WEBVTT

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Mom,

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Dad,

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Uncle, Auntie,

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Grandfather, Grandmother:

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We need to talk.

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You may not have grown up around
people who are Black, but I have

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Black people are a fundamental 
part of my life:

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They’re my friends,

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my roommates,

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my classmates and teammates,

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my family

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Today, I’m scared for them

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This year, the American police have 
already killed more than 500 people

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Of those, 25% have been black, even though
they only make up 13% of the population

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Earlier this week in Louisiana two police
officers killed a man named Alton Sterling

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while he sold CDs on the street

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The very next day in Minnesota, 
a police officer shot and killed

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a Black man named Philando Castile

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in his car during a traffic stop

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while his girlfriend and her
four year-old daughter looked on

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Overwhelmingly, the police do not face any
consequences for ending these lives

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This is a terrifying reality that some of
my closest friends live with every day

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Even as we hear about the dangers
that Black Americans face

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our instinct is to sometimes point at all
the ways that we’re different from them

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To shield ourselves from their reality, 
rather than empathizing

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When a policeman shoots a Black person
you might think it’s the victim’s fault

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because you see so many images of them 
in the media as thugs and criminals

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After all, you might say,

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we managed to come to
America and build good lives

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for ourselves despite discrimination,

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so why can’t they?

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I want to share with you
how I see things

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It’s true that we face discrimination for
being Asian in this country.

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Sometimes people are rude to us about our
accents,

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or withhold promotions because they don’t
think of us as leadership material

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Some of us are told we’re terrorists

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But for the most part, people 
don’t think “dangerous criminal”

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when we are walking down the street

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The police do not gun down our children
and parents for simply existing

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This is not the case for our Black friends

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Many Black people were brought to 
America as slaves against their will

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For centuries their communities, families,
and bodies were ripped apart for profit

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Even after slavery, they had to build 
back their lives by themselves

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with no institutional support –

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not allowed to vote or own homes,

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and constantly under the threat of
violence that continues to this day

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In fighting for their own rights, Black 
activists have led the movement

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for opportunities not just for 
themselves, but for us as well

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Black people have been 
beaten, jailed, even killed

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fighting for many of the rights that 
Asian Americans enjoy today

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We owe them so much in return

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We are all fighting against 
the same unfair system

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that prefers we compete 
against each other

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When someone is walking home and gets
shot by a sworn protector of the peace

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–even if that person’s last name is Liang–

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that is an assault on all of us,

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and on all of our hopes for equality
and fairness under the law

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For all these reasons I support 
the Black Lives Matter movement

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Part of that support means
speaking up when I see people

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in my own community 
–or even my own family–

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say or do things that 
diminish the humanity

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of Black Americans in this country

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I’m telling you this out of love, because
I don’t want this issue to divide us

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I’m asking you to try and empathize 
with the anger and grief of the fathers,

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mothers, and children who have lost 
their loved ones to police violence

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To empathize with my anger and grief

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To support me if I choose
to be vocal and to protest

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To share this letter with your friends and
to encourage them to be empathetic, too

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As your child, I am proud 
and eternally grateful

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that you took the long, 
hard journey to this country,

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that you've lived decades in a place
that hasn’t always been kind to you

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You’ve never wished your 
struggles upon me

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Instead, you’ve suffered through 
a prejudiced America,

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to bring me closer to 
the American Dream

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But I hope you can consider this:

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The American Dream cannot
exist only for your children

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We’re all in this together 
and we cannot be safe

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until all of our friends, loved 
ones, and neighbors are safe

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The American Dream that we seek

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is a place where all Americans can
live without fear of police violence

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This is the future that I want –
and one that I hope you want, too

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With love and hope,

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Your chidren