The Nuances Behind “Stop Asian Hate” and “Black Lives Matter”

In response to the recent attacks on Asian Americans, Twitter and other social media platforms have erupted in outrage with users tagging relevant posts with the hashtag #StopAsianHate. However, this response has also sparked a discussion regarding the differences between the Stop Asian Hate movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. Why hasn’t #StopAsianHate been met with #StopAllHate whereas #BlackLivesMatter was quickly rebuttaled by #AllLives Matter?

I believe the Stop Asian Hate movement has not been met with “Stop All Hate” largely because of the fetishization of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the model minority myth, which stereotypes Asians as docile and complicit. The Atlanta shooting in particular showed evidence of sexual implications. 

The main reason why the Stop Asian Hate movement does not garner as great of a backlash as the Black Lives Matter Movement is because it does not target the state; it targets hate crimes committed on the basis of xenophobia and ignorance about the origins of the coronavirus. Verbal harassment, curb-stomping, stabbings, and even arson directed at the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community are all committed by individuals, not an institution, local, or federal law force.

On the other hand, the Black Lives Matter movement was founded as a direct response to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence toward Black people. Additionally, we saw “Blue Lives Matter” emerge because of the involvement of a second party: the police, whose presence is not as evident in these crimes targeting Asian Americans. 

The Black Lives Matter movement is perhaps more nuanced due to this reason. Because police are part of an institution, if one officer is to wrongly commit an act of violence, the whole system is placed on the line. In contrast, the attackers at fault for AAPI violence are isolated – there is no legal establishment to blame. Nonetheless, this doesn’t make these individuals any less exempt. 

The difference is even observable at rallies and protests. Individuals at the Stop Asian Hate rally shouted chants like “I am not a virus” and “silence is violence,” in direct response to the model minority myth, whereas the chants heard at Black Lives Matter protests were “I can’t breathe” and “Hands up, don’t shoot,” in response to police brutality.

Another separate, but related issue is the negative implication behind the phrase “Asian Lives Matter,” which has frequently been tagged beside #StopAsianHate. Many users use this phrase with good intentions; however, preaching “Asian Lives Matter” co-opts the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag and erases Black oppression in this country. If you wish to spread information targeting AAPI hate, use alternatives such as “#PROTECTASIANLIVES, #StopAsianHate, or #theycantburnusall, in response to the burning of a 89-year-old Chinese grandmother in Brooklyn back in July 2020.  

Though Black oppression and the struggle Asian Americans face cannot be equated, these two groups must stand in solidarity with one another to actively dismantle the corrupt system of white supremacy. 

Soon after the attacks in Atlanta, the official Black Lives Matter account issued a statement acknowledging the need for unity amongst all people of color: “When we call for the eradication of white supremacy, we are saying that Asian Americans, and every other marginalized racial group, deserves to be freed from the violence, intimidation and fear… None of us are free until we all are.”