#StopAsianHate for Beginners
The world is a perfect place to be alive but there is something wrong with societies. By the beginning of the pandemic, the number of hate crimes and racism increased so much that nobody can look the other way. Isn’t it a perfect chance to unite and discuss what truly matters? You may live far far away from the U.S. but you cannot unsee what is happening, and you should not stay uninformed to this. History is being made and we are witnessing it.
Even though it is super easy to be a non-racist person let’s break it into small and brief pieces for you to dig in, and maybe stop the hate by only supporting it.
What are Xenophobia and Racism?
Xenophobia is originally used to name the fear of “strange” and “foreign” things while racism is a “belief” or an “opinion” of discriminating people by their race and decide on the superiority of races. Let’s give an example if a person is changing their way or road when they see a person that is foreign to their country or even their neighborhood, thinking that because they are a foreigner they might hurt them or cause danger. We call this fear xenophobia, it can be dangerous. You can kill someone thinking that they would hurt you, or you can call the police because they are “foreigners” and cause them stress which creates polarization. That’s why we generally don’t settle in foreign countries even if we didn’t have a hate experience.
Another example can be assuming that you are superior in terms of muscular power, intelligence, or having the right to stay at the front line of the coffee line because you are from X race. This is racism and it’s very common in every inch of the world. Even though these examples are very, very pure and unsuspicious and some might say that they are not dangerous. People can be very dangerous once you listen to their thoughts.
Why Asian Hate is Located in the U.S.?
It is not. All kinds of racism are spread in all countries. You might hear one of your best friend saying, “She has great skin because she is Asian but she will never have a body like us.” or someone bullying an Asian friend with their eyes, their immigrant family, their culture, or even ask for a nail saloon advice, just to joke around.
It’s making a huge noise in the U.S. because Asian Americans make 6.5% of the population and it’s increasing every year. Wherever you have crowded people you are more likely to feel the discrimination more. Even though the rallies are happening in the U.S. this movement is covering the whole world. People from all over the world are posting and talking about it. Thanks to social media, now we know things and minorities feeling heard.
Who are Asian Americans?
Some assume that Asians are only Chinese and Japanese people who immigrated to the U.S. However, in United States Census Bureau people are Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Malaysian, and other people from that region. These people are contributing to the U.S. economy in every class and as stated above, since they are populated they are an important part of the economy, society, and culture. They have immigrated through the U.S. a long time ago even before World War II.
Why Are We Talking About It Now?
Because in the early days of the pandemic, someone said “Wuhan Virus”, “Chinese Virus” and did not apologize for it. Public figures have a lot of influence on society and this triggered something. Asian hate crimes already were happening, but this March alone hate crimes have increased from 3,795 to 6,603. Asian people and businesses of Asian people have been under serious attack, and after the Georgia shooting people started saying #StopAsianHate.
