This hate must stop
As I was about to sit down to a meeting with my Filipina-American colleague this morning, we learned of yet another hate crime targeting Asian-Americans in the United States. Yesterday, in New York City in broad daylight, a man brutally attacked a 65-year old Asian-American woman who is now in intensive care.
A video has surfaced of the crime, which shows several people passively watching the violence. When the perpetrator walks away, leaving the injured woman on the sidewalk, one man in the adjacent building even shuts the door on her.
This unforgivable incident is part of a long history of – and escalation in – violent hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans, which has been fanned by racist rhetoric tying the coronavirus to China. Nearly one in four Americans believe that the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 was manufactured in a Chinese lab and purposefully released.
It’s hard to fathom how so much of our country could believe such an outrageous and indefensible lie, but this crazy idea as well racist language intended to reinforce it – like “China Virus” and “Kung Flu” – have spread like wildfire.
It’s time for this hate to stop. As a nation, we must come together and denounce this violence while deplatforming the voices of hate that seek to divide us. When politicians and media personalities wield racism and mass disinformation like tools for power and political gain, they disregard the humans – our neighbors – whose lives they threaten and destroy with such statements.
At UPSTREAM, we seek to live in a world which treats not just the planet but all people as indisposable. We’re committed to anti-racism and dismantling white supremacy culture in our work and personal lives. And we stand in solidarity with the Asian-American/Pacific Islander community, today and always.
To learn more and find ways to support, visit stopaapihate.org.
