As Trump Doubles Down on Racist Rhetoric at Tulsa Rally, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! Train More than 10,000 to Address Anti-Asian and Anti-Asian American Harassment
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Washington, D.C. — This weekend President Donald Trump used derogatory names for the Coronavirus and doubled down on other racist rhetoric during his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Repeated use of terms like Kung Flu and Chinese virus, against the advice of public health officials who urge us to use the correct terms “coronavirus” and “COVID-19”, has led the Asian American community to continue to experience harassment, discrimination, and violence in relation to COVID-19. In response to concerns about increased attacks, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! have trained more than 10,000 people on how to safely intervene in anti-Asian and anti-Asian American harassment.
“Like much of the world, we are still figuring out how this moment will change us,” said Emily May, Executive Director of Hollaback! “We have a historic opportunity to shine a light and work to undo harassment in our communities. We know that experiences of harassment can build up over time and chip away at a person and at a community.”
When Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! began its partnership on these training sessions, the organizations saw more than 1,000 people register for each of the first trainings. In recent weeks it has become abundantly clear that as we press for measures to address anti-Asian racism, we also must join in demanding an end to anti-Black racism. Advancing Justice | AAJC continues to encourage the community to report hate crimes and hate incidents through StandAgainstHatred.org, which can accept reports in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. To further support racial justice efforts, we have added resources for the Asian American community to address anti-Blackness and learn more about anti-racism: https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/publication/resources-asian-american-community-anti-blackness.
“As our country grapples with how to safeguard Black communities and respond to police brutality and racial disparities, it has been heartening to see that so many people want to learn about how they can take action to end harassment and play a role in dismantling racism, white supremacy, and anti-blackness in our communities,” said Marita Etcubañez, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Advancing Justice | AAJC. “Together, we can contribute to sending the message that hate, including racism and xenophobia, is unacceptable in all of its forms.”
In response to the overwhelming demand for our Bystander Intervention Training To Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment, Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! have been offering multiple online sessions each week including two new training sessions on Bystander Intervention 2.0: Conflict De-escalation and How To Respond to Harassment for People Experiencing Anti-Asian and Anti-Asian American.
Both pieces of training are intended for those who have already participated in the bystander intervention training who wish to go deeper into how to directly intervene and de-escalate conflict or who want to know how to respond in the moment when they experience harassment and practice resilience and take care of themselves after the experience.
To learn more about the trainings, please visit https://www.ihollaback.org/bystanderintervention/.