The report, “Two Years and Thousands of Voices,” found about two-thirds (67%) of the recorded incidents involved harassment, such as verbal or written hate speech or inappropriate gestures.
"We don't know the motivations behind this specific targeting of an Asian American, but we do know how real the problem of anti-AAPI hate is -- not only in violent incidents like these but in the many more public harassment moments where racial and ethnic slurs are shouted at AAPIs just trying to go about their lives," Kulkarni said.
“We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian American hate crimes,” singer-dancer Jimin said during today’s briefing. “To put a stop to this and to support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again.”
“We are recognizing AAPI Heritage Month this year by honoring the members of our community who have fought against racism and discrimination of all kinds,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “That includes those who report their experiences with hate to our website, enabling us to advocate for real solutions.”
“My reaction was shocked, not surprised,” said Plata, who explained that civic outreach to AAPI communities has been historically low.
We now are increasing our interactions, perhaps at the dry cleaner when we pick up coffee, or a donut or a bagel… all those different places, unfortunately, have potential opportunities for hate and for things like refusal of service or verbal harassment,” Kulkarni tells CNBC Make It. “And I think that’s part of why a lot of employees can be wary about going back to work.”
Manjusha Kulkarni, our Executive Director and Co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, discusses anti-Asian discrimination and the future of the movement. She speaks with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia".
As part of its second-year pledge to the AAPI Giving Challenge, East West will donate upwards of $6 million to key nonprofits and initiatives supporting the AAPI movement for inclusion, equality, and justice.