COVID-19 RACISM IS ON THE RISE: HELP STOP IT -- WEAR A MASK ON FACEBOOK AND FIGHT COVID-19 AND RACISM!   

Across the world, people are suffering from a terrible viral pandemic.  People are dying, medical workers are struggling, and communities are suffering while under varying degrees of lockdown and isolation.  

However, along with this virus, the virus of hatred has also been spreading: since the outbreak of COVID-19, acts of racism against Asians have multiplied, and Asians wearing face masks have been especially vulnerable.

Veterans For Peace, San Francisco chapter #69, and Community Health For Asian Americans are raising awareness of these acts of racism against Asians in order to stop them. These acts include being coughed at and spat on, verbally and physically assaulted, shunned, barred from establishments, workplace bullying, and even acid attacks. During a two week period in March, the STOP AAPI HATE reporting center received over 1,135 reports of Covid-19 discrimination. In Texas, an Asian American family, including a two-year-old and six-year-old, were stabbed for "infecting people with the coronavirus". The FBI has warned that "hate crime incidents against Asian Americans likely will surge across the United States...endangering Asian American communities".

This campaign of wearing masks to spread a message of solidarity is both urgent and timely: the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) is now urging everyone to wear a mask or other facial covering to protect yourself and others: wearing masks reduces the transmission of the virus.

We can all do our part to prevent racism: we must fight Covid-19 and the attendant racism and hate against Asians together. How? WEAR A virtual MASK ON YOUR FACEBOOK profile picture that says “Fight The Virus, not Asians" (pls. see Filter explanation).

The campaign “Fight The Virus, Not Asians” is being launched using Facebook. This public campaign uses Facebook’s profile picture filter using face masks as the symbol of the campaign against racism, including the message; “Fight The Virus, Not Asians.”  The “Fight The Virus, Not Asians” filter is available at https://www.facebook.com/profilepicframes/?selected_overlay_id=243123848052027

You are the heroes we have been waiting for during this crisis. Make a difference by donating at https://www.gofundme.com/f/masks-for-all-sf

People who work in grocery stores, restaurants, and other essential services need commercial-grade face masks to do their job safely. We can thank and support them by: (1) Provide them with protective equipment and (2) Use homemade face coverings to reduce the demand for commercial masks.

We launched #MasksForAll2.0 to do just that. First, we have procured 1,000 N95s for essential workers in various merchant corridors in San Francisco. The shipment is arriving very shortly. Second, we purchased the material to make 5,000 home-made-masks making kits that we plan to distribute to community members who need them.