Taking a Stand Against Hate

    What is stronger than hate? For Ben Kim, 18, it is kindness. For YuYu Yuan, 19, it is truth. For Ashlyn So, 14, it is action.

    All three teens are Asian American. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they witnessed a rise in hate incidents against people like them. Hate incidents are hateful words or acts that unfairly target people because of their race, their religion, or another part of who they are. More than 9,000 anti-Asian hate incidents were reported in the first 15 months of the pandemic. 

    Why did anti-Asian hate incidents increase? The Covid-19 virus was first discovered in China. Many people wrongly blame the pandemic on people of Asian descent. But scientists say a person’s race has nothing to do with how the virus spreads.

    Ben, YuYu, and Ashlyn saw the problem—and took action to fix it. Here’s how these three teens made a difference.

    What is stronger than hate? For Ben Kim, 18, it’s kindness. For YuYu Yuan, 19, it’s truth. For Ashlyn So, 14, it’s action.

    All three teens are Asian American. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they witnessed a rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans. Hate incidents are hateful words or acts that unfairly target people because of their race, their religion, or another part of who they are. In the first 15 months of the pandemic, more than 9,000 anti-Asian hate incidents were reported. 

    Why did anti-Asian hate incidents go up? The Covid-19 virus was first discovered in China. Many people blame people of Asian descent for the pandemic. But scientists say that’s wrong. A person’s race has nothing to do with how the virus spreads.

    Ben, YuYu, and Ashlyn decided to stand up to the racism. Here’s how they did it.

    What is stronger than hate? For Ben Kim, 18, it is kindness. For YuYu Yuan, 19, it is truth. For Ashlyn So, 14, it is action.

    All three teens are Asian American, and they all witnessed a rise in hate incidents against people like them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hate incidents are hateful words or acts that unfairly target people because of their race, their religion, or another part of who they are. More than 9,000 anti-Asian hate incidents were reported in the first 15 months of the pandemic. 

    Why did anti-Asian hate incidents increase during this period? The Covid-19 virus was first discovered in China, and many people wrongly blame the pandemic on people of Asian descent. But scientists explain that a person’s race has no connection to how the virus spreads.

    Ben, YuYu, and Ashlyn saw the problem—and took action to fix it. Here’s how these three teens made a difference.

    Last winter, Ashlyn So saw a disturbing news video. It showed an Asian man getting shoved to the ground. The 84-year-old man from Thailand died from his injuries. “I was shocked and scared,” says Ashlyn, who is Chinese American. “I couldn’t just sit here and let it happen.”

    Within a week, she had organized a protest in her California town. Hundreds of people showed up. Ashlyn is shy, but she spoke to the crowd. She urged them to stand up against anti-Asian hate. 

    Since then, Ashlyn has given speeches at dozens of protests. She has also created a line of “Stand for Asians” hats. The money from the hats goes to Asian American communities. Ashlyn hopes her actions will inspire other teens to speak out. “I did this,” she says. “You can do this too.”

    Ashlyn So is Chinese American. Last winter, she saw a disturbing news video. It showed an Asian man getting pushed to the ground. The man was from Thailand. He was 84. He died from his injuries. “I was shocked,” says Ashlyn. “I couldn’t just sit here and let it happen.”

    Ashlyn lives in California. She organized a protest in her town. Hundreds of people came. Ashlyn is shy. But she spoke to the crowd. She urged them to speak up against anti-Asian hate. 

    Since then, Ashlyn has given speeches at other protests. She also made a line of hats. The hats say “Stand for Asians.” The money from selling them goes to Asian American communities. Ashlyn hopes to inspire other teens to speak out. “I did this,” she says. “You can do this too.”

    Last winter, Ashlyn So saw a disturbing news video that showed an Asian man getting shoved to the ground. The 84-year-old man, who was from Thailand, died from his injuries. “I was shocked and scared,” recalls Ashlyn, who is Chinese American. “I couldn’t just sit here and let it happen.”

    Within a week, she had organized a protest in her California town. Hundreds of people showed up. Ashlyn is shy, but she spoke to the crowd, urging them to stand up against anti-Asian hate. 

    Since then, Ashlyn has given speeches at dozens of protests. In addition, she has created a line of “Stand for Asians” hats, with the profit going to Asian American communities. Ashlyn hopes her actions will inspire other teens to speak out. “I did this,” she says. “You can do this too.”

    Last year, YuYu Yuan gave the same speech again and again during debate competitions. In it, she smiled and joked. But her message was serious: Stop blaming me for Covid-19.

    YuYu moved from China to Wyoming when she was 4 years old. She never really saw people who looked like her at school. During the pandemic, she felt even more alone.

    So YuYu used her speeches to talk about disease stigma. That’s when a group of people is blamed for an illness. It has happened many times in history. Today, it’s happening again. “Instead of targeting the disease, we have chosen to target the people,” she says.

    YuYu wants people to seek out the facts about Covid-19. She also wants them to speak up when they hear others spread lies. We can’t just “stand by and let racism happen,” she says. 

    Last year, YuYu Yuan gave a speech at her debate competitions. She gave the same speech again and again. She smiled and joked. But her message was serious: Stop blaming me for Covid-19.

    YuYu was born in China. She moved to Wyoming when she was 4. No one at her school looked like her. And during the pandemic, she felt even more alone.

    In her speeches, YuYu talked about disease stigma. That’s when a group of people is blamed for an illness. It has happened many times in history. Today, it’s happening again. 

    YuYu wants people to learn the facts about Covid-19. And she wants people to speak up when they hear others spreading lies. We can’t just “stand by and let racism happen,” she says.  

    Last year, YuYu Yuan gave the same speech again and again during debate competitions. She smiled and joked in the speech, but her message was serious: Stop blaming me for Covid-19.

    YuYu moved from China to Wyoming at age 4, and she never really saw people who looked like her at school. During the pandemic, she felt even more alone.

    So YuYu used her speeches to raise awareness about disease stigma, the problem of one group of people being blamed for an illness. It has happened many times in history, and it’s happening again today. “Instead of targeting the disease, we have chosen to target the people,” she points out.

    YuYu wants people to seek out the facts about Covid-19. She also wants them to speak up when they hear others spread lies. We can’t just “stand by and let racism happen,” she says. 

    The Lunar New Year is an important holiday in many Asian countries. It marks the start of the year based on the moon’s cycles. Ben Kim usually celebrates with his family at home in Maryland. But last February, the Korean American teen decided to share the fun. He organized a feast for 70 people at a local homeless shelter.

    For Ben, the meal was a way to teach people about Asian cultures. He raised money to pay for the ingredients. Then he got volunteers to cook foods from Asian countries. Ben made 200 Korean dumplings with his mother and sister. 

    The feast spread joy to families who had struggled during the pandemic. It also helped people understand cultures that are different from their own. “It all goes back to seeing other people as people,” Ben says. 

    The Lunar New Year is an important holiday in many Asian countries. Ben Kim is Korean American. He usually celebrates the holiday with his family at home. They live in Maryland. But last February, he decided to share the fun. He organized a feast at a local homeless shelter. There was food for 70 people.

    Ben saw this as a way to teach people about Asian cultures. He raised money to pay for the food. He got volunteers to cook. He made 200 Korean dumplings with his mother and sister. 

    The feast spread joy to families that had struggled during the pandemic. It also helped people understand different cultures. “It all goes back to seeing other people as people,” Ben says. •

    The Lunar New Year, which marks the start of the year based on the moon’s cycles, is an important holiday in many Asian countries. Ben Kim usually celebrates with his family at home in Maryland. However, last February, the Korean American teen decided to share the fun by organizing a feast for 70 people at a local homeless shelter.

    For Ben, the meal was a way to teach people about Asian cultures. He raised money to pay for the ingredients and then got volunteers to cook foods from Asian countries. Ben made 200 Korean dumplings with his mother and sister. 

The feast spread joy to families who had struggled during the pandemic. It also helped people understand cultures that are different from their own. “It all goes back to seeing other people as people,” Ben says.