Stopping Hate: Taking Action Against Rising Asian American Hate Crimes

Since the start of the pandemic, violent hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (also known as AAPI) have risen steadily, with a sharp spike in the last few weeks. These horrifying acts, not nearly spotlighted enough in the national media, must be fully addressed to stop the rising racist rhetoric threatening the safety and wellbeing of all Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, both on Twitch and within our very own cities.

With two Asian-American co-founders, and a large user base of Asian heritage identifying creators, it is critical for Twitch to take a vocal stand at bringing to the forefront the horrifying rise of anti-Asian violence spreading worldwide, encouraging allyship of all communities, and sharing resources and charities to stop it. 

To start the conversation on Twitch, yesterday, we hosted An Open Dialogue on Violence Against the AAPI Community: a panel discussion between Allyson Toy (Event Moderator, Twitch Artist Relations and Asian Guild Lead), Justin Kan (Justin.tv Founder), Sue Lee (longtime Twitch streamer & employee), Kevin Lin (Twitch Co-Founder), and mxmtoon (Artist and Twitch creator) to help raise awareness and community actions to help take a stand against rising violence threatening all AAPI communities everywhere. 

But starting the conversation is just that, only a start. It’s on us to keep the conversation going, here are additional ways to support the cause:  

Stopping AAPI Violence Resources: 

• Check out these charities on Tiltify dedicated to stopping racism and hate.
• Tune into upcoming charity streams (or host your own)

Whether you identify as a member of the AAPI community or not, taking action by educating yourself, raising awareness, donating or speaking out helps each of us stand together better in the fight for justice and equality for all.