What is Civic Engagement?
According to the New York Times, Civic Engagement is defined as a means of "working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference" (ADP (Links to an external site.).
Furthermore, Wikipedia would define Civic Engagement as a political ideology and states that "any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community" (Wikipedia (Links to an external site.).
Civic engagement, to me, is the intent to address any public concerns while promoting the overall quality of life for residents living in more underrepresented or misrepresented communities. For example, the current issue is with the recent mass shootings at two Atlanta spas that left eight dead after growing fears of Anti-Asian bias.
What is the Social Issue?
Throughout our United States history, Asian Americans have been forced into many exclusionary social policies and practices, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Japanese internment camps of 1942 during the second world war. Asian American communities are currently experiencing a long history of racism and exclusion that predates many Asian Americans today, specifically young Asian Americans. Young AAPI understands that the current rise of xenophobia amid the pandemic has nothing to do with them. However, it stems from the deep-rooted tensions that have been brooding since the birth of our nation. In 2019, former President Donald Trump repeatedly and unapologetically referred to the COVID-19 as the "Chinese" or "Wuhan" virus.
Creating a false narrative that only continues to perpetuate the scrutiny leaving many Asian Americans feeling like the outsiders, the "forever foreigners" (Aguirre), or the "other" other, ultimately making a culture war in the fight against COVID. Over the past two years, Asian hate crimes have only increased due to the volatile amount of paranoia and ignorance engulfed in the United States. All of these fears are leaving many Asian Americans feeling even more anxious, depressed, and isolated. More recently, a gunman fueled by white supremacy and misogyny purchased a 9mm handgun and opened fire in three massage parlors in Atlanta, killing eight people, including six Asian American women.
This is why so many nonprofit social organizations such as Stop AAPI Hate have become so important in the rising awareness to a growing concern. We must band together and demand an end to the anti-Asian hate and pass more comprehensive gun control legislation so the senseless killings and mass shootings can stop! We need to speak up and fight back to stop the AAPI hate and violence against our Asian American brothers and sisters.
Stop AAPI Hate Reports
Stop AAPI Hate has received more than 3000 reports of anti-Asian hate, including several incidents of both physical and verbal assaults, between March 19, 2020, and February 28, 2021.
However, the nonprofit organization stresses the numbers only represent a fraction of incidents due to the number of cases that are going underreported.
Additionally, 64 reported incidents also suggest potential civil rights violations against Asian Americans in California, including instances where Asian Americans were discriminated against at the workplace, banned from establishments, or prevented from using public transportation.
Roughly 11% of all incidents reported are cases of discrimination against older AAPI. Asian Americans see a rise in unprovoked attacks against the elderly all across the United States.
According to Stop AAPI Hate, from March 19, 2020, to December 31, 2020, the organization has received 126 accounts of anti-Asian hate involving Asian Americans 60 years old and over.
Why does it matter?
Anti-Asian racism increased soon after the pandemic began, with people falsely inculpating Asian Americans for COVID-19, which origins were first identified in the Wuhan province of China.
However, these incidents are not new. It follows a long history of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, which has continued to worsen following former President Trump's "Chinese Virus" rhetoric since last year.
What can we do?
My goal for the civic engagement project is to promote awareness against the COVID-19 related hate against Asian Americans and to impact the viewer through my designs. Have them reflect on how we, as Californians and Americans, need to do better to take greater care of each other and our communities.
That is why I implore people of all ethnic backgrounds to band together and stop the hate against AAPI communities during this difficult time. If you see something, say something. Do not be afraid to fight back against AAPI hate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Home.” CAA, 25 Mar. 2021, caasf.org.
“The Definition of Civic Engagement - New York Times.” New York Times, 2000, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_defi.html?mcubz=3.
“Home.” Stop AAPI Hate, 26 Mar. 2021, stopaapihate.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment