Whether or not the murders in Georgia are ultimately classified as a hate crime, the fact remains that most of the victims were Asian or Asian-Americans and to me, that just isn’t a coincidence. Hate crimes, harassment, and discrimination against AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) have noticeably increased since the coronavirus pandemic began a year ago. As someone who has lived and worked in Asia, including Wuhan, China, where Covid-19 was first identified, and who has family and friends who are Asian and Asian-American, I am horrified and saddened at what is happening.
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| Find a free resource about Wuhan HERE; source: The ESL Nexus |
I’d like to share a link to resources about anti-Asian violence that another TpT seller made me aware of. There are links to articles about violence against AAPI people throughout the U.S., to resources with statistics about violence against AAPI people, resources for allies that explain how they can be supportive, and more informative resources. One important link is to the Stop AAPI Hate website where people can report incidents of anti-Asian hate. Reports can be made in English and 10 other languages. Another link to report hate crimes is Stand Against Hatred. The Stand Against Hatred website also lets you report incidents against other people of color, women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ+ people. Please share this widely with your family, friends, and colleagues! You might also want to diplomatically share these resources with the parents of your AAPI parents, if you think that would be useful.
I’d also like to offer you a suggestion. I was concerned about a Chinese friend of mine, who ironically I first met in Wuhan but now lives in the same city as me in Arizona, but didn’t know how to ask her if she had experienced any hate or harassment. I didn’t want to put her on the spot in case she was uncomfortable talking about the subject.
So last week, when we were out hiking, I broached the matter sideways: I asked if she had heard of any incidents of harassment in the Asian community here or among her friends. I figured that gave her an opening to tell me if anything had happened to her or anyone she knew or if she had heard of anything in general. Fortunately, I found out, she had not experienced anything herself.
I think it’s important to show our support so if you have been hesitant and wondering about how you to do that, I hope that the way I did gives you an idea of what you can do. Asking a general question about the local community lets people decide how much or how little to share about themselves, while still showing them that you are interested and care about how they are doing.
Last February, I wrote a blog post about my time in Wuhan. I mentioned that I’d created a free resource of photos of the city and the surrounding area, to counter the negative press that Wuhan was getting then. It was just a small thing I could do to show my support as an AAPI ally. I encourage you to use it to show positive images of China. You can find it HERE.
#StopAsianHate
