COVID-19 pandemic reminding us our belonging is conditional: John Cho writes in his essay

Actor John Cho has expressed concerned over the racial hatred against the Asian-American community in America, saying coronavirus pandemic has made the community realise that their "belonging is conditional" in the US.

In the essay published in the Los Angeles Times, the 47-year-old actor highlighted how the community finds itself at the receiving end of hate due to COVID-19.

"I called my parents a few nights ago to tell them to be cautious when stepping out of the house, because they might be targets of verbal or even physical abuse. It felt so strange. Our roles had flipped," Cho wrote.

"The fact that the coronavirus seems to have originated in China has spawneda slew of anti-Asian hate crimes. Across the country, Asian American parents and children are making versions of the call I made. Friends are sharing first-hand accounts of abuse on text chains and circulating articles on Facebook, always ending with the suddenly ominous stay safe," he added.

Cho, whocame to the US from South Korea when he was six and was naturalised in 1990, said his parents would always tell him to "act like the natives", hoping that "race would not disadvantage us."
But it also allows them to "dismiss the current wave of Asian hate crimes as trivial, isolated and unimportant. Consider the comedians who mock Asians, but restrain themselves when it comes to other groups."