By Jamie Cho, Ph.D.
FOR NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
On Sept. 24, 2024, Zhen Jin went back to court again. This time, she was vindicated. It took 3 years, and 11 court hearings, but the court granted a 10-year protection order, which included that the racist neighbor be restrained from serving on the Homeowner’s Association (HOA) board. Jin finally felt seen, heard, and validated in a court that was meant to protect her.
Folks who showed up for Zhen Jin’s court hearing (photo from Jamie Cho).
Our arc of justice started on the floor, but we are now all standing tall. Walking out of Courtroom 1F of the King County Superior Court room, Zhen Jin cried tears of grief and relief, and then she smiled because she is still standing. It is a long-awaited victory that shouldn’t have taken so long, and should not have been so costly.
There’s a parable of unknown origin that goes like this: There was a young boy who was quick to anger and would lash out at those around him. His father, wanting to help him resolve his anger, came up with a solution. He told his son that whenever he was angry, he could pound a nail into their fence. And when his anger dissipated, the father instructed his son to remove the nail. In time, the father told his son to look at the fence and see all the holes he had made. The moral of the story is that anger, a one-time short-lived experience, when directed at others has permanent consequences, which means the fence will never be the same.
This parable can serve as an analogy to the racism that Jin has endured for years. Racist behaviors may be represented by each nail pounded into the fence, and the holes are the trauma, fear, and anxiety that remain for life. The racist neighbor has been hammering the nails relentlessly for the past few years, but so have many others affiliated with the HOA, Ewing & Clark management company, the police department, and the court system. What folks in all these systems have failed to understand is that while racist slurs, verbal attacks, and physical assaults are abhorrent, violent, and harmful, they are not the only means in which racism is utilized. Because the nuances of racialized power dynamics and harassment were not understood, they were manipulated by folks in these inherently racist systems.
For example, during the recent court hearing, the lawyer of the racist neighbor, a white man, slung baseless accusations that Jin was trying to make a power move to influence HOA decisions. He probably recognized that he was losing the case and tried to paint the victim as the aggressor. This is a blatantly racist ploy. The evidence was clear and abundant that the racist neighbor manipulated the HOA and the management company to be complicit in her racism. This lawyer weaponized a stereotype that Asian women should be demure and quiet, in a court of law. He even went so far as to share that he, too, a white man, has proximity to Asian folks through clients, and family members, thus, in his skewed logic, proving he understands and denounces racism. This “by proxy” argument does not prove that he is not racist. In fact, it does the opposite because he is conflating knowing a person of color with being a person of color. Having an Asian American client or having Asian family members does not mean one is immune to racist behaviors or thoughts, and clearly, he was not an ally since he was defending the racist white woman. He should be ashamed.
While the parable is an illustration of racism, racism is much worse than anger. Racism is not an emotion that will change with each passing moment. The defendant tried to justify her racialized aggression by saying she was “not in a good place” and that she “has changed.” Yet, there is no proof of this change, and folks don’t just decide to stop being racist when they are in a good mood. It is part of their worldview and shows up in their thought processes, decisions, and actions. These desperate arguments illustrate that this racist neighbor has no intention of changing but was trying to avoid consequences for her actions.
This court and judge, like in previous court hearings, also placed Jin at a disadvantage because the interpreter was only available until mid-morning, but Jin’s case was listed as 7th to be heard. By the time it was her turn, there was a mere 20 minutes to hear both sides of the case. Interpretation should be a guaranteed right, not a luxury. Having to decline interpretation to present a 7-minute argument of why Jin needed long-term protection, the court discourages folks from seeking justice. It took countless hours of poring over evidence, documenting, writing, revising, interpreting, translating, discussing, and uploading in preparation for the 7 minutes of airtime that was given. What would you say in 7 minutes if your livelihood and wellbeing were being decided by a stranger?
But today, Jin celebrates a small win that makes her feel vindicated because the court did see through the aggressor’s lies. Jin represents the fence having endured hundreds of nails of racism pounded into her life. The damage is permanent. There are scars that remain, that will not heal as quickly as they were delivered.
What is the moral of this story? Recognize your own racism and take ownership of doing better, because your racist actions are not short-lived; they live on as holes in the life of someone else. When you see, hear, and are in the proximity of racism, speak up, stand up, and walk alongside others who are doing the work of changing systems. And never underestimate a tenacious group of advocates who are committed to justice.
Jamie Cho
To Zhen Jin and other survivors, thank you for your courage on behalf of yourself and others. As an observer, I admire you and have learned to be a better advocate in your company. Justice is still elusive, but we got closer!
Jamie Cho, Ph.D. is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Justice in Early Learning at the University of Washington. She is associated with this case and has written declarations to the court that explains the racialized interactions of this case.
See also: Our news coverage on Zhen Jin
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