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Resources for Allyship and Fighting Anti-Asian Discrimination

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Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. To achieve our mission, we must fight discrimination, bias, and racism in all forms. A world where anyone can belong takes all of us.

This week, we shared the following resources for allyship and fighting anti-Asian discrimination, prepared by Airbnb employee resource group Asians@, with all Airbnb employees. 

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders. Over the last few weeks in particular, there has been a rise of anti-Asian violence, particularly targeting seniors across the US. At Airbnb, we reject racism, bigotry, and hate.

I also want to acknowledge the fact that today is Lunar New Year, a day that holds significance and meaning for many in our community. The fact that this violence coincides with such an important holiday can make these disturbing instances all the more painful.  At a time where many Asian Americans feel threatened by incidents of violence and racism it’s important to remember that we—and importantly our allies—can give comfort by standing with one another.

As we continue to navigate the pandemic, let’s remember to be vigilant in making sure bias and microaggressions don’t creep into our interactions with each other. Our Asians@ employee resource group has developed a guide to help allies become more active in fighting anti-Asian discrimination. We want to share this with our broader community in the hopes that together we can create a world where anyone can belong. 

–Hiroki Asai, Head of Global Marketing, Executive Sponsor, Asians@ Employee Resource Group

Email sent to Airbnb employees February 11, 2021

Asians@: Resources for fighting anti-Asian discrimination

Background

There have been a growing number of anti-Asian hate crimes since the pandemic which has increased in number in recent weeks, particularly targeting elders in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community. We denounce these violent acts happening to our community and would like to call on our allies, as well as our API community, to stand up to these injustices.

It’s important to note that the recent incidents of hate crimes against our community is not new. The API community has been subject to anti-Asian xenophobia and racism well before COVID-19 (e.g. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Japanese Internment camps, violence that led to the Filipino Farm Worker Movement, the 2017 hate crime shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotlato, to name a few instances). And time and time again when we’ve raised our voices to speak up, we have been and continue to be silenced. Due to our white adjacency and the perpetuation of the model minority myth, our struggles have been and are often overlooked. We too are people of color who face injustices and discrimination, and we want to be seen and heard. 

We ask our allies and the API community to help elevate our voices, and bring visibility and justice for the Asian community. We’ve put together this living resource guide to provide members of the API community, friends, and allies with ways to further understand, show your support, and stand up against anti-Asian racism in your communities. Download guide here.

What our allies and API community can do right now

1. Raise awareness, speak up, and condemn these attacks and anti-Asian racism

The API community simply is not getting enough coverage on these hate crimes, which further silences our struggles and perpetuates the misconception that we don’t face racism. In a recent interview, actor Steven Yeun put into words what we often experience but haven’t been able to articulate: “Sometimes I wonder if the Asian-American experience is what it’s like when you’re thinking about everyone else, but nobody else is thinking about you.”

2. Report instances of anti-Asian assault and crimes 

Report them at StopAAPIHate.org. 

3. Protect yourself in the face of discrimination or safely stand up for others as a bystander

Join webinars and training hosted by the Hollaback Bystander Intervention.

4. Learn about the history of Asian Pacific Islander discrimination and other challenges we face 

5. Support, donate, and volunteer with organizations actively combating racism against the Asian Pacific Islander community

Organizations to support and donate to

  • Stop AAPI Hate – aggregates and responds to incidents of hate and harassment against Asian American/Pacific Islanders. Stop AAPI Hate received 1,843 reports of anti-Asian discrimination due to COVID-19 in its first eight weeks of reporting (March 19 to May 13). 
  • Hate is a virus – started as a grassroots movement to combat racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) fueled by COVID-19, Hate is a virus has evolved into a sustainable organization that addresses xenophobia and hate in the AAPI and BIPOC communities.
  • Act To Change – a national nonprofit organization working to address bullying, including in the AAPI community. They published “The Racism is a Virus Toolkit” to support the community in combating racism. 
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice – a national nonprofit organization that focuses on housing rights, immigration, civil rights, labor rights, and others for Asian Americans
  • National Council of Asian Pacific Americans – a nonprofit organization that serves to represent the interests of the greater Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities through a coalition of 37 national Asian Pacific American organizations around the country.

Individual fundraisers

Bay Area volunteer opportunities

6. Be involved with your company/organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space 

Join and support Asian Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as well as a greater alliance of Asian ERGs like Asian Leaders Alliance to combat racism together.

About Asians@ ERG: Asians@ Airbnb is an employee resource group (ERG) dedicated to elevating the Asian Pacific Islander (API) voice in the community, towards the wider mission of Airbnb to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.