I’m not white enough I’m not good enough
I’m not supposed to be here I’m not
important I’m irrelevant it’s only meant
for white I should probably go back to
where I belong
these are words that I had been telling
myself my entire life and there’s a word
that I believed every second of my life
as an Asian female born and raised in
the Western country life has been a
struggle
Lee since I was born into this world I
haven’t lived the moment for your
oppression and discrimination every day
I walk down the same streets to go home
to school to hang out with friends or
just simply for a walk and every time I
get the same dirty looks from people
passing by some little way others
whisper things to their friends and the
braver ones yell racial slurs it can be
that I’m never seeing an Asian with pink
hair I’m pretty positive that my race is
the origin of their discomfort I can’t
really do anything if they have a
problem with me can i but I would like
the problem that they have with me to
become a problem for everyone
it sounds like narcissism at its finest
but it’s actually a much bigger issue it
does not regard just me it regards every
single individual on this earth each and
every one of you in this room we live in
a society where an oppressive system is
present and it’s been dominating our
consciousness for centuries and
centuries it’s not simply racial
oppression we are talking about a whole
oppressive hierarchical system the
humans have
created since the ancient past it’s an
unjust system with a majority group the
oppressors are privileged and benefit
from every aspect of society while the
minority you’re pressed face all kinds
of inequity in the same society I
started understanding that concept the
racism and oppression back in
kindergarten when I was only four years
old and there felt Thurman’s hatred
towards me for the first time hatred
towards a child an innocent naive child
what possibly could a child have ever
done wrong but the factor that horrifies
me the most is that that same one was my
own teacher
I kept the harsh hatred inside me I was
left an open wound on my mind
growing up life didn’t get any easier
the wound was still open and pretty soon
he got infected infected with false
beliefs I started believing what society
was telling me the white people’s
superior white people are better white
people the social Paragon and obviously
everyone else is inferior these beliefs
make me want to be as white as I could
become so what did I do
I started acting like my tan friends
dressing like them talking like them or
even eating like them at the same time I
started neglecting my Chinese origin
ignoring all the racism towards me and
counterbalancing it by being racist
towards other people I was living in a
stranger’s body but pretty soon I was
finally being accepted by Italians I was
happy or at least I thought that I was
because I thought my wound had
completely healed but little did I know
that I was internalizing the actual
system that was oppressing me after a
few years
my wound started to hurt it was hurting
not for the one memory from kindergarten
but because it became a massive wound
from the accumulation of racial hatred
that I had neglected over the years it
was more than infected and I could not
ignore it any longer I decided that I
had to bring some changes into my life
bring real happiness in me in order to
overcome my internalization I started on
winding the false image that I had
created by rediscovering myself
embracing my Chinese origins and
overcoming the oppression I surrounded
myself with people that could accept me
respect me for who I was I could finally
be myself
my wounds slowly started heal and he
turns into the scar that marks my mind
but that I show with pride today my
identity is shaved by both Italian and
Chinese cultures and I have no shame in
showing it racial internalization is a
very serious issue and I am not the only
one who faced it if I was able to break
through the internalization illusion so
can you don’t be ashamed of your
nationality erase the only glass your
internalization don’t ignore the
oppression embrace them all be proud of
your identity overcome the
internalization fight the oppression if
you take a look at our history we
realized that we have endured so much
pain so much agony in the hands of our
oppressors and that we have come so far
from that oppression we have abolished
slavery we have defeated Nazism
we have ended segregation we have
marched the flower rights we have stood
up for
boys certainly we are living the most
progressive era of the history of
humankind
but are we really not going to knowledge
but there’s still so much injustice and
discrimination happening around us are
you really just going to sit there and
ignore what’s in front of your eyes
disregard the sound of hatred in your
ears every second that would blink her
eyes so mind the world is being bullied
abused persecuted or even killed for
their race ethnicity skin color
nationality by taking a locus artistics
that showed the rate of death and
incarceration at the hands of police
they suggest a more than white people
have been killed and wrongfully
convicted by the police and white people
yes we are talking about a country
that’s predominantly white the numbers
are alarming they are telling us that
something is wrong very wrong
this oppressive system has been
established in our society for so long
they happen it has created strong racial
biases the rest in our minds ice is so
heavy
that needs people to kill other people
driven by the fear of the others race is
this really the world we want to live in
in which you want to live in together we
can create a society where we all live
in harmony we can develop a system where
there is no hierarchy discrimination
oppression or bias we can treat every
human being equally but changes need to
happen we need to put an end to a
repressive system today not tomorrow not
later but today you might be wondering
how can i individual without any
positional power put an end to a system
that’s persisted for centuries well as
Paulo Freire once said something
dialogue counseled women and men in
order to transform the world
it’s naively idealistic there is nothing
however more real concrete and people in
the world with the world of humans with
other humans therefore everyone every
single one of you can contribute in the
fight against oppression even you
depressor together we can piece by piece
deconstruct what was once built and make
our own ideal reality then why don’t you
start by acknowledging your privilege in
order to understand oppression in other
people’s lives it is important to
recognize ways in which you are not
oppressed be grateful for having the
benefits of being immune to the
oppression your society be grateful for
never having to feel the true colours in
your society be grateful for the hatred
you don’t have to deal with within your
society and use your privilege the voice
the representation the light has
conceded you the giver voice those from
today as we start deconstructing always
once built let’s start building a bridge
that brings fruitful discussions a
bridge the obliterates hatred and
division a bridge the unites every
single human thing thank you
[Applause]
I’m not supposed to be here I’m not
important I’m irrelevant it’s only meant
for white I should probably go back to
where I belong
these are words that I had been telling
myself my entire life and there’s a word
that I believed every second of my life
as an Asian female born and raised in
the Western country life has been a
struggle
Lee since I was born into this world I
haven’t lived the moment for your
oppression and discrimination every day
I walk down the same streets to go home
to school to hang out with friends or
just simply for a walk and every time I
get the same dirty looks from people
passing by some little way others
whisper things to their friends and the
braver ones yell racial slurs it can be
that I’m never seeing an Asian with pink
hair I’m pretty positive that my race is
the origin of their discomfort I can’t
really do anything if they have a
problem with me can i but I would like
the problem that they have with me to
become a problem for everyone
it sounds like narcissism at its finest
but it’s actually a much bigger issue it
does not regard just me it regards every
single individual on this earth each and
every one of you in this room we live in
a society where an oppressive system is
present and it’s been dominating our
consciousness for centuries and
centuries it’s not simply racial
oppression we are talking about a whole
oppressive hierarchical system the
humans have
created since the ancient past it’s an
unjust system with a majority group the
oppressors are privileged and benefit
from every aspect of society while the
minority you’re pressed face all kinds
of inequity in the same society I
started understanding that concept the
racism and oppression back in
kindergarten when I was only four years
old and there felt Thurman’s hatred
towards me for the first time hatred
towards a child an innocent naive child
what possibly could a child have ever
done wrong but the factor that horrifies
me the most is that that same one was my
own teacher
I kept the harsh hatred inside me I was
left an open wound on my mind
growing up life didn’t get any easier
the wound was still open and pretty soon
he got infected infected with false
beliefs I started believing what society
was telling me the white people’s
superior white people are better white
people the social Paragon and obviously
everyone else is inferior these beliefs
make me want to be as white as I could
become so what did I do
I started acting like my tan friends
dressing like them talking like them or
even eating like them at the same time I
started neglecting my Chinese origin
ignoring all the racism towards me and
counterbalancing it by being racist
towards other people I was living in a
stranger’s body but pretty soon I was
finally being accepted by Italians I was
happy or at least I thought that I was
because I thought my wound had
completely healed but little did I know
that I was internalizing the actual
system that was oppressing me after a
few years
my wound started to hurt it was hurting
not for the one memory from kindergarten
but because it became a massive wound
from the accumulation of racial hatred
that I had neglected over the years it
was more than infected and I could not
ignore it any longer I decided that I
had to bring some changes into my life
bring real happiness in me in order to
overcome my internalization I started on
winding the false image that I had
created by rediscovering myself
embracing my Chinese origins and
overcoming the oppression I surrounded
myself with people that could accept me
respect me for who I was I could finally
be myself
my wounds slowly started heal and he
turns into the scar that marks my mind
but that I show with pride today my
identity is shaved by both Italian and
Chinese cultures and I have no shame in
showing it racial internalization is a
very serious issue and I am not the only
one who faced it if I was able to break
through the internalization illusion so
can you don’t be ashamed of your
nationality erase the only glass your
internalization don’t ignore the
oppression embrace them all be proud of
your identity overcome the
internalization fight the oppression if
you take a look at our history we
realized that we have endured so much
pain so much agony in the hands of our
oppressors and that we have come so far
from that oppression we have abolished
slavery we have defeated Nazism
we have ended segregation we have
marched the flower rights we have stood
up for
boys certainly we are living the most
progressive era of the history of
humankind
but are we really not going to knowledge
but there’s still so much injustice and
discrimination happening around us are
you really just going to sit there and
ignore what’s in front of your eyes
disregard the sound of hatred in your
ears every second that would blink her
eyes so mind the world is being bullied
abused persecuted or even killed for
their race ethnicity skin color
nationality by taking a locus artistics
that showed the rate of death and
incarceration at the hands of police
they suggest a more than white people
have been killed and wrongfully
convicted by the police and white people
yes we are talking about a country
that’s predominantly white the numbers
are alarming they are telling us that
something is wrong very wrong
this oppressive system has been
established in our society for so long
they happen it has created strong racial
biases the rest in our minds ice is so
heavy
that needs people to kill other people
driven by the fear of the others race is
this really the world we want to live in
in which you want to live in together we
can create a society where we all live
in harmony we can develop a system where
there is no hierarchy discrimination
oppression or bias we can treat every
human being equally but changes need to
happen we need to put an end to a
repressive system today not tomorrow not
later but today you might be wondering
how can i individual without any
positional power put an end to a system
that’s persisted for centuries well as
Paulo Freire once said something
dialogue counseled women and men in
order to transform the world
it’s naively idealistic there is nothing
however more real concrete and people in
the world with the world of humans with
other humans therefore everyone every
single one of you can contribute in the
fight against oppression even you
depressor together we can piece by piece
deconstruct what was once built and make
our own ideal reality then why don’t you
start by acknowledging your privilege in
order to understand oppression in other
people’s lives it is important to
recognize ways in which you are not
oppressed be grateful for having the
benefits of being immune to the
oppression your society be grateful for
never having to feel the true colours in
your society be grateful for the hatred
you don’t have to deal with within your
society and use your privilege the voice
the representation the light has
conceded you the giver voice those from
today as we start deconstructing always
once built let’s start building a bridge
that brings fruitful discussions a
bridge the obliterates hatred and
division a bridge the unites every
single human thing thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: