Akshita's Blog on Asian Hate
Prior to watching these videos, I have only seen a few other videos on social media that have showcased this type of racial profiling and violence. Social media does not allow these issues and information to be vocalized like other issues. I think that that is the biggest issue! These videos showcased so many cases where people in the AAPI community were called unacceptable slurs where people made stereotypic comments towards them. These might seem small but are very hurtful and should not be tolerated. Verbal abuse is just as scarring and painful as physical abuse! Besides being verbally abused, many were also physically abused. Physical abuse, in general, is very barbarous and cruel. But using physical abuse to convey racial profiling makes all of it much, much worse.
In a couple of these videos, people do not hesitate to say or do things that make little kids feel unsafe and exposed. As a human being, it is important to understand that a kid is still a kid and that the way they look does not give you the right to be rough or rude to them! Because of these incidents, both parents, as well as the kids, feel a great deal of fear to even let the kids play outside their homes. It is unfair for a kid to feel this way, as they should enjoy their childhood and have fun like any other child. Schools are supposed to be a safe space to learn and grow. But kids attacking each other in school is completely unacceptable because kids learn from parents and parents allow them to act irrationally towards others kids just because of their differences during a sporting event. Parents feel that it is ok to stand by and watch and other kids get bullied for things that they don’t have control over, like the way they look.
Similarly, AAPI women also constantly feel very concerned and fear for their safety. Attacking Asian-owned businesses that employ mostly women is another level of hate that they wish to convey. Which is truly disgusting. They think it is okay to terrorize these women that work hard to provide for themselves and their families. They attack their store and scare them and their customers off and for what? What does that do besides scare people off from a business? Some women also have been attacked multiple times a day by the same people. This is one of the reasons why they are concerned for their safety even if they want to go out and do something as simple as getting groceries. Bystanders, when it come to people attacking women in public areas others just stand around and watch or leave the area. This is a big issue we face because it is completely unfair for them to just say “it not happening to me so I don’t need to do anything”. In reality, if that were you, you know you would want someone to stand up for you and help you out. Women and men get attacked by other men and women in all sorts of public places like trains, grocery stores, and even public bathrooms. Some of these are big causing a great amount of physical and mental pain. These attacks are sometimes vicious and at times result in death and lifelong injuries. And people just choose to stand around and act like it is completely okay and normal. Which is the biggest problem in today’s society.
These past couple of years have been much worse than before. Coronavirus has created a great amount of chaos and has disrupted our lives. In the same way, it has greatly affected the AAPI community as well. People get threatening letters and hurtful comments in public saying that they were the cause and they are the virus. These comments and threats are completely unfair because they were affected just as much as everyone and it is irrational to accuse people of things that they had nothing to do with. People have been attacked, threatened, and killed over this. This has lead many AAPI individuals to advise their kids, parents, and grandparents to stay home and not go anywhere alone. This has caused many people to lose their livelihood, even though they have the same right as anybody else.
In conclusion, we need to learn to stand up for ourselves. We need to work toward stopping the injustices that we face every single day, something just as small as a stereotypical comment. We deserve the same amount of freedom as any other community and we need to fight for the equality that we deserve as human beings. We should not tolerate the hatred and the cruel things that are target towards us. We must work as a community in order to achieve the goal of creating a safer and better place for present and future generations.
