To the HerCampus community and all AAPI journalists,
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been many reports of Asians victimized by hate crimes. First, an elderly Thai man was violently shoved in the middle of a driveway back in February in San Francisco, California. Then, six Asian women were shot dead at a spa in Atlanta, Georgia, by a man who had a specific sexual fetish back in early March.
Just a few days ago, a 65-year old Filipino woman was stomped on and kicked by a man, Brandon Elliot, outside of an apartment building in Manhattan, New York. While Elliot was physically attacking her, a security guard watched in confusion. According to NPR, Elliot was arrested on Wednesday and is now facing hate crimes charges.
Let me just say this: We’ve had enough.
On behalf of HerCampus ODU, we do not stand for hate crimes or any racist remarks against anyone of any race. We are disgusted by the reports of the attacks against the AAPI community. HerCampus is a diverse organization that allows all races and ethnicities to come together and have a voice. We must not be silent on this matter. We must rise up and unite as one. We must do better.
As an Asian-American woman of Laotian descent, I am angry and heartbroken by the relentless attacks that have been occurring against my people. It hits too close to home for me when most of these victims are elderly. These people are innocent individuals who are targeted because of their race or for no reason at all.
As anyone would question, why would such terrible people in our world have the audacity to commit a hate crime? What makes the matter even worse is that others have ignored these issues. When someone is being physically shoved, kicked or violently beaten, no one should be a bystander, nor should they dismiss the problem.
The amount of ignorance and hatred we have in our world is one of the reasons why we will never have social justice. Last summer, protests and rioting resulted from the death of George Floyd and the systematic racism of the policing force. The movement made such an impact towards reforming social justice.
While we are being made aware of the attacks, not many people are heavily protesting about the matter. We perceive Asians to be the “model minority,” which we view Asians to be far more successful than other minority races. Asians are not excluded from racism in American society. This is just as bad as the wrongful deaths of many Black lives.
We are tired of taking the blame for COVID-19, which NONE of us started. We are tired of Americans appropriating our culture. Most of all, we are tired of the ignorance towards us.
We’ve fought and we are still fighting for #BlackLivesMatter, so we now need to fight to #StopAAPIHate.
Thank you.
–Paula JP