Stand Together Against Hate

2020 was a dramatic year because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Everyone hoped for a better year in 2021, but that didn’t happen. The anti-Asian hate crimes have risen; most of the crimes target weak people. To most Asians, this makes us sad and frustrated. It should feel the same to others as well.  Anti-Asian hate has happened a lot around the US, but people are trying to stop this hate.

In March of 2021, major events of prejudice happened. A mass shooting occurred at a spa and one event involved an assault on two elderly Asian people in San Francisco. The mass shooting happened in Atlanta, Georgia. Eight people died in this incident. 75-year-old Xiao Zhen Xie got attacked on the streets of San Francisco and an elderly Asian man also got assaulted by the same attacker. The attacker was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and elder abuse; these are felony charges.

People in the Asian community are speaking out against Asian hate crimes. Even celebrities such as Sandra Oh (Canadian and American actor),  BTS (Korean K-Pop), and a famous Asian sports player are currently standing against Asian hate. Two Asian-American senators sponsored a bill to make a law against hate crimes. Through social media, tv, and money donations, celebrities spread awareness about this discrimination.

AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community sites have created the hashtag, #stopasianhate. A lot of people have been using it since the Asian hate crimes have happened. It helps spread awareness to people who don’t know a lot about the Asian hate. This #stopasianhate has been all over the news and social media. For example, the popular app TikTok has lots of profile pictures that have the hashtag #stopasianhate.

These attacks are awful. No one should treat old people this way. In the Asian community, elders are respected. These racist people think they have gotten permission to hurt people, but they don’t have any excuses to be racist. We as a community can stand up for each other. You don’t even have to be Asian to support and be an ally of the Asian community.  Everyone should treat others with equality, and should not receive hate in any way. It should be our job to stand together against hate.