The snow is gone, spring break has passed and April is upon us. April typically generates thoughts of April Fools’ Day, April showers and the end of a semester. But perhaps more important than a day of jokes, April is also Asian Pacific American Awareness Month, designated to celebrate and promote awareness of APA history and issues. It is a convenient moment to reflect on an issue we are consistently mindful of, but are either too scared or immature to discuss seriously: race.

As an Asian American, I routinely cope with the stereotypes that follow my ethnicity. Others have asked why I struggle with calculus, if I am a U.S. citizen, if English is my second language and why I am terrible with chopsticks, just to name a few. It is frustrating because I was born and raised in the U.S. I’ve spent all but seven days of my life on U.S. soil. Yet, assumptions and labels seem to systematically take precedence over courtesy and common sense.

In January, Kyle Descher was a victim of a alleged hate crime. More than three months later, a violent act in a crowded bar inconceivably brings forth no witnesses to assist in bringing justice upon the offender.

In late March, a collaborated effort from WSU organizations brought premier scholar Dinesh D’Souza to campus to explore the topic of race in America. But instead of an intellectual discussion with one of America’s most influential thinkers, we were left with close-minded, microphone-hogging blabbermouths who insisted race must exist and there was nothing we could do about it.

In light of the Descher case, the misguided central theme of D’Souza’s speech and the repeated notion that WSU lacks intellectual diversity, WSU has placed itself in a defining moment of its institutional history. We can continue to hold fast to our narrow mindsets and deny ideas that contradict our own or we can say, “Not this time.” Now could be the time when we quit turning a blind eye toward obvious acts of needless, excessive hate. Now could be the moment when we respect and consider admitting a bestselling author might have something valuable to say. Now could be the occasion when we permit new ideas to enter our minds and allow our cognitive reasoning to independently evaluate the validity and strength of the new concept.

A few weeks ago, a gentleman of mixed race wrote and presented a speech that ranks among the greatest speeches of our generation. In Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union,” available on YouTube, Obama essentially said it is time for us to sit down and have a mature discussion regarding race in America. He insisted that if we were to continue on “our path of a more perfect union,” we would have to “move beyond race.” He presented us with two options – continue to be distracted by race or to say, “Not this time.” Let us mature and begin eliminating race and racism from our daily lives. It won’t happen overnight, it may not even happen over a thousand nights, but we have to take it one day at a time. Abolishing the political distraction of race will enable us to handle true crisis such as global climate change and a faltering economy. Uniting our nation under one identity rather than several ethnic entities will allow the U.S. to remain the most prosperous in the world. Now could be the time, let’s make it happen.