There has been a disturbing wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Recently, we’ve seen a rise in robberies, burglaries, and assaults targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

Sixty-one-year-old Noel Quintana was slashed in the face during a subway confrontation in New York. In San Francisco, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee died from injuries after he was pushed to the sidewalk. In San Jose, a 64-year-old Vietnamese American woman was robbed of $1,000 in cash. In Oakland, a 91-year-old man was shoved to the ground in a string of more than 20 robberies and assaults reported to the city’s Chinatown community leaders ahead of the Lunar New Year. And on March 16, six Asian American women were killed in shootings in Atlanta. All of this is happening on top of the thousands of first-hand accounts of anti-Asian racism that have spiked since the COVID-19 pandemic began. These devastating, unprovoked attacks are rooted in ignorance and harm our entire society. 

The BackerKit family condemns any form of racism, hate, nativism, or xenophobia. We encourage the crowdfunding community to counter anti-Asian hate and learn more about how to support the Asian and Pacific Islander community during this time. The “what everyone can do to be an ally” section of this article is an excellent place to start.

What you can do right now: Report hate incidents

Hate and bias crimes in the AAPI community are largely underreported. One of the most important things you can do right now is encourage those who experience or witness acts of hate towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to report an incident. If you see an incident, you should report it. You can do so through the community organizations below:

 

We all have a responsibility to stamp out this kind of discrimination and work to achieve a more equitable society. Thank you for listening and please do your best to stay safe.

Educational Resources