Like many young Asian Australians, Alyssa Huynh’s experiences of facing racism sadly date back to her childhood. But understandably, it’s only been in recent years as a young adult that she’s found the means to talk more openly about it.
With over 19,000 followers on Instagram, Huynh has become known for her candid conversation starters on social media. From dissecting online hate to the fetishisation of Asian women, internalised racism, and microaggressions, Huynh not only explores her personal experiences, but initiates discussions around societal expectations, systemic issues and potential solutions to address Anti-Asian sentiment in particular.
“Growing up, for me… you don't understand what's happening to you and why. And when you don't have that safe space to be able to talk to people about it, it only sits with you, and then you can almost internalise that racism,” Huynh tells Missing Perspectives.
“I just had so many experiences where I felt like I couldn't talk about it. Then, even when you try to say something, you're made to feel like you're ruining the mood or it's not that serious.”
Years later, Huynh has created a safe space of her own, and now extended that online community to the pages of a newly-released book aptly titled, Safe Space. It documents her experience of racism in Australia, how she found hope through community, and also serves as a partial self-help guide to fellow Asians plus allies in navigating racism.
“With the book, it's essentially just an extension of what I was already sharing on Instagram,” explains Huynh, adding that it was important for her to not only build on what she’s learnt from her own experiences, but contextualise the words to resonate with others.
“Throughout my anti-racism advocacy journey, I had a lot of people reaching out to ask for advice in so many different situations, like, ‘How do I navigate conversations on racism with my family? How do I call out racism in the workplace? Or, what do I do if I have a partner who says something racist?,’” she says.
“So, whenever I was writing the book, that was always in the back of my mind, like, ‘How can I help someone else? How can I show up for them?’ I think that was really important for me to not just think about myself, but to go beyond that.”
Huynh notes that the last few years have been particularly challenging following an increased wave of anti-Asian hate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the Lowy Institute's Being Chinese in Australia report showed one in three Chinese Australians living in Australia believed they experience discrimination because of their heritage. In July 2021, the results of the COVID-19 Racism Incident Report Survey, conducted by the Asian Australian Alliance (AAA) and Per Capita's Osmond Chiu, were released. The results revealed 541 racist incidents in the 15 months prior, with 9 in 10 respondents saying they thought their experiences were related to the pandemic.
In the earlier days of the pandemic, particularly in 2020, Huynh says the public’s awareness of the growing anti-Asian racism in Australia was somewhat low. Many people, particularly on social media, refused to believe her.
“I think a lot of people saw it as not happening here, because a lot of the news that was coming out was coming from the United States,” she says. “So when I started talking about anti-Asian hate existing here in Australia, especially during the height of COVID-19, I used to receive messages saying, ‘I don't see it happening, I don't see it on the news. You're making it all up’.
“I think that was a perfect reflection [of] a lot of my own experiences with racism,” she adds, “that I was told that, ‘It's not real, it's not happening. I'm not hearing about it, so therefore you're wrong. You're lying.’”
Another issue Huynh explores in her book is Asian fetishisation, whereby Asian women in particular are often viewed as stereotypes such as subservient and hyper-sexual. Huynh has come across men who have yellow fever – a term usually used to describe non-Asian people’s explicit sexual preference and desire for Asians.
The author explains that when she dates, she’s often thinking about the role that her race could play in romantic relationships.
“I think when it comes to dating, I have this fear of, ‘Oh goodness, does he only like me because I'm Asian?’ And then the other thing is, when you’re trying to navigate that dating landscape and maybe [you meet] someone who you feel you're not hitting it off with, or just doesn't seem that interested, it's like, ‘Well is it because I'm Asian?’” she says.
Huynh says she’s dated men before who’ve appeared to be “cherry picking parts of Asian culture that they seem to love and respect… who love going to Asia, love Asian food, but haven't respected me as a human being and haven't made me feel loved in relationships".
“When it comes to yellow fever and Asian fetish, it is very much people having these preconceived beliefs, hopes and stereotypes of what Asian women are like,” she continues. “It's tied to us being small, shy, submissive, silent, and I think it ultimately treats us as these voiceless objects that don't have agency, don't have a voice, and don't have a story to tell. It's just exceptionally degrading and dehumanising.”
With all of this in consideration, Huynh’s personally taking a break from the dating scene at the moment. “It's a lot to date, but then it's another thing to date for me… as an Asian woman or as a person of colour, because you're constantly having those thoughts of whether or not someone has pure intentions.”
While she may have hit pause on this element of her personal life, Huynh’s year is shaping up to be her best professionally and personally in other ways – in large part thanks to the release of her book. Sparking conversations and hearing a new perspective on race and identity are the special gifts of Safe Space... not just for Huynh, but for everyone who has the chance to read it.
Safe Space by Alyssa Huynh. Photo: Simon and Schuster