NEW stands in solidarity: Stop Asian Hate! A message from our Executive Director

While we await more information about the second horrific mass shooting in the States in the past week, I am haunted by the shootings a week ago today at three massage parlours in the Atlanta area. A 21-year-old white man killed eight people, including four Korean women and two Chinese women.

U.S. authorities are still trying to determine the exact motive behind the attack but some feminist groups, such as Asian Women for Equality, immediately identified misogynist racism as a key element behind this sort of violence.

This tragic, apparently racially motivated, killing represents perhaps the most horrific example of Anti-Asian racism (and misogyny) since the pandemic began, but it is certainly not the only racist incident. Amid the pandemic, hatred has surged against Asians. And Donald Trump, while in office, fuelled this fire with his references to the “China virus,” the “China plague” and the “Kung Flu,” holding the country responsible for the pandemic.

Canadian actor Sandra Oh gave a powerful speech at a Stop Asian Hate protest in Oakland, Pa., this past weekend. Oh, who is of Korean heritage, said she is grateful to those who are willing to listen to the feelings of fear and anger many in her community are experiencing. She said one way to get through that fear is to reach out to communities. Oh, challenged those at the rally to help aid their “sisters and brothers in need.” 

Writer Deborah Soh recently asked, “why isn’t racism against Asians taken as seriously as racism against other groups”? 

I would invite all of us to indeed take this seriously. To join the Stop Asian Hate movement. To rebuke those who make racist comments. To comfort those who suffer because of them. To stand in solidarity. 

Judy Fantham, Executive Director