K-Pop Stars, Korean Celebrities Unite to Advocate #StopAsianHate

by Maureen Blas / Mar 22, 2021 06:27 AM EDT

Before, it was Black people who they hate. Now they hate Asians as well.

K-pop stars and various celebrities from Korea united in advocating the #StopAsianHate movement. They protest the shootings last week in Atlanta, GA, that resulted in 8 fatalities, of which are 6 Asian women.

On Saturday, Korean American singer Eric Nam made an opinion piece for Time magazine. It was titled, "If you're surprised by the anti-Asian violence in Atlanta, you haven't been listening. It's time to hear our voices."

Nam wrote, "As 'perpetual foreigners' and subjects of the model minority myth, Asians are invited but not fully integrated, or just largely ignored under the guise of being 'O.K.' in culture and politics. As AAPIs we have been excluded, interned, vilified, emasculated, fetishized, and murdered."

AAPI means Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. According to Nam, Asian American communities continuously begged for help.

Korean actress Kim Soo-Hyun also expressed her support for the #StopAsianHate movement in her Instagram post. Super Junior members Donghae, Siwon, and Yesung make themselves heard on social media.

In the US, many Korean American celebrities also came forward to criticize the recent ripple in anti-Asian violence. It includes Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), and Steven Yeun (Minari), to name a few.

Many Asian Americans experienced hatred last year. In March 2020, former US President Donald Trump called the Coronavirus, "the Chinese virus." Consequently, several Asian Americans claimed they were blamed for bringing the dreadful virus to America. The already pandemic-stricken Asian American businesses face a second wave of hardship because of the discrimination they need to deal with.

According to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition, there are actually 3,795 racism and prejudice from March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021. The shooting incidents in 3 Georgia spas last week traumatized many people in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.