Stand In The Fight Against Hatred: Anti-Asian Hate crimes Must Be Addressed!

In recent weeks, there has been a sharp increase in microaggressions of racist attacks on East & Southeast Asian communities during the pandemic but with little to no coverage. The lack of media coverage and public attention on rising anti-Asian hate crimes and anti-Asian sentiment in their community is disappointing and simply unacceptable. Videos documenting such attacks have been circulating, mostly through individual social media accounts of activists, celebrities and journalists which in some sense has brought the attention of many shining a light on this issue although, this is not an isolated incident. Anti-Asian racism is not new, instead, it’s been fueled by dangerous false rhetoric xenophobic terms that prominent political leaders and news outlets perpetuated during the onset of the pandemic. Now as a result, once again, mar­gin­al­ised work­ing-class immi­grants are tar­get­ed at a time of glob­al cri­sis; once again, we wit­ness a nation’s inabil­i­ty to rec­og­nise the dom­i­nance of gen­dered white suprema­cist vio­lence and racism in all of its struc­tures; once again, heal­ing is dis­rupt­ed. We must acknowledge the widespread examples of violence and prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance that have been building for much time now. We’ve witnessed attacks on elders in the Asian community, children face bullying, workplace discrimination, street harassment, verbal & physical violence, and vandalism yet no acknowledgement on the sig­nif­i­cant role of both race and gen­der in the shap­ing of this tragedy.

Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.

Lester B. Pearson

It’s tempting to view this anti-Asian hate as a uniquely modern American problem but hate crimes against the East and South-East Asian community have increased in the UK, too. This, in turn, demands that we ques­tion how embed­ded anti-Asian rhetoric is in both British/ American cul­ture and how national cul­ture ben­e­fits from patri­ar­chal white suprema­cy?

Enough is enough! Today, I stand in solidarity, intending to make a positive difference in both my words and actions. I challenge myself and my community to recognise the painful history of anti-Asian racism, to learn and understand the experience of Asian individuals, and to use the power and privilege we have as a society to stand up to injustice, prejudice, bigotry. To sincerely address anti-Asian violence and xenophobia, we all must respect the range of unique and diverse identities, cultural traditions, and customs of oppression that different members of the Asain community experience to essentially value their contributions to society. There is no doubt that In the past year, many of us have taken education into our own hands, and are actively having those more intense conversations, fortunately, through these interactions, many of us have learned a great deal about issues of systemic racism and inequality experienced within various ethnic minorities. With the exposure of prejudiced truths towards Asian minorities, we should all actively engage in conversations not temporarily but for the long term.

Stand In The Fight Against Hatred!

Yours Truly Sasi