Mugged, but calling the cops is racist: Yeonmi Park's encounter.
An escapee of North Korea at the age of 13. One who defied the odds and escaped the hermit kingdom's tight grasp on its citizens. Crossing the Gobi desert, seeking freedom in the USA. Yeonmi Park. A North Korean defector. At the time to her, the USA a seeming release from the captivity of the DPRK's treatment of citizens: through the suffering, struggle, and work to immigrate and escape passing through South Korea, eventually to the USA. But what she found was not what she expected; and in a bad way. Her education and schools reminded her of the dictatorship back home in North Korea, taking to many interviews to denounce the reality of those schools. But she was to experience a new type of reality. A sad reality. A reality because she is Asian. With the rise of lootings in Chicago last summer, outrageous incidents plagued her daily life one after another, again and again.
Last summer, Yeonmi Park was mugged by an African American citizen. Bystanders did merely an action to help. Disregarding that, as anyone would, someone who is being mugged likely would want to call the police. This situation is no different as Park attempts to phone the police while she is being mugged.
During the incident, the suspect allegedly states “You’re a racist! The color of my skin doesn’t make me a thief,” while attempting to steal her wallet.
But bystanders had other plans. Bystanders labeled Park as racist for calling the police on an African American citizen who is currently stealing her wallet! This, simply, should not need to be explained why this is wrong. It should rather be common sense that calling the police on an African American person committing a crime is not racist. Bystanders witness the crime live. But the bystanders did not help in any way. This extent of AAPI violence is uncalled for. The corruption and the use of AAPI figures as sort of "puppets" that glorify and denounce other communities or people of other skin colors are horrible acts and more than definitely unwarranted.
Have you were heard that if you were not helping in this kind of situation, that you are part of the problem? If not, then whether you as the reader consider that statement, these bystanders were part of the problem. In fact, Yeonmi Park said herself, that had someone been mugged in North Korea on the streets, bystanders will run to the victim and help immediately. No one will call the victim "racist" instead of helping. In the hermit kingdom of the DPRK, one of the most secretive governments in the world, bystanders do not try to stand around and support the victim. The bystanders helped propagate the problem of discrimination instead of recovering/helping with Park's stolen wallet. Yet in the free United States of America, bystanders do not bother to help and instead label the victim as "racist".
In the interview, Park recalls: “They were telling me that the color of their [the robbers'] skin doesn’t make them thieves.”
One mother spoke to her child, pointing Park out as a racist problem! Misinformation and overall bystanders acting with discrimination towards Park. An outrageous robbery, to which no one came to aid. With 20 bystanders preventing the call to police, Park notes that she thought "this country [has] lost it."
One arrest was made out of the suspect and 2 accomplices. An act of justice? No, better described as a failed effort. 29-year-old Lecretia Harris arrested and originally charged with felony robbery, but sentenced to just 2 years for unlawful restraint, dropping the robbery charge in a plea agreement!
So, let's recap. Yeonmi Park mugged by an African American woman, or suspect. Suspect calls Park a racist for calling the cops on an African American. Bystanders call Park a racist likewise. Bystanders prevent Park from calling police. Mother calls Park a racist and labels her a problem. Suspects get away with Park's wallet. Park leaves the scene empty handed. Seem outrageous? An outrageous truth. Not one event in Park's favor, the victim's favor. Corruption and discrimination plague the incident. No justice by the police. Will it ever be fixed?
Alas, the importance of the core components to solve AAPI hate arise here. Education, to help the bystanders. Justice, to apprehend the suspect. Comfort, to allow Yeonmi Park to recover as much as she can. This unspeakable, atrocious robbery with disgraceful reactions from bystanders raise a perfect example of why AAPI hate must be fought. The proof of the presence of AAPI hate. Most of all, the pernicious effects of it on the victims.
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