Whistle Against AAPI Hate

In 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate organization recorded nearly 3,800 hate crimes committed against AAPI. Although that is a vast undercount of actual incidents, we know that of those recorded, about 68% were verbal harassment, 21% were shunning, and 11% were physical assaults. Many of these acts have been against the elderly, including several high-profile violent assaults in New York, San Francisco, and Oakland.

Working with two community members, Julianna Lee and Oanh Nguyen, QARI will be working throughout 2021 AAPI Heritage Month and beyond to distribute whistles to elders in Massachusetts, New York City, and Los Angeles. Two long-time friends and Wellesley College alumnae, Oanh and Julia were inspired by the Wellesley Whistles initiative which provided every first-year student with a whistle in case they felt threatened. Thinking about how they could help support vulnerable elders, they connected with QARI and the #WhistleAgainstAAPIHate project was born.

As we think of our parents and grandparents and their vulnerability as AAPI elders, we hope that a whistle will provide a sense of protection from potential harassment and harm and symbolize that their community is standing with them. Given the little control we hold over random acts of violence and hate, even small things can have a big impact.

Each whistle is accompanied by a note in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and English to share our message to recipients that their community is listening and acting.