Thread by @AndyKimNJ

I cannot get this shameful video out of my mind today. Attacker yelled “You don’t belong here.” But doorman’s actions said same thing when he shut door on a broken woman lying on sidewalk. We as a nation need to talk about bystanders to hate (THREAD) #WeBelong #StopAsianHate

When that door closes, it sends a clear message. It says I’m not going to help. It says this is none of my business. It says to the woman, you don’t belong in this building; keep your problems outside. It says this is not my responsibility. 2/11

I feel like this is so metaphorical to the challenges we face as a nation right now. We as a society are having a crisis of empathy. What we are losing is that important sense of sharedness. Whether that is shared experiences, shared truths, shared space, shared identity. 3/11

As we grow more siloed, we start to see one another as the “other.” Without sharedness we lose touch with responsibility. What are our responsibilities when we are neither perpetrator nor direct victim? What about when we witness hate or suffering of others with our own eyes 4/11

It is difficult to talk about bystanders because it’s hard to cast judgment when we weren’t there. Would I have stepped in? I don't know for sure. Instead of coming from a place of hypotheticals/moral superiority, I’m considering principles to recommit to. 5/11

IT IS OUR BUSINESS: If we see someone else hurt, it's still our business. Even if doorman didn’t intervene in attack for fear of personal harm, he and others should have checked on woman afterwards. Action is not binary. It doesn’t have to be superhero or nothing. 6/11

IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY: The lack of action during the attack and then shutting the door after threat is over speaks less to fear and more to callousness. Closing the door delineates that this is not my world and therefore I don’t need to act. I don’t have responsibility.7/11

Responding to the pain of others isn’t about charity, it is about responsibility. We have responsibility to those around us, as they do for us. We treat others as we want to be treated. We help others as we hope to be helped in our moments of need. 8/11

YOU BELONG/WE BELONG: The words violently hurled at this woman “You don’t belong here” are intentionally meant to draw distance and isolate. Let us commit to overpowering that rising tide of hate by speaking in chorus “You belong. We belong.” This is my family. #WeBelong 9/11

BUILD COMMUNITY: I shared last week that I believe the opposite of feeling foreign is to be loved in a community. My mom told me comforting words: “You are never alone. Whatever problems come, let us know and we will go through together.” Community is our sharedness. 10/11

Many of us are outraged because we see how the growing sense of “other” has instigated/fueled violence. I feel it too and like you I’m still trying to process all this hurt. We don’t have all the answers right now, but let’s at least start by opening the door (END)