STAND WITH US WITH US PROTECT ASIAN LIVES STOP ASIAN HATE ISSUE 01 FALL 2021

Ngoc Dien Phuong Le Johanne Daoust Youra Lee Anna Alblas Cynthia Silva Paul Kim Diamond Yao Chelsea Shim Sharma Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya Jason Leung, Lerone Pieters, Jessica Irani, Tim Marshall DESIGN DIRECTOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR WRITER WRITER WRITER WRITER ILLUSTRATOR PHOTOGRAPHERS PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF 1 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

CONTENTS 4 | EDITOR’S LETTER 7 | ANNA PHINGBODHIPAKKIYA 13 | RUSSEL MARK JEUNG 17 | CHELSEA SHIM SHARMA 23 | AMY GO Letter from the editor I am not your scapegoat: NYC public art calls out anti–Asian racism CO Founder of stop AAPI Hate Anti Chinese sentiment in Toronto during pandemic shows the worst of humanity Racism led to a rise in anti–Asian hate in the pandemic. What the community wants to see in Canada’s next leader 2 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

STOP ASIAN HATE #1 Heading to a destination (equality) #2 Restrained from movement (suppressed by society / government) 3 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

ONLY LOVE CAN DO THAT.” PHUONG LE LETTER FROM THE EDITOR “HATE CANNOT DRIVE OUT HATE BOUND is an independent indie magazine. It aims to provide knowledge on Asian Hate and Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. We are all born free and equal. Everyone is entitled to these rights no matter your race, religion, sex, language, or nationality. Everyone has the responsibility to respect the rights of others. No one can take away any of your rights. When COVID–19 appeared on the global scene, as a Vietnamese Asian living abroad I felt fear whenever I had to leave my home. People just kept asking me “Are you Chinese?”, “Why don’t you go back to your own country?” They looked at me like I was personally spreading the virus, like I was the virus itself. I came to understand racial discrimination in a personal way and decided to speak out for those who suffered attacks even though it was not their fault. BOUND will be my vehicle to bring people together–to forge understanding, education and cooperation. We have a responsibility to act. We must continue to “Treat others how we want to be treated” if we are to enjoy personal happiness and prosperity. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR 4 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

HATE 5 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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MAN D A APHINGBODIHIPAKKIYA 7 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

BELIEVE IN OUR CITY 8 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

Riders that enter a bustling Brooklyn, New York, subway station will come across brightly colored portraits with bold phrases aimed at calling out anti–Asian racism. The art displays are part of “I Still Believe in Our City,” a public awareness campaign featuring Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers, which first appeared at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station but now appears throughout New York City. The posters, created by Brooklyn based artist and neuroscientist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, contain messages such as, “We belong here,” and, “I am not your scapegoat.” They push against the idea of people of Asian descent being treated as a foreigner or being blamed for Covid-19. The idea for the project began on Phingbodhipakkiya’s first few days as an artist–in–residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights last August. She and a commissioner were on a walk at Prospect Park brainstorming projects to work on. Phingbodhipakkiya said she was thinking about Chinatown and how the stigma had been hurting business in the neighborhood, even before the city went into lockdown last March. SCAPEGOAT 9 | Bound I AM NOT YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS

NYC PUBLIC ART CALLS OUT ANTI ASIAN RACISM Phingbodhipakkiya said a wave of emotions hit her when she came across the video of Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84 year old Thai American man who was shoved to the ground in January and later died from his injuries. The artist grew up in a blended household with a Thai father and Indonesian mother, so when she saw the video, she said she couldn’t help but think that could be her dad and what would happen to him if he was targeted. “There has been a long history of anti–Asian racism in this country. From laborers being labeled as ‘yellow peril’ to many other laws and incidents along the course of history,” she said. “Whether it’s barring Chinese people from coming into the country or putting Japanese Americans into internment camps, there has just been a long history of ‘othering.’ That shows up as microaggressions.” During the 19th century, increased anti–Chinese sentiment resulted in the singling out of Chinese Americans through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The law prohibited most Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens and limited the Chinese population in the United States. During World War II, approximately 120,000 people in the U.S. that were of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps along the West Coast. Phingbodhipakkiya said she believes the beauty of public art is that people can take from it what they see. As the art series expands into an installation in the city’s financial district and continues to include portraits of Black people as a sign of “standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement,” the artist hopes it raises awareness of the anti–Asian biases that go on in her community. “I think anyone that passes by, whether it’s an ally or an Asian American, can either acknowledge that racism against Asian Americans is real,” she said. “And to say that, despite everything that we have endured, despite everything that has happened to us, we are still here and we will continue to fight for our shared future.” 10 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

IS 11 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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RUSSEL FOUNDER OF STOP AAPI HATE 13 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

JEUNG MARK 14 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

Stop AAPI Hate was launched in March 2020. I knew that with COVID-19 coming from China that Asians would be blamed, and they would face racism, because that’s what happened with SARS. I began to track news accounts because that was the only data we had. I noticed globally that there was a rise in anti–Chinese acts of racism or discrimination. And I did two reports looking globally and nationally of news accounts. So, with that data, I knew there was a clear rise in anti–Asian racism, and we needed to document firsthand what was happening. I teach public policy, and I knew that policy makers respond to data on racial disparities. I wanted the government to create a tracking center, because I figured it was the government’s responsibility. But I didn’t want to go nationally because I didn’t think Trump’s administration would be responsive. So, I thought we would create a pilot program in California. I worked with two nonprofits, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian Pacific Policy Planning Council, and we approached the Attorney General of California, but they said “No.” So we began to work with the API (Asian & Pacific Islander) Legislative Caucus, which is the Assembly members and Senators in California. They were supportive of the project, and we launched STOP AAPI Hate with six different languages in March. Initially we had a real strong flood of incidents reported to us. It went all year and continued this year. So, we knew history would repeat itself, we knew we needed data to document what was happening, and we needed to come up with good solutions to the issue. Also, we wanted to build a movement; rather than simply collecting data, we needed to mobilize the Asian Americ community. In your scholarship, you have been open about your faith and how it shapes the work. In particular, how does a Christian worldview inform the work that you are doing to raise awareness about anti–Asian racism? I think about seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And for me, that’s what this is. Fighting racism is part of God’s Kingdom, and righteousness in God’s Kingdom involves right relations with God and with each other, society, and creation. And clearly, attacking or killing elderly Asian people signals something wrong and broken. I’m pursuing what God would want; being obedient to God’s call is reflected in pursuing justice in this world. We should meet the needs of the marginalized. We should correct systems that are broken. We should call leaders to repentance and to holiness. It’s also a part of being obedient to God’s call for justice. It’s being a model of Christ’s grace and forgiveness. And then, I think about what’s facing Asian Americans; they’re being mistreated because they’re perceived as foreigners. And the Bible says a lot about the treatment of the foreigner. I think that America’s treatment of those whom they perceive as outsiders is sinful. If you’re a foreigner, then we feel like we could build a wall against you. If you’re a foreigner, we justify separating your family. If you’re perceived as a foreigner, it’s okay to mock you and to deny you services. It’s okay to objectify you, and to shove the elderly. That’s the only way I could understand how people could treat Asians so badly at this moment, because they see us as outsiders and others; and Americans treat foreigners and others really badly. But the Bible says that you have to remember that you were all foreigners. You have to provide hospitality to the foreigners. You have to treat the foreigners as yourselves. To make room and care for the foreigners, even with your own wealth. And then, in the New Testament, we’re supposed to remember that we are actually foreigners to this world, and to live in a different value system. Citizenship in heaven doesn’t include racism or discrimination. First of all, the administration has to make official statements denouncing the racism and supporting the Asian American community at the moment. We need to make those types of statements for two reasons. They’re not simply symbolic, performative acts. They’re important because Asian Americans now feel invisible and unheard, and these official statements make us feel heard and seen. Secondly, hate was normalized last year. With Trump’s words of the “China virus,” we saw how that hate speech went viral and led to hate violence, to be restated officially, to create a campus culture of respect for all people. CO FOUNDER OF STOP AAPI HATE 15 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

WE ARE NOT A VIRUS; WE ARE HUMAN 16 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

CH SH 17 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

HATE CAN BE CONTAGIOUS STAND WITH US CHELSEA WE BELONG HERE SHIM SHARMA 18 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

“Get away from me. Get out of here. You Chinese, get away from me,” screamed a woman outside of a Whole Foods in Markham. My family warned me. They said racism against the Chinese community is inevitable during the pandemic. They remember the anti–Asian hate during the SARS outbreak, it’s not something you forget. I naively assumed I would not fall victim to it. And if so, definitely not in my hometown, Markham; a city of 353,000 people, 70 per cent of which are visible minorities. I was naive. I was wrong. I went to the store for eggs and left with angry tears. I waited in line outside of Whole Foods there were ten people behind me and one person in front of me. Everybody was respecting social distance and standing on the taped floor markings six feet apart. The person in front of me turned around constantly to glare at me. Her face was sour as if she was repulsed by something. I felt uncomfortable, but the last thought on my mind was that the thing disgusting her was me. I did not jump to conclusions about potential prejudice. I assumed it was nothing personal until she opened her mouth. “Get away from me. Get out of here. You Chinese, get away from me,” she shouted to an Asian woman who approached the line. At the moment, it clicked racists are in my community, waiting for their opportunity to spread hate. She grew more belligerent and the demand to stop talking. “Get away from me,” she screamed. “Are you ashamed of yourself for being so blatantly racist?” I asked, “You should be.” She stood by her hate. She stood by her words and justified it. “I’m scared. Okay,” she shouted back to me. “I’m scared for myself and I’m scared for my family. Stay away from me. Don’t come near me.” Her turn in line was up. This was the end of our exchange and she entered Whole Foods with her head held high like nothing had happened. Groceries check. Xenophobia check; as if this was just another day during the pandemic. Being scared does not excuse racism. Racism will not protect her or the family she is so scared for. Would any of this click with her? I understand how frightening the world is today. There is instability in the present and uncertainty for the future. Thousands are gravely ill and dying every day, people are losing their jobs and children cannot go to school. It is scary that I can wholeheartedly agree with. What else scares me is the audacity she had to be so hateful in public as if it was a shameless act. Most of the people in line were silent and looked down at their shoes, one laughed and one noted how loud she was but nobody corrected her. My dose of racism did not stop with that face to face encounter. As the virus spreads, so does Anti–Chinese movements online. Racist keyboard warriors are rampant spreading rumours about the Chinese community, mocking our appearance and dehumanizing us by calling us filthy, diseased animals. ANTI CHINESE SENTIMENT IN TORONTO DURING PANDEMIC SHOWS THE WORST OF HUMANITY 19 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

With the global effect of the pandemic, prejudice against the Chinese community is stronger than ever through the power of cyberracism and a xenophobic world leader who pushes to racialize the virus. There are reports worldwide of Asians being assaulted, spit on, refused from businesses and kicked out of taxis in the middle of the highway. Racist commenters applaud these actions and hope the same happens in their community. Fellow mothers in a local Facebook moms group have warned each other to avoid eating Chinese Food to protect themselves from the virus. “I bet they serve bats instead of chicken. Disgusting,” another mother added to one of the many derogatory posts. In times of crisis, we can work to be more kind and sensitive to each other. As a deadly virus spreads viciously through the world, there is heightened fear, panic, and growing uncertainty. Hate can be contagious let’s not condone, but condemn racist responses to the pandemic. There are enough worries in this chaotic time racism should not be one of them. “GET AWAY FROM ME. GET OUT OF HERE. YOU CHINESE, GET AWAY FROM ME,” SCREAMED A WOMAN OUTSIDE OF A WHOLE FOODS IN MARKHAM. 20 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

STOP ASIAN HATE PROTECT ASIAN WOMEN WE WILL NOT BE SILENT 21 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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VIRUS 23| Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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I DID NOT MAKE YOU SICK STOP 25 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

GO AMY 26 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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PROTECT ASIAN LIVES Canada has faced a rude awakeing around the rise of anti–Asian racism. The COVID–19 pandemic brought along a surge of attacks on Asian Canadian seniors and vandalism of many Asian Canadian businesses. As a result, the Chinese Canadian community continues to silently live in fear, isolation and anger. On the eve of the 44th Canadian federal election, they’re now speaking out about what they demand from the federal electoral candidates. “Canada is a multicultural country with people from all over the world. Our politicians should strive to make it a vibrant nation where everyone is treated with respect and dignity,” Shiwei Mao, a Chinese Canadian retiree, said in Mandarin, the only language she speaks besides her native Shanghainese. “But what did they do? It’s been almost two years of COVID-19 and our politicians have made a mess. Our society and economy has undergone profound disruptions, with chaos and racism everywhere!” Amy Go, the president of the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC), thinks that this pandemic has highlighted wealth disparities in our society. “The pandemic really highlights the differential access to services of racialized seniors and seniors who don’t speak English” she said. “On top of an already scarce amount of culturally adapted services, COVID–19 has disrupted the few services there were. Chinese Canadian seniors who rely on home care to get their daily basic needs met and who need regular health care have been hit extremely hard.” 28 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

29 | Bound Go has heard from many seniors who have struggled through the pandemic. “They were so afraid because of all the assaults. Many of them made heartbreaking comments such as ‘We moved to Canada in order to build a better life for our children. But now we are questioning that decision and hope our children won’t have to move again,” she said. “Seniors go out and see people treating them differently. They know it is wrong, but they don’t know what to say, as they don’t have the English skills to say anything.” CCNC submitted questions to the federal parties regarding these matters. The Liberal Party and NDP responded. The Conservatives, Green Party and Bloc Québécois did not. Canada’s Anti Racism Strategy said that since its establishment in 2019, “The Federal Anti–Racism Secretariat has since been leading a whole of government approach to tackling racism and discrimination in all of its forms in Canada, including anti–Asian racism.” In March they set up a task force to work with “Government organizations and diverse communities in response to the COVID–19 pandemic including Canadians of Asian descent, to ensure that our response to COVID–19 is informed by lived experiences.” But for some, the lack of politicial representation leads to a lack of understanding on how to best care for diverse populations which require a more targeted response. “We need Chinese–Canadian politicians to represent us at the House of Commons so that our demands can be put forward” Ru Xie, another Scarborough resident who lives with her husband and her daughter said. “I believe that in a multicultural country like Canada, it is the federal government’s responsibility to intervence when there is racism.” Another issue is accessibility to health care. Though Mao and her husband were able to find a Chinese–Canadian doctor who gave them information on how to protect themselves, she is aware that not everyone in the community is so lucky. “It’s hard for a lot of Chinese people to find a doctor that speaks their particular dialect. I believe the percentage of doctors in Canada who are of certain cultural backgrounds should match the percentage of Canadians who are of that same background,” she said. Though COVID–19 has largely kept Xie in her home due to safety concerns, she ventured out to participate in an anti–Asian racism protest after seeing reports of attacks circulating on WeChat, a Chinese social network. Dr. Henry Yu, a professor of Asian–Canadian and Asian Migration studies, believes that this past year and a half has forced Canada to face its history of anti–Asian racism. “Our communities are looking for some commitment from all party leaders that’s not empty. Saying, ‘We’re not racist in Canada’ won’t cut it, because you say that doesn’t mean it’s true. Because this is happening in Canada,” he said. Dr. Yu strongly believes that Canada needs to take a hard look at itself and ask why is it that this nation scapegoats the Asian–Canadian population to solve structural issues rather than simply enact superficial measures. “What needs to be implemented across the board is to collect more disaggregated data, especially in the context of COVID–19, about who’s being served in the mental health system, and what access is like for people who are linguistically diverse or marginalized and other ways,” said Cindy Quan, a researcher at the University of Victoria. She believes that part of the solution lies in getting disaggregated data on anti–Asian racism. “We need greater accountability at various levels of government, tougher hate crimes and discrimination laws, better crafted legislation along those lines, and clear consequences for engaging in racist behaviour,” she said. HUMAN RIGHTS

I DID NOT MAKE YOU SICK 30 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

HATE 31 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

HATE I S A V I R U S “Your Asian friends and family are deeply scared, horrified, sick to their stomachs and wildly angry.” —Lana Condor 32 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS

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“No one can take away my heritage or history. At the same time, it is up to me to discover and embrace that knowledge, proud to be Asian.” —The Thoughtful Beast 34 | Bound HUMAN RIGHTS