Eric Nam on CNN talking about anti Asian sentiment in America

And Eric Nam joins me now from Los Angeles and thanks for doing so. I

mean, so now there's this big conversation in the U .S. about violence and racism

directed at Asians. But, you know, as you said, it's been a long time coming,

hasn't it? There have been plenty of warning signs. Yeah, absolutely. I think, if

anything, over the past year, we have been the loudest we have ever been. We

have been asking for allies to stand with us and to fight with us. I've

been asking for allies to stand with us and to fight with us. And unfortunately,

all the warning signs, they kind of went unnoticed. They kind of landed on deaf

ears. And it's taken such an incredibly tragic and horrific event for this to

really hit international and national news in a really targeted way. And so

it's really heartbreaking. And I wish that this could have been done in better situations.

and in better situations but this is where we are right now you you were

born and raised here in Atlanta where where those brutal murders happened so so that

literally hits close to home for you have you personally encountered the sorts of things

that are now being discussed um yes I was born and raised in Atlanta and

I think you know myself and a lot of Asian American AAPI members of the

community across the nation have probably witnessed and experienced a lot of the hate that

we are seeing that is being brought to the forefront of the conversation right now.

I think it comes from a place of ignorance and it comes from a lack

of education and a lack of discourse. But absolutely myself, as I kind of alluded

to in my op -ed piece, there are so many moments where I felt

targeted or discriminated against or, you know, things that can also be very

casually racist words. you know, things that can also be very casually racist, where it's,

is this racist? I think it is, but I'm not quite sure how to identify

it. And we've never really had that conversation. I mean, the article, and I urge

people to read it on time .com, you wrote very forcefully, I'll just read one

line. You said, as AAPIs, we have been excluded, interned,

vilified, emasculated, fetishized, and murdered. And then you spoke about

Asian Americans feeling like perpetual You spoke about Asian -Americans feeling like perpetual foreigners. I

found that sad but interesting to explain that and how it manifests in day -to

-day life. Yeah, I think, you know, the American, the United States has a very

incredible history but also a very dark history and a large part of the Asian

-Americans experience has had a lot of points and moments of that darkness that we've

kind of swept under the rug that we haven't really properly addressed. I think from

the Chinese Inclusion Act to the Japanese American internment there are just so many moments

of history that we can point to and discuss but in in sense of the

perpetual foreigner you know I think it can be as casual as like where are

you from where are you really from for me it's always Atlanta but it's as

if I'm not from there and I've also had this is still a very common

question like why is her English so good where did you learn English these types

of things are my English my first language but in many ways it makes me

feel as if many do I not belong here why am I here and how

do I identify and I think this is something that so many of us in

the community have have dealt with our entire lives and I think that's why so

much of this racism can also be very casual and it can kind of sneak

up on us in many ways yeah my former co -anchor Amra Walker is a

Korean American and she's spoke of exactly those sorts You spoke of exactly those sorts

of things that you've just spoken about. you work in Korea as well, around

the world. I mean, you're pretty big in the K -pop world. What's been the

reaction in Asia to what's been happening to Asians in America?

Yeah, you know, honestly, I'm not there at the moment, so it's hard for me

to really get a pulse of what people are feeling, what the sentiment is. What

I do think is a general kind of consensus So what a lot of people

are feeling is fear and a hesitancy to to think of America in a of

what a lot of people are feeling is fear.

in the most positive way for obvious reasons. I think when people say I'm going

to go study in the states or I'm going to go visit the states for

years it's kind of been this thing of are you sure it's a little unsafe?

I hope you have a safe trip or do you have to go? And I

think this kind of these instances are really rekindling and kind of adding fuel to

the fire in terms of that sentiment, which is, I think, very, very unfortunate, considering

that I believe and I truly love this country, United States of America, and so

much of what it has offered to the world and the beauty of what the

United States of America is. And to see it kind of shown in that light

has been really, really disheartening. It's a powerful message. It is sad that you have

to deliver it, but a powerful one and well made in that time .com

op -ed. Well made in that time dot com op -ed. Eric Nam, a pleasure

to speak with you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.