The Yellow Peril is an extension of Orientalism, as it projected a prejudiced characterization of Asians, misleading the Western public to believe that Asians were foreigners who posed a threat to Western ideals, cultures, and the economy. In the name of capitalism, the exploitation of Asian immigrant labor has had astronomically harmful effects on the politicized development of race relations, labor ideologies, and immigration legislation alike in America.

Currently, India, with a population of over 1.3 billion is suffering from a massive COVID-19 surge. There have been mass cremations, hospitals running low or out of medical supplies, and many patients dying due to oxygen shortages. Families are rushing from hospital to hospital, scrambling to find open hospital beds or space in the ICU for their loved ones. In April, it was reported that there were 6.6 million COVID cases. Daily cases have been continuously rising, with many going unreported. On May 7th, the Indian government reported more than 414,000 new COVID infections. Despite the United States is more than 8,000 miles and multiple time zones away from India, this situation is crucial and critical. 

For so many years, I failed to consider that I could belong here despite and because of my Korean identity. That I could belong just the way I am, without contorting myself to fit into the box white supremacy created. I finally understand that belonging is, more than anything, a feeling. Whether or not I belong here was never about external perception, and always about whether I believed it myself. 

As the editor in chief of a digital platform for Asian women, non-binary people, and gender minorities, I have devoted my life to giving these people a voice. This includes communicating to Asian cisgender men that they, in fact, do not speak for us, and attempting to show that the ignorant opinions of a few do not represent all of Asian-America in particular. It appears that, despite the prestigious education we can’t seem to stop hearing about, this is a concept wholly unfamiliar to former U.S. presidential candidate, current New York City mayoral candidate, and all-around disappointment to the community Andrew Yang. Yang has been criticized, mainly by Asians, for failing to address or embrace his Asian heritage.