Via Wikimedia Creative Commons by Phil Roeder
Comedian W. Kamau Bell threw his support to a growing list of Asian American celebrities drawing attention to the rising tide of anti-Asian racism.
Recently, tennis champ Naomi Osaka, Olivia Munn, Daniel Wu and Daniel Dae Kim have all added their voices to combat the violent crime and hate directed at Asians.
Now Bell is joining them.
Earlier this week, he tweeted “I stand with them (Wu and Kim) and the entire Asian American community.”
My friend @danielwuyanzu & @danieldaekim have had enough w/ America’s anti-Asian violence & they are using their platforms & resources to say no more. I stand w/ them & the entire Asian-American community. https://t.co/GJwC88BWMB
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) February 9, 2021
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“In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, there’s just a lot of talk of how we come together,” said Bell to ABC7 News. “And I understand that part of that is coming out of quote-unquote ‘our lane.’ … I felt like I want to let them know and the broader community that I stand with them. I don’t speak for them, but I stand with them.”
Bell joined Wu as a guest on the station’s Getting Answers program. Both called for Black Asian allyship and spoke out against the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump and ongoing gentrification that have broken up both communities.
“The truth of the matter is our community has been boiling in this for a while now,” said Wu. “We’ve been under attack as an Asian community and no one has been talking about it.”
Wu grew up in Oakland where police recently arrested a teen in three separate beatings against Asian Americans in a single day, including a brutal attack on a 91-year old man.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff blamed the increase of crime in Chinatown on the defunding of the police department, pointing a finger at Filipino American City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas.
According to Newsweek, the cuts were actually made by Mayor Schaff herself and City Administrator Ed Reiskin in December.
“The mayor’s office and the city administrator unilaterally made these cuts without consulting community, without consulting labor. They made the decision to pull the community resource officers from the whole city, not just Chinatown,” Alvina Wong, Asian Pacific Environmental Network’s Campaign and Director, told Newsweek.
“Crimes against Asians have been horrific, and “anti-Blackness is on the rise because we live in a system rooted in white supremacy,” she tweeted.
Black councilwoman Carroll Fife joined in Bas’ defense.
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