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When We Enable Racism
In my novel, Two Nails, One Love, the narrator—Ethan Taniguchi, a middle-aged Sansei man—remembers a distressing episode from his younger days. He was working at a restaurant in New York City, where his manager instructs him to always seat Asian customers at the undesirable tables near the restroom because they’ll be less likely to complain.
As Ethan would later recall, “for months, I obeyed my manager’s ugly, repugnant orders and always seated Asians near the restroom, even if other tables were available. I remember one Chinese American family in particular. As…
