An Asian therapist, speaker, and educator with a sizable TikTok following went to the platform on Monday evening to share an abusive and racist phone message she got from someone who told her to “get the fuck out of my nation.”
The video comes from @drhanren, an Austin-based psychologist who has more than 124,200 followers on TikTok, creating videos that provide insights on mental health issues. She also has an Instagram account with more than 17,000 followers.
Since posting on Monday, Ren’s video garnered more than 180,000 views for what she characterized as a “violent voicemail” from someone who tracked down her number online, taking umbrage with something she said in a prior TikTok video.
As the caller began her rant, Ren’s TikTok had a graphic reading “Hate Voicemail” superimposed on the video, and throughout the call, Ren made various faces to either express what she was feeling or to merely mock the caller. Ren also put up a trigger warning to alert viewers to the “racially abusive language” featured in the video.
“I just heard you speak for a couple of moments on a TikTok or something like that online,” the caller began.
“You live in Austin, Texas. In the greatest nation that has ever been made, and you’re sitting there, insulting Americans, and you’re talking about the strength of the American people, and you’re twisting them into something that is perverted. I suggest you get the fuck out of my nation, okay?”
The caller then added, “All you are is someone that’s coming in and trying to destroy the best nation that has ever been made.” A little later in the message, the caller actually went with, “I don’t know what Asian country you come from,” before alleging, “You want to come in and pervert everything that is good and decent in the American way of life.”
Later, forcefully, the caller says, “Get the fuck out of my nation, okay. You don’t belong here.”
The message closed with the caller adding, “Burn in hell, by the way.”
Ren noted, via caption during the message, that the caller blocked her number so it wouldn’t show up in caller ID, and surmised that the caller had recorded her screed after dropping off children at school.
Ren had a read on the call she shared within the now-viral video.
“Imagine being so fragile, and so easily triggered, that you go through all of that to leave someone that message,” she pointed out, going on to say that while she is against many things in her platforms—including racism, sexism, and “internalized capitalism,” she’s not anti-American.
“I have never been against America, the American government or the American people,” she asserted. “So, if she have somehow equated my anti-racist, anti-oppressive views as being anti-American, then that must mean that she has some ideas about what America stands for, and that’s not me. That’s not my words. That is on her.”
Then, to come back to the caller’s closing message, Ren reasoned, “Guess I’ll see her in hell.”
Commenters were generally supportive of Ren and aghast with the caller.
As one put it, “I am so sorry there are mayosapiens out there like that,” using a term that delighted Ren. “No one deserves to be treated lesser than.”
Ren, responding via email to the Daily Dot’s question about what TikTok video triggered the caller, was unsure.
“I have no idea what TikTok triggered her,” Ren noted. “Every once in a while, I’ll get a rash of hate messages/comments, and two weekends ago that happened.”
She has an idea, however, as to which one might have set her off.
“I used to have a pinned TikTok titled ‘psychology and white supremacy part 1’ which may have been the catalyst,” she observed. “There were several racist/hate messages over the course of that weekend, including some that went cross-platform,” including comments on her Instagram page and messages to her professional page on Facebook.
“Then last Monday, I got this voicemail, but I’m not sure if that was the video that did it.” After unpinning the video and regrouping, she decided to share the message on TikTok to raise awareness. As her TikTok caption reads, “I’m not here for the anti-Asian hate greatest hits reel. Dialing it back on content to protect my peace.”
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