Recently, in the United States, incidents of unprovoked assaults targeting Asians are continuing. A Korean-American man in his twenties was assaulted in broad daylight, and an Asian-American elderly man in his eighties was attacked and killed on the street.
While condemning and responding to hate crimes are important at the government level, our reflection is also important as anxiety and suspicion have been reinforced by the pandemic.
We have to answer. Whether to easily relieve anxiety through hate and discrimination and make a weak choice to gain a sense of belonging as a majority, or to make a dignified choice with the minorities over the fear and aversion that comes from ignorance.
VANK has started a campaign to overcome the fear and hatred that comes from ignorance and to band together with Asians.
VANK has launched a campaign to share on social media with #WITHASIANS about daily practices to combat racial discrimination or experiences of encountering or witnessing racial discrimination on the world’s biggest petition site change.org.
<campaign petition link>
We also created and are distributing Digital Posters in Korean and English to encourage joining the campaign through social media channels.
On the poster, it shows a picture of holding hands together, and has a phrase “Overcome the Fear and Hatred that comes from Ignorance. Band together with Asians!”\