Killing Eve star Sandra Oh made an impromptu appearance at a Stop Asian Hate protest yesterday in Oakland, PA. Oh delivered a passionate speech, where she called on people to stand up for their Asian communities. The rally was one of several protests which took place this weekend in response to the horrific Atlanta spa shootings which killed 8 people and wounded several more.
The shooting was the most violent example yet of the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, which spiked during the pandemic. These hate crimes were exacerbated by the racist rhetoric of Trump’s administration, and its scapegoating of “the China virus”. Of course, America has a long history of discrimination and violence towards the AAPI community.
Oh said to the crowd, “Thank you to all the organizers for organizing this just to give us an opportunity to be together and to stand together and to feel each other. For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger and I really am so grateful to everyone willing to listen.”
She continued, “I’m going to be very brief, but one thing that I know is many of us in our community are very scared, and I understand that. And one way to kind of go through and get through our fear is to reach out to our communities,” Oh said. “I will challenge everyone here, if you see something, will you help me? If you see one of our sisters or brothers in need, will you help us?”
Oh then led the crowd in a chant of, “I am proud to be Asian. I belong here,” adding, “Many of us don’t get a chance to be able to say that, so I just wanted to give us an opportunity to be able to shout that.”
Oh’s sentiments were shared by other Asian American actors, including Riverdale‘s Charles Melton, who penned an emotional essay in Variety.
Melton wrote, “With the continued rise in horrific hate crimes towards my community, I have been in deep introspection by recalling my own experiences, unpacking my past, and trying to understand it all. Through it, I’ve realized that I never stood up for my Korean heritage. I’ve willfully ignored the racism and microaggressions directed towards me and my people. I failed to defend my heritage in fear of retribution. And now I can’t help but wonder what I did to contribute to the violence against Asian Americans.”
Many more joined the call to address anti-Asian racism and violence:
Thank you. This video from @nowthisnews first appeared a few weeks ago, but applies all too directly to yesterday’s events in #Atlanta #StopAsianHate https://t.co/ceFLPRVq65
— Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) March 17, 2021
a scapegoat for a global pandemic. Historically Asian immigrants have been the scapegoat for others misfortunes. This ends now. It starts by calling it what it is. MEDIA YOU NEED TO DO BETTER, CALL IT WHAT IT IS, DOMESTIC TERRORISM HATE CRIMES AGAINST ASIANS. #stopasianhate
— Jamie Chung (@jamiechung1) March 17, 2021
Everyone must do their part to #StopAsianHate. pic.twitter.com/2bvoKokJUk
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 18, 2021
Wake up… your Asian friends and family are deeply scared, horrified, sick to their stomachs and wildly angry. Please please please check in on us, please please please stand with us. Please. Your Asian friend needs you, even if they aren’t publicly grieving on social media. x
— Lana Condor (@lanacondor) March 17, 2021
The targeting of our Asian brothers and sisters is sickening, but not surprising given the normalizing of anti-Asian hate speech in the past year. We have to #StopAsianHate, enough is enough!
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) March 17, 2021
I know these women. The ones working themselves to the bone to send their kids to school, to send money back home. In too much pain to know what else to say so I’ll just leave this here. https://t.co/Dz7wKkbADy
— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) March 17, 2021
(via Variety, featured image: screencap/CBS Pittsburgh)
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