Op-Ed by Nielsen — It’s Time for Facts, Not Fear: Asian-Americans Are Doing Their Part

It was the first time that I had decided to wear a face mask as I left to walk my dog. As I was waiting to cross Third Avenue in New York City, an angry man approached, yelling and cursing as he walked toward me. I immediately picked up my dog and ran into the garage. What he said to me is now a blur, but the message was clear: Go back to China. Even as a lifelong New Yorker, I was shaken.

Since then, we’ve seen many headlines about Asian Americans falling victim to acts far worse than the verbal harassment I experienced, and the Asian American community has galvanized. Grassroots community organizations are driving awareness, Asian American influencers are organizing social media campaigns like #washthehate, and elected officials of all communities of color are condemning anti-Asian discrimination. The passion and leadership of the Asian American community covered in these stories make me proud: We are not a community that will sit quietly and turn a blind a eye, but one with a voice to be heard.

This was a topic that became the focus of conversations all around me—with my daughters (who also walk our dog, albeit occasionally), with friends, with our Asian American Employee Resource Group, and with members of the Asian American External Advisory Council for Nielsen. We all agree racism is straight-out wrong, but there is a disparity in how Asian Americans should respond to these acts of hate. To some Asian Americans, the very efforts that have made me proud of our community are considered distractions from the focus of the pandemic. Andrew Yang expressed his point of view in a Washington Post op-ed on April 1, in which he suggested that Asian Americans should combat racism by showing more of our “American-ness.” Of course, a Twitter storm ensued of Asian Americans rejecting his message, implying that the onus is on us to prove that we belong in this country.