A new website dubbed Stop the Blame went live this morning to counter anti-Asian scapegoating in American politics.
The web page released by Stop AAPI Hate and Chinese for Affirmative Action is in response to the anti-Asian political rhetoric, discriminatory surveillance measures and land ownership bans that have been proposed in more than 30 states and in Congress.
The campaign urges Asian American, immigrant, and allied communities to hold politicians accountable for inflaming racism with false allegations.
As AsAmNews reported, three Congressional representatives falsely asserted that Chinese spies were buying up nearly $1 billion dollars in land around Travis Air Force Base east of San Francisco.
Later it was revealed that it was a conservative developer buying up the land, and not anyone with a connection to China. That developer hopes to build a new city near Travis.
Over the weekend, the U.S. publicly admitted that the Chinese balloon that flew over the U.S. earlier this year did not collect any intelligence after all and was not a spy balloon.
“The alarming rise of anti-Asian political rhetoric and discriminatory legislation is fueling racism and hate against not just Chinese immigrants but also Asian Americans more broadly. Asian people who call the U.S. home are being scapegoated for geopolitical issues we have nothing to do with, and we’re caught in the crossfire at a time when we’re still dealing with COVID-19-related racism as well,” said Cynthia Choi, Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate and Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action said in a statement.
“Anti-Asian scapegoating is an affront to our shared American values of equal rights and opportunity for all. There’s a fine line between addressing legitimate national security threats and fear-mongering to score political points. As we witness more political leaders cross the line at the expense of our safety and our rights, we’re sounding the alarms and mobilizing people to hold them accountable.”
Stop the Blame has four main goals.
- Hold leaders publicly accountable for racist anti-Asian political rhetoric, with a focus on monitoring high-profile 2024 election debates and campaign stops and publicly calling out candidates who use harmful rhetoric.
- Oppose unconstitutional land ownership bans targeting Chinese and other immigrants.
- Urge Congress to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to address harm to Asian American communities.
- Educate the public on the negative impact of anti-Asian scapegoating via videos and other original content highlighting both historical events and present-day stories of impacted individuals.
“The wave of land ownership bans gaining traction today is sickeningly reminiscent of the Alien Land Laws that discriminated against Asian people in the 1800s and 1900s and contributed to a rise in anti-Asian hate that included the systematic burning of Chinatowns, racial massacres, and the incarceration of Japanese Americans,” said CAPAC Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28).
The website is already receiving nationwide support.
“Thousands of community members — including many Asians and Asian Americans — mobilized this year to successfully defeat SB 147 in Texas, a discriminatory land ownership bill that threatened to fan the flames of anti-Asian racism,” said Texas Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston). “I’m grateful that the Stop the Blame campaign will continue to build on our success in Texas and help expand the momentum nationwide.”
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