Reports of racially motivated abuse are increasing amid the COVID-019 pandemic. The latest survey from the Migrant Worker Justice Initiative revealed that a quarter of Australia’s international students faced racial abuse during the pandemic. More than half of Chinese respondents had experienced racist verbal abuse or people avoiding them based on appearance during the pandemic. Many survey respondents also reported being told racist slurs such as “Asian Virus”, “Wuhan”, or even being told they are the virus.
Another recent poll found almost one-third of Australians blame the Chinese community for the pandemic, while in April, the 'I Am Not A Virus' Asian Australian Alliance survey collected more than 500 reports from people of colour who had experienced coronavirus-related racial abuse within a few months. This survey also found that NSW recorded the highest number of reports at 37%. Physical and verbal harassment was involved in almost 60% of incidents with the most common type of racism being racial slurs and name-calling.
According to the Asian Australian Alliance, the vast majority of incidents occur in public spaces such as sidewalks and supermarkets.
In response, Democracy in Colour’s free three-hour workshops will equip participants with the tools to step in and help when an incident arises.
The Bystander Intervention workshops will cover:
- The types of racial abuse people of colour are facing in this moment
- The positive impact of bystander intervention
- Evidence-based bystander intervention methodology to safely interrupt racial abuse
- And space to practically roleplay scenarios in a safe environment
The Resisting Racism workshops for People Of Colour will provide participants with skills to combat racism through activism. They will cover:
- Campaign strategy: what is a campaign, campaign strategy overview, how to create a winning strategy, the difference between strategy & tactics
- Strategic communications: messaging, framing, communication frameworks
- Organising: building power through people
- Digital: using digital tools to create change
- Self-care techniques to deepen personal resilience to racism
You can help stop covid racism.
Learn more about the workshops for allies here.
The Resisting Racism workshops are open to anyone who identifies as First Nations, Black or a person of colour. More info can be found here.
