump, following the state's and CDC's guidelines as best we can. As time has passed, the societal ramifications and severity of the pandemic have never been more clear.
Living in Seattle and San Francisco, American epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak and areas of civil unrest and immense social inequality, I see and hear the damage of these events and systemic inequality on every walk and run around the city. Going out last Sunday and joining protestors in Seattle, I see and hear the pain and abuses endured by so many.
I've never been an activist; I've never even been the kind to share posts or debate causes I believe in on social media. I've often let my fears of being judged and uncomfortable motivate inaction. But in the positions of comfortability and privilege that we have, there is unquestionably a moral imperative to do more.
The privilege we've had as those in financial and social stability grants us a position that it would be unjust to do nothing with.
Today, I've donated to each of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ([7]), the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund ([8]), and Feeding America ([9]). These are three organizations that have made a historic difference in the fight for civil liberties and social equality. I encourage you to read up on these organizations and donate to them or others if is within your means. Over the month of June, I'll be matching an additional $2,000 to each of these orgs ($200/person; match now completed).
I've started a Donor Advised Fund (a tax-efficient fund for making charitable donations, [10]) and will put a portion of my income there as long as I can in my lifetime, with guidelines for distributions to handpicked organizations every year. While Donor Advised Funds are sometimes used with questionable methods ([11]), I believe that with the right guidelines and intentions, they are a solid vehicle for change and impact.
I'm continuing to be more vocal, to engage in more dialogue about issues beyond our urban tech bubbles, to realize my biases and prejudices and fight them, to support local businesses, to reach out and ask when people need help and to provide it in ways that I know how, to attend protests and events that I wouldn't have expected myself to go to years ago.
At work, I'm continuing to work on tools for expression and free speech and recently worked on promoting social distancing at the height of the pandemic.
I know that this all is little compared to the work that first responders, essential workers, and healthcare workers ([12]), journalists ([13], [14]), peaceful protesters and activists ([15], [16]), educators, and so many others are dedicating so many hours towards helping progress these causes daily, but I hope that what I do will make a difference and hope that you reading this helps you make a difference in some capacity.
I encourage you to get socially, politically, or financially involved in the ways you feel you can do good. I encourage you to press forward on these issues even if you feel what you do may be insignificant at an individual level. I encourage you to get educated on local and national matters, to follow and support the journalistic freedoms and free speech in this country, and to reflect early and often. And I encourage you to be kind and compassionate and do your part.
Resources
Articles
- [1] A Decade of Watching Black People Die (NPR)
- [4] Where America Didn't Stay Home Even as the Virus Spread (NYTimes)
- [6] Laura Gao’s ‘The Wuhan I Know’ Comic Dispels Misconceptions About Her Hometown (Texas Monthly)
- [13] The Coronavirus Outbreak (NYTimes)
- [14] George Floyd Protests Live Updates (NYTimes)
- Justice in June: 10 Minutes/Day (Google Doc)
- 75 Things [You] Can Do for Racial Justice (Corrine Shutack, Medium)
Videos
- [2] Trevor Noah on George Floyd, the Minneapolis Protests, Ahmaud Arbery & Amy Cooper (The Daily Show, IG)
- [5] Neil deGrasse Tyson on Being Black, and Women in Science (YouTube)
- [15] Community Solidarity Response Network rally in Toledo, OH (13abc, FB)
- Violent protests in downtown Seattle Saturday after rally over George Floyd's death (KING 5, YouTube)
- [16] Peaceful demonstrators blame anarchists for damage in downtown Seattle (also @1:20:25) (YouTube)
Organizations
- [8] Feeding America
