By Ryan Gajarawala ’18, Staff Writer

Following the 2016 presidential election, racist and misogynistic attitudes, such as the ones seen in Charlottesville, have proliferated. The rhetoric of President Donald Trump’s campaign has given some American citizens the confidence to project hate speech and criticize others based on gender, race, and sexual orientation. For instance, Harry Echtman ‘18 noted that “the election [process] has empowered people with fringe views to speak more openly about their bigotry.”

Recently, I was astonished, insulted, and surprised by a local display of racism. I often assume—optimistically—that society has progressed forward and racist attitudes are of the past. NEWS FLASH: Racism is alive and well. After events like Charlottesville, it would be foolish to deny its existence. Specifically, in Edison, NJ, residents were mailed an anonymous and racist postcard prior to the School Board election. I heard about this incident from my mom, from Edison resident Dean Tan ‘18, and from the postcard’s widespread distribution on Facebook. The postcard was anti-Indian and anti-Chinese. When I say “anti,” I don’t mean it lightly; the postcard had the word DEPORT imprinted on pictures of School Board candidates Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel—who are both American citizens.

The postcard’s racist attitudes against Asian-Americans are clearly evident. The card even says that “the Chinese and Indians are taking over our town.” Nearly 45% of Edison is Asian-American, and 56% are nonwhite. In a community that takes pride in its cultural and racial diversity, Indian and Chinese residents were disgruntled and offended by this direct attack on their identities. Falguni Patel, on NJ 1015 Radio, understood how some residents would not embrace her campaign but was utterly shocked by the postcards’ explicit racism. Shi and Patel issued a joint statement soon after the postcards were distributed, stating that the postcards “are un-American and not the Edison we know.”

With no attempt to veil racist attitudes, the postcard uses a slogan from President Trump’s campaign, a slogan that made specific groups of American citizens feel targeted. The use of “Great Again” to convey the desire to deport Indians and Chinese from a community based in racial diversity is sickening; it suggests that Edison is better off without the vibrant Chinese and Indian populations that add so much value to the community. In American society, diversity and difference of appearance, background, identity, and thought are highly valued, especially in the process of democratic elections. Consequently, these flyers invalidate the sanctity of American democratic procedure. Abbey Zhu’ 18, a leader of Asian Diversity Club and a passionate activist for Asian representation, stated that “Edison is a safe haven from hostility toward Asian-Americans,” and she feels “sickened” to have that space threatened.

Most people in NA’s Asian community shared similar reactions to the incident. Abbey added that “America has so much hate, but it only took a horrible president to bring it all out.” She humorously noted the trivial problem of cricket fields “invading” Edison and described how these flyers are a “wake up call to the existence of racism against Asian-Americans and [the] continued perception of Asian populations as foreigners or unwelcome in the United States.” Alice Jiang ‘19 and Harry Echtman ‘18 both used terms such as “viscerally angry” and “upset” to convey their initial reaction to the postcard, especially considering that this kind of blatant and flagrant racism continues in the United States.

Asian Americans have been in the United States for hundreds of years, yet they are largely excluded from discussion of race relations. In America, race is often discussed through the black/white binary, a paradigm which limits the scope of legitimate viewpoints within racial discourse. Abbey believes that “due to Asian-American success in assimilating to American culture, people often forget Asian-Americans as minorities, ignore their existence within race relation discourse, and pretend as if racism does not exist toward Asian-Americans.” This flaw in race relation discourse can be rooted to the American education system, in which according to Harry, “people have not really been taught to recognize the existence of Asian-American racism.” Harry even described how “white people were so [accustomed] to not experiencing this kind of hatred that we forgot that it exists readily around us at all times.”

Although the anonymous mailers attempted to incite hate-filled beliefs within the residents of Edison and Hoboken, they ultimately failed: Falguni Patel and Jerry Shi both won seats on the school boards in Edison. Although Asians are often underrepresented as minorities, these candidates’ dedication to their communities overcame and repudiated some of the hateful and racist attitudes that have emerged under the Trump presidency.