[USA] I'm an American. I'm white, I'm not a racist, and I'm here to make an apology.

Thank you for your patience while I composed myself. This was a tough thing for me to do. I never thought I'd be in a position to be talking to strangers in another country, so bear with me while I try to navigate this from a position of basically zero cultural context, before someone tries to be sarcastic about how I don't know anything about China. I'm doing the best I can and I hope you'll try to listen.<br><br>I'm American. Sometimes as a citizen of the United States, I see things that are so heinous, so unbecoming of human beings, that I can't and don't want to be associated with those people. I have no problem admitting that the US has its own internal set of societal flaws it needs to work out, but you are not the enemy, nor are you lesser.<br><br>What I want you to know is that we're not all like this. I'm not sure how many of you have been to the US to see for yourself, but I'm a white, English-speaking, "cis" female who has never felt any amount of prejudice against me, nor do I expect to ever feel that way. I have the privilege of being a US-born citizen, and I want to use that platform to apologize to you. You are human beings and you deserve to be treated with respect. I am sorry that we are not able to consistently do so.<br><br>I understand that you are not lesser than me. You are not less capable than me. You are not less intelligent than me. You are not any amount less than me and you do not deserve to be treated as if you are. You have every right to live in peace in your country just as much as I do.<br><br>What I want you to know is that this is not representative of the US *as a whole*. There are a LOT of us who are angry about this right now. A lot of us who are speaking out, who are protesting, who are supporting our local Chinese restaurants as they struggle to stay afloat. Please know that there are a LOT of people in the US who are angry about this, who are speaking out, and who are on your side. We are not all like this. We are embarrassed that these are our countrymen.<br><br>I'm not asking you to forgive us. I'm not asking you to try to understand our perspective. All I'm asking is to please consider that there are a lot of *good* people in the US, and there are a lot of us who are actively trying to correct this wrong. I want to make sure you know that we respect you, and we respect China.<br><br>I've seen in other posts Chinese people expressing *gratitude* for the huge number of Americans who are speaking out about this. I want you to know that we are not doing this out of a sense of duty, but because this is so horrific. We are speaking out because we are angry, and because as a human being, it's *wrong* to treat people like this. I want you to know that there is a HUGE amount of us who are angry.<br><br>I'm not asking you to feel any amount of forgiveness, or to soften your stance, or be understanding. I just want to make sure that the next time you see a white American, you don't automatically assume the worst. I want you to know that we are angry, and we are on your side. We are protesting, we are screaming, we are donating. I want you to know that we see you. We see that you are hurting. And we are hurting too.<br><br>Please know that there are a lot of us who believe that you are not lesser. That you are human beings who deserve to be treated with the respect that comes with that. I am sorry that our country is treating you poorly. And I can only hope that you will be able to trust us in the future to learn from our mistakes.<br><br>Until that time, please know that there is a huge contingent within the US who are *furious* at what is happening and are actively trying to make it right.<br><br>We see you.