According to the advocacy group End the Virus of Racism, there has been a staggering 300 per cent increase in hate crimes towards people of East and Southeast Asian heritage since the start of the pandemic. We want to better support the ESEA community right now and we know that you do too, so we’ve compiled a post full of all the resources we could find.
There are some great Instagram posts highlighting ways to donate and ways to progress your anti-Asian racism learning (we’ve saved some to our highlights), but many of them are very American-focused, so we’ve tried to keep things as UK-specific as possible here.
We’ll update this page as and when we find new resources – everything from charities and petitions to great Asian-owned brands and informative social media accounts. So if there’s something you think we should include, do slide into our DMs or emails.
Articles and Videos
Vice News: How Coronavirus Is Stoking Hate Against Asian People – “Go back to China”. “Corona carrier.” “Virus, virus, virus bitch”. Filmed in the UK but focused on the US, this informative video from Vice opens with distressing first-person accounts of the racism and violence experienced by Asian-American’s in the wake of the pandemic. The short film covers the long history of racism towards this community, from 1882’s Chinese Exclusion Act and WW2 internment camps to Donald Trump’s racialisation of the coronavirus crisis last year, as well as how the pandemic has strengthened the Chinese Communist Party and the resulting xenophobia currently happening in the country.
Queenie Sit for The Leopard: What It’s Really Like To Be Chinese In London During Covid-19: In case you missed it, talented writer Queenie Sit penned a piece for us about her experience of being Chinese during the pandemic. Honest, upsetting but ultimately, hopeful, it is a vital look at the past year through a different lens.
Time Magazine: The Atlanta Shootings Fit Into a Long Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence in America – On March 16, 2021, a series of mass shootings occurred at three massage parlours in Atlanta, Georgia. Eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian women aged 44 to 74, and one person was wounded. This Time article looks at how the tragedy lies at an intersection of race, gender, class and the legacy of America’s anti-Asian violence.
Moongate Productions: WeRNotVirus – Theatre and film hub Moongate created this miniseries – hosted by Omnibus Theatre – to give British ESEA writers a platform to tell their stories about the racism they have experienced in the wake of the pandemic.
Where To Donate
Tackling Hate Crime Project – Mental health charity Meridian Wellbeing has partnered with the Chinese Association of Tower Hamlets in London on a project that deals with anti-Chinese hate crimes and provides support for vulnerable people.
Stop AAPI Hate – A US-based GoFundMe page supporting the American-Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community fund to aid and protect them at this turbulent time. The page also has links to funeral and medical bill fundraisers for the victims of the Atlanta shooting.
ImReadyMovement.org – A movement that supports AAPI women in all social issues, from equality in the workplace to Covid-related discriminations. A good source of information as well as a site to support, share and donate to.
CARG Against Covid Racism – A petition to the government calling for a declaration condemning the hate crimes against the British Chinese and East Asian heritage people of the UK.
Support and donate to End The Virus Of Racism – End The Virus Of Racism is the UK’s first non-profit dedicated to addressing racism towards the ESEA community. They have held community conversations supported by the London Assembly, as well as a roundtable conversation with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. You can find more information about their goal here, donate to their crowdfunder here or follow them on Instagram at @endracismvirus.
The London Chinese Community Centre: Established in London’s Chinatown in 1980 to help Chinese immigrants adjust to life in the UK, the pandemic has left this valuable centre in desperate need of funding to survive. You can find a link to their fundraiser here, and a link to their Instagram and more details here.
Support and donate to Besea.n: Besea.n is a non-profit, grassroots organisation founded by six ESEA women looking to promote positive positive media representation of ESEA people in the UK and tackle negative stereotypes in the process. Read more about what they do here, find their donation page here, or join their ESEA network here.
Support The Hackney Chinese Community Centre: The HCCC supports ESEA communities in east London. Volunteering information can be found on their website. They also recently shared news of a National Hate Crime Survey from CASVIC (Campaign Against Secondary Victimisation). If you’d like more details, or would like to record any experiences you may have had since the start of the pandemic, you can find more details here.
Who To Follow
@DearAsianYouthLondon is the UK chapter of worldwide community DearAsianYouth. Empowering British Asian communities, it’s a hotspot for support and information if you’re part of the British Asian community, or an ally.
@racismunmaskededinburgh is an online movement created to raise awareness of racism towards the ESEA people in the UK, as well as to create a support network. They have great Instagram resources for how to be an active bystander and share plenty of other useful info regularly via stories.
Follow other Asian-learning focused accounts which educate and inform. More recommendations include: @asianleadershipcollective, @britishchinesebiz and @resonatevoices.
Follow members of the UK ESEA food community: There are lots of interesting (and better informed) members of the UK ESEA food community who post regularly about these issues on Instagram, including Anna Sulan Masing, Angela Hui, Celestial Peach, and David Paw.
Follow big and small ESEA infleuncer accounts on Instagram: A handful of our faves include Debbie Le from @thefashionablepan, Susie Lau from @susiebubble and Michelle Chai from @winyeemichelle.
Where To Shop From
Buy a tote from Fashion Bake – Jessica Ly, who runs Fashion Bake (a Northampton-based dumpling company) is selling limited edition tote bags to help raise money for the London Chinese Community Centre. The bags will launched over the weekend and 50% of proceeds will go to the centre.
There’s a great round-up of ESEA small businesses to shop from saves to @besea.n’s highlights under ‘Gift Guide’.
You can follow @dontcallmeoriental, which is an account set up solely to elevate ESEA artists and makers.
You can find more Asian-owned businesses in our feature from International Women’s Day which highlights cool brands founded by Black and Asian women.
Order food from Asian-owned restaurants, even if that just means choosing Chinese or an East and South East Asian-owned takeaway on a Friday night – you’re still supporting a small family business.
What Else Can You Do?
Continue to call-out relatives/friends/colleagues – If you witness derogatory language surrounding the Asian community, speak out. It’s never a comfortable experience calling out someone you like or respect, but it’s a necessary discomfort to help end discrimination and racism.
Continue to share resources – Whether it’s a simple retweet or a message in your much-loved Whatsapp group, continue to share things like articles or posts that break down Asian racism and contain info on charities and places to donate. We need to keep the dialogue going.
Check in on Asian friends – It’s harder than ever to check in on people right now, we get it. Send a text, drop an email, reach out and show that you are there.
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