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END ASIAN HATE!

Fueled in part by the pandemic, Asian Americans and their allies take a stand against a rise in hate crimes.

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End Asian Hate!!!: Welcome
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There are many issues currently in the world. Many of which were how hate crimes are overlooked. How are we going to allow for people to be attacked and punished for something they have absolutely no control of. Racial discrimination is a huge problem in America right now, currently affecting many racial groups. One group that we are going to be talking about specifically is Asains. Asian hate crimes have gone up in recent years and the attacks are only getting worse. With the new wave of the global pandemic, the cases of hate have gone up to extreme numbers. An article written by CBS News says, “There have been 9,081 anti-Asian incidents reported since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, according to a report published Thursday by the nonprofit coalition Stop AAPI Hate.” While reading the article we can see that the rise in Xenophobia and racism in general, has skyrocketed. Another static they provided stated, “The national data represents self-reported incidents between March 19, 2020, to June 30, 2021. It found that 4,548 incidents occurred in 2020 and that another 4,533 happened in 2021. Out of the total in 2021, there were 2,478 incidents reported between April and June alone.” “Hate incidents featured in the report include being coughed and spat on, refused service, vandalism, verbal harassment and physical assault.” These are only a few examples that the article shared with us but the list of offenses goes on and on. Many people face these types of acts every day and others may never experience them. The Asian community has been trying to use their voices and one the ways they are doing this is by protesting. Protesting has been one of the main ways people get together and share their experiences. They come together with members of their own community and allies to represent them. Together their voices reach astronomical levels and they hope for change. The US is seeing a wave of Asian-American activism motivated by a pandemic that led to a surge in hate crimes” Here at East Career and Technical Academy, we see many different races and ethnicities, which is one of the best things at this school. We are a very diverse student body and we could even go as far by saying that we are the MOST diverse student bodies in the Clark County school district. We take pride in knowing that we have each other's back and we are there to shed light on problems that members of our community might be facing. Sally Sing, math instructor and AP stats teacher, asain hate is something she is familiar with. In an interview conducted between Ms. Sing, Victor Ruelas, Jackeline Ayala, and I, Christina Perez. She shared some personal information about fears she had for her parents during the global pandemic. She stated, “Right now I am worried about my parents, I tell them, “You know, be aware of your surroundings.” “I would never want anything to happen to them.” She proceeded to tell us a piece of an experience her mom had in the grocery store one day. She said, “Something happened to my mom when she was in the grocery store recently too, where someone made a comment to her and she just said what are you talking about?” She couldn't recall the context of what the lady in the grocery store said but it still had her and her mother shaken up because you would never expect it to happen to you. Experiences like these shock everyone because you can see that it happens to everyone around us and we may not even be aware of it.

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Discrimination isn’t just a person to person problem. There are many problems that face the Asian community that are not are not as easily visible to the public. System problems that face the Asian community are problems with the health care system, dicrimination in the work force, and housing discrimination. Language barriers are a big problem when it comes to healthcare, because the little amount of language diversity in medicine care, this tends to leave Asian Americans in a spot where they cannot communicate their health issues. Asian people have a higher mortality rate when it comes to preventable/treatable diseases. Job discrimination is a huge issue for the Asian community. Many people are familiar with the common finding that African American are more likely to be discriminated against in job applications; however a new study found that applications with Asian names tend to be rejected at similar rates, if not more, then common African American names. Discrimination in purchasing homes is still presentt in the asian community, out of all races asian americans are the most likely to be discriminated against when buying homes or taken loans for homes. These are only some of the problems that face Asians when it comes to systemic issues.

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` While going around the school, we decided to interview a teacher, Mr. Schaff, and a student, Kevin Kitching. We wanted to ask them specifically because they are both white cis males. We all know that the possibility of them facing these types of experiences is slim to none but getting the voices of their allies is just as important. Both were aware of what asian hate is and both had never experienced it themselves. One shocking thing that both of them shared was that they were “unaware” of whether or not their friends/families have experienced it. This is a huge sign that goes to show not many people are comfortable sharing their experiences even to those they are close with or even trust. Kevin Kitching said, “that in schools and at home we should teaching tolerance, acts of kindness, and teach diversity, this is one of the ways we are going to make significant changes in how we treat people.” This doesn’t only apply to those in the Asian community but to all communities where they are not the status quo. Schaff and Kitching both agreed that biased based crimes should have a stronger punishment.

End Asian Hate!!!: Featured Work

Every single interview we conducted, all of them had one thing in common, teach kindness. This concept being taught at a young age will show new and future generations that we are all the same and equal. At times, you begin to think, why do people not consider others as equal. Some even say, “Those incidents are fake!” Little do they know, the media only scratches the surface of all the attacks. This incident is about Vilma Kari. Kari was knocked down to the ground and was repeatedly stomped on. After this incident Kari was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis. The attacker allegedly told her “F---- you, you don’t belong here,you asian.” Kari said that if this case wasn’t so public her mother would have dealt with it in silence. While reading the article we can see that the people who face these types of treatments almost never report it or have it dealt with by the justice system. Researchers say, "Many Asian Americans tend to avoid the juvenile justice or legal system, mental health agencies, health services, and welfare agencies, because the utilization of services for certain problems is a tacit admission of the existence of these problems and may result in public knowledge of these familial difficulties." They would much rather keep their wall up and pretend they are okay rather than actually show how they are feeling. One common factor between every single group that has been discriminated against knows, they have an avoidance behavior problem. They try to avoid it but no matter how much you pretend it's not there, it’ll never go away. Members have the stigma that being talked about is a bad thing. They believe it puts them more at risk and they become instant targets. When the video of Vilma Kari finally reached Kari, her daughter became very worried and was extra cautious when watching her mother. Elizabeth, the daughter of Kari, said that the media went so out of hand, they realized her mothers personal information before the family could even decide whether or not to stay private. As time went on, Elizabeth says, “she is now grateful to be able to raise awareness about anti-Asian violence. While she asks media outlets to be more respectful in such circumstances and to check their facts, she said aspects of the experience have been "incredibly moving." Before the article ends Elizabeth and Kari say one last thought that stuck with us. Kari and her daughter say, “she has received "immense wishes of good health and prayers from thousands of people — it has made me feel very supported and consoled during this recovery process." She said it has proven to her that "goodness exists in the world." "We need to look out for one another, not only as the AAPI community, but as human beings. One Good Samaritan is all it takes to set an example. If you see someone in trouble at least call for help or try to distract," she wrote. "We need to be on the lookout for each other. No one should be targeted because of the color of their skin or how they look. I belong. We all belong."

We would like to thank everyone who participated in this article, and all those who have been brave enough to stand up and tell their stories. We all must take a stand against hate, wherever it lives.

End Asian Hate!!!: Featured Work
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