Asian Fear in Northbrook

You may be wondering what a white man can say about prejudice aimed at Asians.

Well, my wife is Korean and our daughter, who was six when we left Korea, identifies primarily as Korean.  

Shortly after we moved here when she was 13, she and a group of her Asian friends from NBJH were doing homework at Northbrook Public Library when a man approached the table and said, “You little Chinese bitches, go back to your own country.”

I was in the library and when I went to tell my daughter it was time to go home, she told me what had happened. I pointed the man out to a librarian, who took my name and phone number and assured me he would handle it.

Later that evening, I received a call from a police officer who said they had the man in custody for an unrelated incident and asked if my family would like to press charges.

My daughter and her friends would have had to appear in court, and they didn’t want to. So, in the end, the man was banned from the library for several months and his picture was shared with all the librarians so they could be on the watch for future attacks.

I was satisfied with this response.

While this incident revolved around one individual who was not even a Northbrook resident, it shows that this community is not immune to the racism, hatred, and prejudice that plagues our country, our state, and our town—even our public library, a space normally considered a haven of free ideas and tolerance.

This points to a profound need for a radical shift in our thinking. As a white man in a comfortable suburban community, it’s too easy to let things go on as usual. After all, I’m not being directly affected, right?

Wrong. The hatred and prejudice that denigrates and marginalizes members of our community who are African American, Indigenous American, or recent immigrants—including many, many Asians—is a sickness that infects us all. And we have to find a way to heal.

Some friends and I recently started a group called the Welcoming Walkers. We meet the third Saturday of every month to walk together through our parks and neighborhoods. It’s intended as a space where people of all races and ethnicities feel safe from the kind of attack that was aimed at my daughter. You can find out more by emailing welcomingwalkers@gmail.com.

What else can we do in Northbrook to empower those whom White American society has traditionally marginalized?