As the Indian variant becomes more prevalent within our borders, anti-South Asian sentiment is also growing, putting the community at a higher risk of hate crimes.
The recent rise in anti-Asian racism, subsequent protests and increased activism has sounded alarm bells.
(Shutterstock)
As we celebrate Asian Heritage Month, the time is now to collectively centre dialogue against anti-Asian racism, with an optimistic view for a global reset.
Although we would like to think there is a big difference between racialized curiosity and physical violence, there is not. Rather, it is a spectrum of violence that hinges on the very assumptions behind a seemingly innocent question.
(Shutterstock)
To remove the burden of responsibility, everyone must take over some of the work that diverse communities have been doing to combat prejudice and fear for decades.
This year’s 93rd Academy Awards are celebrating Asian women from Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) to Christina Oh (Minari) and Yuh-jung Youn (Minari).
(Shutterstock)
Relying on familiar stereotypes and images can make us miss this critical opportunity to reshape the ways in which Asian women are viewed as individuals and artists.
Evangelical purity culture played an important role in the shootings at three massage parlours in Atlanta, Ga.
(Unsplash/Edwin Andrade)
Evangelical “purity culture,” which aims to repress sex outside of heterosexual marriage, is an important factor in the shootings at three Atlanta massage parlours.
People take part in a rally against hate and confront the rising violence against Asian Americans at Columbus Park in New York, on March 21, 2021.
(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
Fifteen Asian academics discuss the roots of anti-Asian racism and limits of multiculturalism in Canada while charting a path forward.
Community members gather for a vigil in memory of the victims of the Atlanta shootings and to rally against anti-Asian racism in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Chinese-Canadian journalist Edith Eaton documented anti-Asian racism in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th century. Over 100 years later, not much has changed.
As fears of anti-Asian violence grow, police seek to be more visible to deter attacks.
AP Photo/Kathy Willens
White people are the main perpetrators of anti-Asian racism and violence, but white supremacy is still the problem when Blacks and Latinos attack Asians.
While mental health check-ins are important, there is more we can do.
(Shutterstock)
In the wake of anti-Asian violence in North America, we need to demand accountability and not just stop after performing mental health check-ins.
Lisa Nhan puts on a musical performance with crystal bowls in Los Angeles on Feb. 20 as part of an event to call attention to anti-Asian violence and racist attitudes.
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
Ying Liu, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Since the beginning of the pandemic, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have gotten increased media and public attention. New data shows these events are in fact happening more often.
A rally against violence toward Asian Americans, after the March 16 attack in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed eight people, including six Chinese and Korean women.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
The media tends to render Asian Americans as either a ‘perpetual foreigner’ or ‘model minority’ – both stereotypes that have been levied in tandem against immigrants from Asia since the 1830s.
Esther Song tears up as she attends a community rally to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence and racist attitudes, in Los Angeles in February 2021.
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
US culture has long represented Asian American women as sexually seductive – showing how victims’ gender and race cannot be separated when attacked by white male violence.
Those that were killed were targeted not only because of their race and gender but also their perceived work and immigration status.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
In trying to make sense of the recent mass killing in Georgia, it’s important to see that it was more than just violence against women and anti-Asian hate.
Children attend a March 17 vigil at Clemente Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, for the victims of the shooting spree in Atlanta.
Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time people have been required to wear face masks for protection. Mask-wearing has a long history, and reflects society’s sense of shared responsibility.