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BTS spoke out against the wave of violence against Asians, recalling their own experiences of being discriminated against for their race.
“We have endured expletives without reason and were mocked for the way we look. We were even asked why Asians spoke in English,” the K-pop idol group said in a tweet on March 30.
They acknowledged that their experiences are “inconsequential” compared to the recent violent incidents experienced by Asian-Americans in the United States. “But these experiences were enough to make us feel powerless and chip away our self-esteem,” they said.
“We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together,” they said. They also used the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate in their tweet (AAPI refers to Asian American and Pacific Islander).
Their statement comes weeks after a gunman killed 8 people, mostly Asian women, in 3 shootings in massage parlors in Atlanta. Anti-Asian violence has been rising since 2020, according to the group Stop AAPI Hate. The group recorded nearly 3,800 hate incidents against the minority group from March 2020 to February 2021.
BTS is one of the biggest K-pop acts today, building a strong following of fans from all over the world. The group – Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – released their latest album BE in November 2020, along with the lead single “Life Goes On.”
They also recently performed at the 63rd Grammy Awards, and released an e-book about their global art project, CONNECT.
It’s not the first time the group has spoken out against hate crimes and discrimination against minority groups. BTS and its management company, Big Hit, donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter movement. – Rappler.com
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