BTS Opens Up About The Racism They've Endured
An Asian woman was attacked in New York while walking to church (via New York Post). A Vietnamese man was punched from behind while on a walk in Chicago (via ABC 7 Chicago). Eight people were killed after a shooter targeted Asian-run spas in Georgia (via WSB-TV). These are just a few recent violent incidents, and reports show that last year, hate crimes against Asian people increased by about 150 percent (via NBC News).
"We're seeing a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, a lot of frustration, and anger about some of the high-profile crimes that we've seen committed against Asian-Americans," said Andy Kang, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago (via Yahoo! News).
BTS, a record-breaking K-pop group that has become wildly popular in the last couple of years, has unfortunately also faced racism, according to a statement the boy band released on Monday via Twitter, where they had a clear message.
BTS details the racism they've faced
In the post, which was uploaded in English and in Korean, BTS wrote that they "feel grief and anger," have been "mocked," and "endured expletives without reason." They added that they "stand against racial discrimination."
"Our own experiences are inconsequential compared to the events that have occurred over the past few weeks. But these experiences were enough to make us feel powerless and chip away our self-esteem," the post, which included hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate, continued. "You, I, and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together."
BTS — which is made up of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — has definitely not been alone in speaking out against racism and violence against Asians. Daniel Dae Kim, Rihanna, LeBron James, and Ariana Grande are just some of the celebrities who have also spoken out on the topic (via Entertainment Tonight), along with tons of others, as the hashtag #StopAAPIHate has led to a movement online (via Forbes).