#1- Check up on your AAPI friends.
With the recent violence happening towards the AAPI community, many minorities are feeling burnt out and hopeless. Make sure your friends are alright and see if there is any way you can help them.
#2- Walk them home.
Many people in the AAPI community are being attacked by simply walking to the grocery store or walking down the street. Walk with your friends if they feel uncomfortable walking by themselves.
#3- DONATE!
Donate if you can! There have been many people in the AAPI community that have thousands of dollars in hospital bills and many people in this community have also been killed. Donate to a GoFundMe to help with hospital bills or to help the victims families with funeral expenses.
#4- Educate yourself.
Many people are horrified with the recent happenings for good reason, but some people are also horrified because they never thought this could happen. Many people who are not a part of the AAPI community never thought much about the racism that Asians face on a daily basis. Many people turn a blind eye to Asian racism because the Model Minority Myth depicts Asians as smart, successful, and wealthy. This is not the case. Educate yourself on the history of racism against Asians. Another way to educate yourself is learning how to pronounce victims’ names. For example, the letter ‘x’ is pronounced with a “sh” sound, so Xiao is pronounced “Shiao.”
#5- ADVOCATE!
Advocating can be a mix of all of the above. Advocating means a person publicly supports a particular cause. Advocating can be going to protests or simply posting something on social media to show that you stand in solidarity with the AAPI community.