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The 黄色电影

The High School Student News Site of The American School in London

The 黄色电影

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Affinity space held in light of escalating anti-Asian discrimination

East+Asian+students+and+faculty+discuss+recent+hate+crimes+and+personal+experiences+with+anti-Asian+discrimination+March+30.+For+the+first+time%2C+the+East+Asia+Culture+Club+held+an+in-person+affinity+space+for+East+Asian+members+of+the+ASL+community.
Clara Martinez
East Asian students and faculty discuss recent hate crimes and personal experiences with anti-Asian discrimination March 30. For the first time, the East Asia Culture Club held an in-person affinity space for East Asian members of the ASL community.

According to the at California State University, anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S.鈥 largest cities increased by 149% in 2020, despite general hate crime reports decreasing by 6%.聽

Following instances of discrimination around the world and its ties to COVID-19, members of the East Asia Culture Club hosted their first affinity space meeting for students and faculty who identify as East Asian. Eight High School students and faculty discussed recent hate crimes in the U.S. and U.K. March 30 as well as personal experiences with anti-Asian verbal abuse and discrimination.

EACC member Amber Auh (鈥21) helped organize the affinity space and said it became more necessary to organize a meeting after the spike in .

鈥淚t’s important to have a club like this because when stuff like that happens, we can have that space to talk,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t’s really important to have that representation.鈥

Grade 11 Dean Rodney Yeoh said he attended the discussion in the hope of creating a support system for students.

鈥淲hen I was a student at that age, I wish I had a group like this,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 wanted to show them that there are adults in this building who identify as being a Malaysian Chinese who can offer support for them.鈥

Unlike other club meetings that must take place online, Principal Devan Ganeshananthan said the affinity space was allowed to be held in person because it is categorized differently from an extracurricular activity.

鈥淥ne, it’s considered an extension of the affinity work that faculty are engaged in in the day normally, so it’s not really in the same space as an extracurricular,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he second reason is that they are meeting outside.鈥

Besides the technical aspects of permitting an in-person meeting, Ganeshananthan said the exploration of emotions within the affinity space is best done face-to-face.

鈥淲hile I think the students who are interested in doing this needed it so much that they would have done it on the computer, I think it’s just a much more human way to do it, just in person,鈥 he said. 鈥淓specially when it comes down to building trust and emotional resilience, there’s nothing like being able to see someone’s face.鈥

People who look Asian cannot control where the virus came from and how the virus spreads. I guess it’s human nature to try and blame someone other than themselves when they feel so out of control.

— Ellie Lowe ('22)

March 25, Ganeshananthan issued a statement to the High School regarding a March 16 and its ties to anti-Asian racism.

鈥淎lthough I didn’t state it explicitly, the implicit communication is the fact that this affects everyone, even if you’re not directly affected,鈥 he said.

Yeoh said changing the rhetoric in discussions about the virus will diminish racist comments targeted toward East Asians.

鈥淲ith the former President Trump’s rhetoric 鈥 or calling it the 鈥楥hinese virus鈥 鈥 I think that has a massive impact,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat’s why Mr. Ganeshananthan鈥檚 statement, Mrs. Appleby鈥檚 statement, all of that is important in having a conversation about this.鈥

According to the California State University statistic exposing increased hate crimes towards East Asians in 2020, the emergence of COVID-19 is viewed as a factor.

Auh said if the first case of the virus was discovered in the U.S. or Europe, East Asian people would not be the main target of blame.

鈥淭he fact that it did happen in an Asian country, a country as big as China, I think that really affects everything,鈥 she said.聽

Ellie Lowe (鈥22) said she believes the escalating discrimination is partly due to blame being placed on East Asians for COVID-19 originating in China.

鈥淧eople who look Asian cannot control where the virus came from and how the virus spreads,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 guess it’s human nature to try and blame someone other than themselves when they feel so out of control.鈥

Auh said she suffered one instance of racial discrimination during lockdown when she was walking through the woods.

鈥淚鈥檇 gone past a fat old white dude and he yelled 鈥榗****鈥 at me,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t’s overlooked and it’s like, normalized. I’ve also, I guess, at the same time internalized that and kind of blocked out the real broad notions of it.鈥

Auh said the commonality of anti-Asian hate crimes has caused her to change the way she responds to new cases of discrimination.

鈥淚’ve been desensitized to it in a way because Asian-American discrimination has always been kind of overlooked,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f I look back at my childhood, I’m like, there’s so many microaggressions, but I wasn’t even offended.鈥

Lowe said these instances of discrimination need to be recognized and prevented by everyone, not just East Asian members of the community.

鈥淎nyone should be able to see that hate crimes against Asian-Americans are on the rise,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou have to help people who are facing that situation because it’s one kind of hurt to have racial abuse, and it’s another kind of hurt to not have any sort of help for white silence.鈥

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About the Contributor
Clara Martinez
Clara Martinez, Editor-in-Chief
Clara Martinez (鈥24) is the Editor-in-Chief for The 黄色电影. She began journalism as an editor of the Middle School newspaper The Scroll and joined The 黄色电影 in Grade 9. Martinez is drawn to investigative news stories and profiles, although she does enjoy producing the occasional broadcast or photo gallery. In or out of the newsroom, she can always be found with a pocket-sized notebook and pen in hand.

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