#StopAsianHate Movement
K-pop stars like Eric Nam, Jay Park, and Choi Si-won are raising their voices in support of the #StopAsianHate movement, triggered by the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16 that took the lives of eight people, including four ethnic Koreans.
The suspect, a 21-year-old white man named Robert Aaron Long, admitted to the shooting spree at three different massage parlors and has been charged with eight counts of murder.
Korean American singer Eric Nam contributed an article titled “If You’re Surprised by the Anti-Asian Violence in Atlanta, You Haven’t Been Listening. It’s Time to Hear Our Voices” to Time Magazine, last Friday (local time), in which he shared his and other Asians’ experiences in the United States as “perpetual foreigners.”
The singer, who was born and raised in Atlanta, said the tragedy has left millions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) “feeling abandoned and overwhelmed with memories of our past, the realities of our present and fears for our collective future in a country we love.”
Naming each victim, he denounced the sheriff spokesman’s briefing on the case that dismissed that it was a hate crime because of the suspect’s claim he was a “sex addict.”
“To suggest the murders of (victims’ names)… were not racially motivated is completely naive and racist in itself,” he wrote. “Why are women of our community the outlet for and victims of your sexual addiction? How dare you.”
Sharing his personal accounts of racism he experienced growing up, he criticized the long-standing anti-Asian discrimination in the country. “We must all continue to be active in creating the change that we so badly want and need for ourselves and our future generations,” he said.
Other K-pop stars including rapper Jay Park, Super Junior’s Choi Si-won, and Got7’s Jackson also expressed their condolences to the victims of the shootings and their families and their support for the #StopAsianHate movement.
“I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I would like to use my platform and emphasize this is an issue that needs to be addressed NOW and that ignoring it won’t help us,” Choi wrote on Instagram, Friday. “I know this one post won’t solve the problem, but I hope to help raise awareness on hate crimes against all.”
Jackson also wrote on Instagram: “Please use your voice and I will do my best to use mine. Let’s uplift each other and make a change together. “
CL, a former member of 2NE1, shared pictures with information on making a donation to support the AAPI Community fund, intended to help combat violence and racial discrimination against AAPI, on Twitter. “We stand together,” she wrote.
Film series “Fantastic Beasts” actress Kim Soo-hyun, also known as Claudia Kim, also showed her solidarity with the movement, saying “it is painful to witness this unending string of horrific hate crimes committed against Asian Americans.”
Extending condolences to “the loved ones of the 8 victims who were shot and all those who have been affected by racism and misogyny all around America,” she encouraged people to stand against hate and ignorance, and help end racism.
Source: The Korea Times
