As the Covid-19 pandemic raged across the globe over the past two years, another more insidious problem started spreading in some countries.
During that time, the United States started seeing a surge in racism and hate crimes against the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community. This stems from unfortunate sentiments that blame China, or Chinese-looking people, for the virus.
On Tuesday (31 May), K-pop supergroup BTS travelled to the States to meet President Joe Biden at the White House.
The purpose of the band’s visit was to discuss Asian inclusion and representation, as well as anti-Asian hate crimes.
According to Reuters, BTS shared brief statements at a press conference before meeting with President Biden.
The septet — comprising members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jungkook, and Jimin — was introduced by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre before taking turns to speak at the podium.
RM began by saying what “a great honour” it was to receive an invitation to “discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion, and diversity” at the White House, Rolling Stone reported.
Jin then noted that it was the last day of the Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Heritage Month. “We join the White House to stand with the AANHPI community and to celebrate.”
Jimin shared how “devastated” they were by the uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
To put a tough stop on this and support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again.
Next, J-Hope thanked their dedicated fans, who come from “different nationalities and cultures” and “use different languages”.
Source: Reuters/Leah Millis via Reuters
Jungkook expressed their surprise at how music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending languages and cultural barriers.
“It’s not wrong to be different,” said Suga. “Equality begins when we open up and embrace all of our differences.”
Lastly, V declared that “everyone has their own history”.
We hope today is one step forward to respecting and understanding everyone as a valuable person.
Wrapping up the speeches, RM thanked President Biden and the White House for “this important opportunity to speak about the important causes and remind ourselves of what we can do as artists”.
The band did not take questions before leaving the room.
Their meeting with President Biden in the Oval Office was not open to the media, but an official confirmed that they would be shooting “digital content” for the White House’s social media channels.
BTS previously shared their own experiences with discrimination in 2021.
Under the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate on Twitter, they opened up about how they “endured expletives without reason” and were “mocked” for their looks.
Source: @BTS_twt on Twitter
The band’s statement came amidst an alarming spike in hate crimes, where people of Asian descent suffered severe injuries or were even killed in racism-fuelled attacks.
We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.
It’s frankly appalling how there is still so much racism and discrimination in 2022.
As one of the most-watched and followed musical acts globally, BTS’ involvement in condemning anti-Asian racism will surely help shine a bigger light on this important cause.
While there’s still a very long way to go before the world is free of all prejudice, every little action of standing up for what’s right will hopefully bring us closer to that.
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Featured image adapted from FOX 5 New York on YouTube.
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