Today I will be discussing what #stopasianhate is, and why it others should use it. Part 1: What is it? Lets begin with some background. The campaign started during covid-19. Covids first cases were reported in Wuhan, which was in Hubei province of China. This lead to a highly increased amount of racism against Asians and Asian Americans. A study shows that hate crimes against Asians have increased by 150% in 2020, and there had been 3,795 hate crime incidents since the beginning of the pandemic. The hashtag is used for people who agree to #stopasainhate. Part 2: My Opinion I believe that the things people are doing to Asians and Asian Americans are disgusting. Also, people are calling the coronavirus the "Asian virus". A single Asian child, woman, man, etc isn't the cause of covid, so don't blame it on them. Bottom line. We are all humans. We need to treat others how they want to be treated. What if there was a virus that originated in America? Would you call it the "American virus" just because it originated in America? No. Nobody should be blamed for something just because of their race, culture, and where they live. Part 3: What can you do? 1. Spread awareness: Tell people in your school, online, in your neighborhood, etc. The more people know about it, the more people will want to help. 2. Stand up for others: If you see an Asian getting bullied or attacked, the best thing you can do is stand up for them, and their rights. 3. Correct other people: If someone makes a racist remark towards Asians, don't be afraid to bring it up, tell them why they shouldn't say that, and maybe even stay away from them if they think correcting themselves is unnecessary. 4. Educate others: This goes along with numbers 2 and 3, but educate people who don´t know what the hashtag means, or who don't take the time to find out. 5. Stop Hating: If you are someone who has made racist remarks, or just flat out abused someone for being asian, STOP. Nobody thinks its funny or smart to be racist. If you can fix yourself, you can make a big change for the better. Always start with yourself before others. - Bailey
