How a former Wilmington TV news anchor sparked the #VeryAsian worldwide movement

A former Wilmington television news anchor is getting national attention after pushing back against the suggestion that she should "keep her Korean to herself."

Michelle Li, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist, worked in the Wilmington area for about a decade, starting at WWAY TV-3 in 2003. When Li moved away in the early 2010s, she was working for WECT and its sister station, WSFX.

Earlier this month, Li, who is now a news anchor at the KSDK TV station in St. Louis, did a short segment about things people eat for New Year's Day. Li mentioned that she, and others who are of Korean descent, often eat tteokguk, or soup with sliced rice cakes, on New Year's. (Li said that she adds dumplings to hers.)

Li's story prompted a woman to call in to the station and leave a message saying that Li was "being very Asian" and that she should "keep her Korean to herself." (The woman also said that a white broadcaster would be fired for saying what they ate on New Year's, which was ironic since most of Li's short segment focused on what most Americans eat on Jan. 1.)

In response, Li posted a video to Twitter of her silently listening to the woman's message, with a caption that read, "I'd love to say something back."

Li's tweet went viral, prompting the #VeryAsian hashtag and drawing news coverage from CNN, the Washington Post and other outlets. Li has since changed her Twitter handle to #VeryAsian Michelle.

On Wednesday, Jan. 19, Li appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to talk about her experiences.

Li briefly talked about living in North Carolina, "Where I ate a lot of greens and cornbread." Li then told DeGeneres that her initial reaction to the message "was shock. Like, 'What in the world?'"

But it didn't take long, Li said, for her feelings to start getting "really heavy. Like, going back to my childhood, all of these things that people have said to me."

Ultimately, Li said, the racist message was "a gift." After people started giving her positive feedback online, she realized, "Who can say that the world really stood up for you?"

Li said she called the woman who left the message, and that the woman ultimately apologized. Li said she accepted the apology, and that she wants to have a face-to-face meeting with the woman, whose name she still doesn't know, in the future.

"I don't want her to lose her livelihood," Li said. "I think she has learned her lesson."

Toward the end of the segment on "Ellen," DeGeneres presented Li with a check for $15,000 to help her raise money for the nonprofit Asian American Journalists Association. Li and a friend have created clothing with the "Very Asian" slogan, which they're selling to benefit the AAJA. To contribute, go to TisBest.org or EllenTube.com.

Hatred of and violence toward people of Asian descent has been in the news in recent months.

In 2021, the Stop Asian Hate movement began after people of Asian descent began to be targeted for verbal and physical abuse by people who wrongly tied their race to the spread of COVID-19.

Just this month, police in New York City arrested a man who they say pushed a 40-year-old Asian woman in front of a train. The woman died from her injuries.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Former Wilmington anchor appears on 'Ellen' to address racist comments