If you’ve no clue what the #StopAsianHate movement is all about, this is for you. If you’d like to try to understand the discrimination against Asians but don’t know where to start, this is for you. If you’ve heard about the recent anti-Asian attacks but don’t know how to help, this is for you. Medium Magazine and Slim Radio are about to start the uncomfortable but necessary conversation about anti-Asian hate.

Housing around 50 countries and 4.6 billion people, Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent. It is also where my home, along with my precious family and friends, is located. Like many Asians around the world, I’ve left my home for the West with hopes of a better future. But like many of them, I’m hurt and genuinely fearful for my life in light of the recent spike in anti-Asian hate crimes. We are terrified and tired, and our hearts are still breaking, but they really shouldn’t be anymore. So let’s talk about Anti-Asian hate and how we can stop it.

Hate is a virus

Anti-Asian hate is nothing new. Just because our people have suffered silently for a very long time doesn’t mean it hasn’t been happening. However, things took a turn for the worse ever since the beginning of the pandemic – hate speech, hate crimes, and other types of violence directed at members of the Asian community around the world skyrocketed over the past year. This bigotry takes multiple forms ranging from racial slurs to vicious assaults. We’ve been mocked, fetishized, marginalized, thrown things at, punched, slashed, stabbed, and murdered for reasons none other than the colour of our skin.

I grieve, as many of us do, every time I hear about another racially charged attack, which might I add, is every few days for the past weeks. Another elderly assaulted. Another innocent life robbed. Most of the time they don’t even make it onto the news. It doesn’t help that way too often the media and law enforcement fail to recognize these hate crimes as such, let alone lend support to the Asian community. I can’t even begin to imagine the extra layer of pain families and friends who’ve lost their loved ones due to hate crimes have to endure because our authorities refuse to hold racists accountable. Hate is truly the deadlier virus that has proven especially arduous to eradicate.

It’s time to #StopAsianHate

Furious, devastated, and desperate for change, we know that we can no longer stay silent. We know that after years of screaming into a void, people are finally starting to listen. And we shall seize this opportunity to initiate difficult, and sometimes uncomfortable discussions about racial inequalities within society.

And that is exactly what we, fellow Asians and allies at Medium, will be doing for the next seven days. I am thankful and honoured to announce that our team, along with our friends from Slim Radio, will be dedicating an entire week to raising awareness about the issue at hand.

In particular, we will first dive into the history of how Asian stereotypes came to be and why they are harmful. Then, we will explore how media representation of Asians during the pandemic has potentially contributed to the new wave of recent hate crimes. Applying the subject to a local context, we will discuss racism towards Asians in the Netherlands and cover the first #StopAsianHate protest in Amsterdam. If you’re wondering how you can help, we will also illustrate ways to support the Asian community and provide some resources to do so. Last but not least, we will investigate how people have responded to the movement. Every day, supporting information will be posted on our social media platforms as well for readers who are especially passionate about our cause.

We urge you to listen attentively to and empathize with your Asian friends when they speak out, to educate yourself about the long history of injustice Asians and other people of colour have endured, and most importantly, to call out racist behaviour no matter the circumstances.

Together, we hope to do our part in slowly but surely ending the unjustifiable hate towards Asians across the globe. It is now your turn as our readers to play your part. We urge you to listen attentively to and empathize with your Asian friends when they speak out, to educate yourself about the long history of injustice Asians and other people of colour have endured, and most importantly, to call out racist behaviour no matter the circumstances. It’s time that compassion and understanding instead of ignorance and prejudice build the foundation of human relationships. It’s time that we unite to #StopAsianHate.

I am eternally grateful to our amazing team and everyone who has contributed to this project that I hold very close to my heart. Thank you for believing in our cause and fighting for it in the way we know best – storytelling. 

Writing team: Asiah Capponi, Cindy Zheng, Debby Mogot, Erriss Ho, Justin Wang Ngai Yeung, Quynh (Stephanie) Bui, Tiffany Lai

Editing team: Gaukhar Orkashbayeva, Pritha Ray, Rajal Monga, Sajal Bhateja, Sofia Neumayer, Sophie Kulla

Video team: Naramol (Jaja) Pipoppinyo, Pei Yu (Daphne) Quek, Laurent Hebette, Sofia Neumayer, Younes Skalli

Podcast team: Tiffany Lai, Felix Faillace, Naramol (Jaja) Pipoppinyo, Justin Wang Ngai Yeung

Graphics team: Laura Ciamei, Naramol (Jaja) Pipoppinyo, Anushka Srivastav, Cindy Zheng, Erriss Ho, Milou Dohmen, Minyi Huang, Rajal Monga, Sofia Neumayer

Advising team: Yi Li Char, Younes Skalli, Felix Faillace, Gökçe Bayramıçlılar

Special thanks to Riki Kooyman (MRDA), Yilun Zhang and Lin Yuan (@stopasianhateamsterdam)

Cover: Yi Li Char

Edited by: Sofia Neumayer