It Was Always This Way

Asian women have never been safe in this country.

I was born to a Korean mother and a Korean father, and to their outsized Korean families some time ago in the capital of South Korea. And when I was growing up, I was told that Korean women were one way, that we were blessed with everything the land could ever give us. I believed it.

I moved to this country at seven years old, where I was pushed into a society that staunchly disagreed. I have been spat on, yelled at, constantly harassed. I have been told to go back to my country. I…