Our Missing Hearts

Ng’s novel deals with the dangers of racism in society. Though the government insists that PACT is not about race, the implications of its targeted rhetoric make America an unsafe place for Asian Americans. In times of chaos, people often turn to scapegoats to manage their stress. Historically, scapegoating has led to war, genocide, unjust incarceration, and family separation, among other injustices. Ng relies on her reader’s understanding of American history to reinforce this issue. The novel is not so far from reality, as it echoes America’s history of racism. The targeting of Asian Americans, including physical assaults on those simply living their lives, parallels the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic—for which China was blamed. As a minority community in America, Asian Americans have a long history of fighting to belong in a predominately white country. For generations, Asian immigrants couldn’t apply for citizenship due to restrictive quotas and the Chinese Exclusion Act. During World War II, Japanese Americans were incarcerated in concentration camps under suspicion of being more loyal to Japan than America. This question of loyalty is a long-standing racist issue. Considering this history, Ng’s narrative in which Bird is targeted for being Asian is not so far from the dark truth of racism in America.

Throughout American history, whiteness has been normalized. This has led to a series of forced family separation, further proving that Ng’s dystopian America is not only possible, but plausible. Before the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, families were torn apart through slavery. Children would be taken away from their parents to be sold to other plantation owners, and these families were usually never able to reunite again. Countless Black Americans in contemporary America still have trouble tracing their family tree because years of slavery created a vacuum where there should be names and connections. Throughout American history, the government has also enforced the separation of Native American families. Children were taken away from their parents to be boarded and educated in white schools. At the time, many Americans agreed that this was a good thing because it would give Native American children the opportunity to integrate into white society. But in doing so, the government effectively tried to commit cultural genocide by denying Native American children the comforts of their families, languages, and rich cultures. Similarly, in Ng’s novel, many Americans believe family separation under PACT is a good thing because it “saves” American children from the destructive ideologies of “un-American” parents. This is clear example of history repeating itself.

Ng traces the insidious ways in which racism rears its head in her fictional society. At the start of the Crisis, those desperate for someone or something to blame turned their animosity toward China. In both fiction and reality, the constant economic warfare between China and the United States creates a worldwide competition over exports and imports, taxes and tariffs. This economic relationship can be productive or destructive, and during the Crisis, Americans embraced destruction. Because PACT is a vague policy, racists and xenophobes are able to use it to vocalize their bigotry (under the guise of nationalism). While under PACT, Americans fixate on what it means to not be American. Because whiteness is associated with being American, Asian Americans are seen not as the Americans they are, but rather the foreigners that scapegoaters need them to be. Because the majority is unwilling to risk their own safety for morality, racism is unabetted in Ng’s version of America. This highlights that when faced with danger, the majority will often turn against minority communities.