East and South-East Asian communities should not be living in fear. It is important we stand up together and use our platforms, however big or small, to speak out against hate.
All over the world, Asians are being attacked daily. What are you doing about it?
UK statistics
- In the UK there were 222 incidents of East Asian hate crime between June and September 2020, a 96% increase on 2019
- June 2020 YouGov survey revealed 50% of Chinese respondents had experienced multiple experiences of abuse, higher than any other category of the BAME community
Incidents in the UK
- Jonathan Mok, a student from Singapore was racially attacked and told “we don’t want your coronavirus in our country”
- A University of Southampton lecturer was racially abused and then violently assaulted while jogging in daylight
Incidents in the UK: NHS
- Even NHS workers at such a critical time are being abused by patients:
- Aldarico Jr Velasco, an NHS nurse from the Phillipines was shouted at and called a “f*cking Chinese c*nt”
- More than a quarter of nurses spoken to in a survey had witnessed racist behaviour at work
Incidents in the US
- Eight people in Atlanta were killed, six of them women of Asian descent
- 3,795 incidents anti-Asian hate incidents recorded by Stop AAPI Hate between March 2020 to February 2021
- An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York.
- A stranger on the New York subway slashed a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger’s face with a box cutter.
- An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco, California, died last month after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk.
- In Oakland, California, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind.
‘Heads down’ mentality
- The cultural pressure within the East and South-East Asian communities to ‘save face’ likely means that crimes go underreported
- An 89-year-old grandmother was on her daily walk when she was lit on fire by two men in Brooklyn, yet, she didn’t tell her family until the next day for fear of worrying them
What we can do?
- Educate yourself and others
- Speak up, don’t be a bystander to hate
- Support your friends, colleagues and local businesses
- Share the message: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkTOyNMRAk/
