People across the United States have been in awe since news spread of the mass shooting that occurred at three spas across the Atlanta metropolitan area. The shootings reportedly left eight people dead, most of whom were women of Asian descent. As a result, many people have interpreted the shootings to be a hate crime against the Asian-American Pacific Islander community, despite the shooter allegedly claiming that sexual addiction was his motive. Still, reports have shown that nearly 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents have occurred over the past year, so many public figures have been taking this moment to address the rise of Asian hate in America. The latest, Jhené Aiko.
In a series of posts to Instagram, Jhené Aiko condemns AAPI hate, shares a story about her grandfather, and gives her followers action steps and resources that they can take note of. In her first post, Jhené opted for a simple graphic from the Asian-American Collective that read, "Hate is A VIRUS." She quickly followed up that post with a more heartfelt statement regarding her grandfather.
Throughout the post, Jhené shares her late Grandpa Teddy's legacy and reflects on the discrimination that he faced throughout his life. According to Aiko, Teddy was "a Japanese-American man from Compton, California," who was known as "one of the best defense lawyers in Los Angeles." She detailed Teddy's work throughout the Los Angeles riots and also talked about how brave he was to marry a Black woman and raise six biracial children, as well as several mixed-race great and grandchildren.
"Grandpa Teddy fought for his family and his community until his dying day," Jhené writes in her caption. "And I owe it to him to continue to fight for justice and equality for my communities as well. Getting to know each other's stories, we learn we are more alike than different. Not until we understand this will we truly see each other."
She concludes her post about her grandfather with a major call to action, saying, "We have the opportunity to stop the hate NOW. #StopAsianHate #STOPAAPIHATE #tellourstories."
Finally, Jhené shared a post that detailed seven action steps for people who are wondering what they can do to help stop discrimination and hate against people of Asian descent. In light of the Atlanta shootings, Asian hate is definitely more important and pressing of an issue than many people likely thought before, and Jhené Aiko's series of posts serve as a great way to get informed and help make a change.