2,600 sign up for bystander training vs. anti-Asian hate attacks

Asian Americans in Boston and their supporters protesting increased racist attacks due to the Covid pandemic. AP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two organizations are offering more bystander intervention training sessions  against anti-Asian hate attacks after more than 2,600 people registered for the initial sessions.

Anti-Asian racism has heightened with the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic and communities are experiencing harassment, discrimination, and even violence.

“In these difficult times, we now have individuals who are trained in intervention tactics and now better able to ’take care of one another,’“ said Marita Etcubañez, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. “We are proud to offer this new bystander intervention training through a partnership with Hollaback!”

Advancing Justice | AAJC is part of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an affiliation of five Asian American civil rights organizations, which has been documenting hate crimes and hate incidents at StandAgainstHatred.org, The information is available in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

“When harassment happens too often, we freeze. We stay silent. We don’t know what to do,” said Emily May, Executive Director, Hollaback!  “Using bystander intervention, we can chip away at the culture that makes violence and harassment of our Asian/American sisters and brothers all too common.”

Advancing Justice | AAJC and Hollaback! will continue to offer these trainings free-of-charge. We have scheduled two trainings per week for the rest of April.

• Tuesday, April 21st at 3pm ET / 2pm CT / 1pm MT / 12pm PT / 9am HT
• Thursday, April 23rd at 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT / 1pm HT
• Monday, April 27th at 7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT / 1pm HT

For more background, see Hollaback’s publication, Show Up: Your Guide to Bystander Intervention.