"We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."

I was supposed to see my Dad this morning, for the first time since lockdown. Instead, we had an emotional conversation over the phone during which we talked about the current protests, and his past experiences with racism.

My Dad came to the U.S. in 1960 as a foreign graduate student from Taiwan. It was his dream to win a scholarship to study in the "Beautiful Country" (Chinese translation of "America"). Over Spring Break that year, he and a group of classmates, mostly foreign students from Africa, took a road trip to Washington, D.C. He was so excited to see the monuments and the capital of the "Beautiful Country." However, when they arrived that night, they could not find a hotel that would rent them a room. When he found out WHY, because it was the color of their skin, he was shocked, upset, angry, and sad. He couldn't believe that the "Beautiful Country" could treat its visitors, and its own citizens, so badly.

Of course, as an Asian immigrant, his experience is different from that of African-Americans. But this was his first encounter with racism in his new country. And now, 60 years later, the hatred and violence continues.

Racism affects all of us. Although it affects us in different ways, we are all in this together. This is why my father an 87 year old Asian immigrant, supports the protesters. As Dr. King said, "we're in the same boat," and if we are to survive and rebuild our Beautiful Country, we must fight together against injustice, hate, and violence, each in our own way.