- Jenkins, who is of Vietnamese and Chinese descent, recognized she can no longer retreat or stay silent about issues concerning her community, including the rising number of anti-Asian hate incidents.
- According to Jenkins, she represents the Asian community in the show because “everything that comes out of my mouth is going to come from my culture, my lifestyle, my upbringing.”
- She highlighted the recent three-part series they made talking about three important subjects that negatively affect Asians: “the model minority myth, fetishizing of Asian women, and the long history of racism towards Asians.”
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- When the episode did not rate well, she “felt embarrassed” that it prevented her from bringing up another Asian topic.
- The current social climate has made her realize what she can do, saying “I’ve broken those chains. Now, I don’t care where I’m speaking about it. If you want me, if you want Jeannie Mai Jenkins, that is coming with me. And you are going to learn about my culture and my people.”
- “I think the first thing that all minority groups should acknowledge is that until Black Lives Matter, none of us will. Until ‘Black Lives Matter’, none of us will receive the respect that we deserve,” she stressed.
- She pointed out the historical oppression of Black people and the current challenges they face in the justice system.
- Jenkins also added the model minority myth separated Asian and Black communities.
- “These are more opportunities for us more than ever to speak out and to speak up proudly for ourselves. If you can’t speak up for yourself, how am I going to believe that you speak up for other people?” she asked.