一名亚裔美国老兵掀开他的衬衫，露出他的军事伤疤，宣称:“这个爱国者够了吗?”在一次有力的演讲中谴责对亚裔社区的仇恨。
在3月23日的一次公开会议上，辛辛那提郊区西切斯特镇的董事会成员李·王(Lee Wong)谈到了针对亚裔美国人的仇恨犯罪的上升。
他说，因为他的种族，他已经对自己成为受害者保持沉默太久了。
“人们质疑我的爱国主义，质疑我不够美国化。他们无法忘记这张脸。我想给你看些东西，因为我不怕。...我要让你看看爱国主义是什么样子的，”他说着，脱下西装外套，解开领带，解开衬衫扣子。
西切斯特镇
俄亥俄州西切斯特镇的一名镇托管人李·王(Lee Wong)撩起衬衫，露出他在军队中留下的伤疤
69岁的王在他在美国军队服役期间，胸部有明显的疤痕，他说:“这是我的证据。”
“现在，”他补充道，“这个爱国者够了吗?”
他演讲的视频像病毒一样传播开来，并带来了大量的支持。
王解释说，他18岁时从婆罗洲岛来到美国，两年后在芝加哥遭到殴打。他说，肇事者从未面临指控。这一事件改变了他的生活轨迹，促使他参军，并继续成为一名民选官员，以改善他的社区。
这是董事会在3月16日亚特兰大地区温泉枪击案后的首次会议，该枪击案造成8人死亡，其中包括6名亚裔女性。
“我没有准备好，也没有写下任何东西，”王告诉美国广播公司新闻。“我认为这是必要的，因为所有的事情都在发生——亚特兰大枪击事件和针对亚裔美国人的对当地餐馆的袭击相结合。”
他说，在过去的四年里，他看到对亚裔美国人的种族敌意激增。冠状病毒大流行及其在中国武汉的疑似起源，被认为是去年美国反亚洲歧视激增的一个动机。
从2020年3月19日到2021年2月28日，共有超过3，795起仇恨事件包括口头骚扰和人身攻击，针对在美国的亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民停止AAPI仇恨一个追踪此类事件的非营利组织。
由李黄提供
俄亥俄州威彻斯特的董事会成员李·王分享了这张自己与美国陆军海豹突击队合影的照片。
王解释说，他在南卡罗来纳州杰克逊堡的基本战斗训练中留下了伤疤。他继续服务了20年，包括在德国和韩国的部署。
尽管他有所贡献，但他说他面临着反复的歧视，即使是在他自己的社区。
“让我印象最深的是那些来找我的人，他们直言不讳、大胆地告诉我，我不够美国化——我看起来不像美国人，或者说，当我举着(美国)国旗、一件大军装和一顶退役军帽在选举委员会上走来走去的时候，我不够爱国，”他说人们做这种事，取笑亚裔美国人，说我们不如他们优越，真是太丑陋了。"
王说，10月的一天，一个穿得像忍者的人出现在他家外面。
“我知道这是恐吓我的方式，”他说。“我保持沉默。”
然后他没有。
“我知道当你不说话的时候，”王补充道，“那就是麻烦开始的时候。”
黄警告说，针对亚裔美国人的偏见事件激增并不是什么新鲜事，但这种流行病加剧了这种现象。
“对亚裔美国人的种族偏见已经持续了很长时间，自从19世纪的《排外法案》以来，”他说。“这只是过去几年出现的丑陋，比如‘中国病毒’，以及中国如何处理冠状病毒，然后他们把它归咎于亚裔美国人?简直是疯了。”
Asian American veteran bares scars in denouncing anti-Asian hate: 'Is this patriot enough?'
An Asian American veteran lifted his shirt and bared his military scars, declaring, "Is this patriot enough?" in a powerful speech to denounce hate against the Asian community.
Lee Wong, a board member of West Chester Township, a suburb of Cincinnati, spoke out on the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans at a public meeting on March 23.
He said he'd been silent for too long on being victimized because of his race.
"People question my patriotism, that I don't look American enough. They cannot get over this face. I want to show you something because I'm not afraid. ... I'm going to show you what patriotism looks like," he said, taking off his suit jacket, untying his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.
Wong, 69, showed significant scarring along his chest, sustained during his time in the U.S. military, and said: "Here is my proof."
"Now," he added, "is this patriot enough?"
Video of his speechwent viral and led to an outpouring of support.
Wong explained that he came to the U.S. at the age of 18 from the island of Borneo, and two years later he was beat up in Chicago. That perpetrator never faced charges, he said. The incident changed the trajectory of his life, prompting him to enlist in the Army and go on to become an elected official to improve his community.
The meeting was the board's first after the March 16 Atlanta-area spas shooting that left eight dead, including six women of Asian descent.
"I wasn't prepared or [had] anything written down," Wong told ABC News. "I thought it was just necessary with all the things happening -- with a combination of the Atlanta shooting and the attacks on local restaurants here against Asian Americans."
He said he's seen racial animus toward Asian Americans surge over the past four years. The coronavirus pandemic and its suspected origins in Wuhan, China, has been cited as one motive for the surge in anti-Asian discrimination in the United States over the last year.
From March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021, there weremore than 3,795 hate incidents, including verbal harassment and physical assault, against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States reported toStop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit organization that tracks such incidents.
Wong explained he sustained his scars during basic combat training while in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He went on to serve for 20 years, including deployments in Germany and Korea.
Despite his service, he said he's faced repeated discrimination, even in his own community.
"What hit me the most is the people who came to me so vocal and bold to tell me that I'm not American enough -- I don't 'look American' or I'm 'not patriotic enough when I was holding the [American] flag, a big Army jacket and retired Army hat walking around at the Board of Elections," he said. "It was so ugly for people do such a thing, to make fun of Asian Americans and say that we are less superior."
One day in October, Wong said, a person appeared outside his home dressed like a ninja.
"I knew that was the way to intimidate me," he said. "I kept quiet."
And then he didn't.
"I learned that when you don't speak up," Wong added, "that is when trouble begins."
Wong warned that the spate of bias incidents against Asian Americans is nothing new but has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
"Racial bias against Asian Americans has been going on for a long time, since the 1800s with the Exclusion Act and all that," he said. "It's just wild the ugliness that came out in the last few years, with words like 'China virus,' and how the country handles the coronavirus and then they blame it on Asian Americans? It's just crazy."
