But what I've realized is that it's foolish to blame the victim, because that is what it is. Now that I am older and wiser, I just want to reach out and say, stop it. It's hard to share those stories because and part of me hates often reading about people of color who go through this period of self-loathing. On self-loathing in her Asian American community Soon Ja Du, a Korean American liquor store owner in L.A., was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for shooting an unarmed Black teenager who she falsely accused of shoplifting but her sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation. In the weeks thereafter, Lee saw racial tension explode in her own community in the aftermath of another violent event. She was a teenager in 1992, when four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted after savagely beating Rodney King.

Lee's parents are Korean immigrants who landed in Los Angeles and worked long hours at sometimes dangerous jobs to give their children a chance at the American dream: prep schools, Ivy League universities and prestigious jobs. 'And one of our obligations is to bite back, to bite the hand that feeds us in order to speak up for justice - for social justice.' The lesson Lee learned from that piece of advice was, 'All the structures of power make those of us in marginalized positions feel like we can't speak out, we can't resist,' she said. Julia Lee once had a mentor who told her, 'You must bite the hand that feeds you.' That phrase informed how she saw the world, as she told NPR's Michel Martin in an interview about her memoir, Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America. Julia Lee's book cover for Biting the Hand: Growing up Asian in Black and White America.

The book black cake