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Learning from Youth

No other element creates the mood of a place more than the weather: the warm sunshine in the Mission, the refreshing breeze by Fisherman’s Warf, and the fog in the Richmond.

In this week’s feature story, we look at the Richmond and the dynamics of this neighborhood that is estimated to be over 40 percent API. Since the beginning, waves of immigrants have come to the Richmond, perhaps in search of a place that is a little quieter, a bit more subdued, than the rest of San Francisco. Oftentimes, they find that in the Richmond, with its ever-present haze.

But more recently, a growing diversity among residents has transformed the gray into a vibrant mixture of sites and sounds. Irish bars sit next to Korean barbecues; Chinese and Russian restaurants sit side by side. They are Chinese American and Russian American, Japanese American and Irish American, Latino and African American.

The differences have created both opportunities to divide and opportunities to unite. At the Beacon Center in Washington High School, youth are coming together across ethnic, social and economic borders. They are forming friendships. They are breaking stereotypes. And they are proving diversity is this city’s greatest strength.

Indeed, throughout the nation, young people are making positive changes. At the University of Florida, students rallied against hate this past week. They stood up and educated an entire campus that even mindless fun can cause harm, such as the frat party at U. of Florida, in which the boys dressed as GIs, and the girls made themselves up as Vietnamese prostitutes.

At the protest, Angela Lo, an officer in the Asian Student Union, said she felt both “sorrow and joy.”

“I feel joy because all of you came…to support our cause. I feel sorrow because it took something bad … to bring us together.”

In a sense, the purpose of AsianWeek is similar. We write about racism and sexism, inter-ethnic strife and differences, as well as collective experiences, so that we can learn more about each other — and perhaps, one day, truly come together.