Sandra Oh Gave a Powerful Speech At the Stop Asian Hate Protest in Pittsburgh

"I am proud to be Asian."

Following a shooting in Atlanta, a #StopAsianHate protest was held over the weekend to combat racism against Asian Americans and the discrimination that Asian communities continue to face.

Similarly to the Black Lives Matter movement last year, many people are taking to the streets to protest all forms of racism. Since January, people across the US have been protesting the hate crimes and violence that Asian people have been experiencing for years.

While racism against Asian Australians and Asian Americans is not exactly a new issue, since the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of hate crimes, violence, and racist behaviour towards people from Asian communities has significantly increased.

On Sunday, Killing Eve star Sandra Oh—who was born to Korean parents—was spotted at the Pittsburgh protest, and gave a surprising but incredibly powerful speech. Oh called for an end to racism against American Asians and for the surrounding protesters to be proud of their heritage.

"For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger and I really am so grateful to everyone willing to listen," she said to the crowd.

"I will challenge everyone here, if you see something, will you help me? If you see one of our sisters or brothers in need, will you help us?

"I am proud to be Asian. I belong here. Many of us don’t get a chance to be able to say that, so I just wanted to give us an opportunity to be able to shout that."

Fans of the Grey's Anatomy actress took to social media to spread her inspiring message.

“i am proud to be asian, we belong here.” - sandra oh pic.twitter.com/8vIvhBG0pD

— jade (@cristinasoh) March 21, 2021

"For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger, and I really am so grateful to everyone willing to listen.”

“I am proud to be Asian,” she says. “We belong here.” - Sandra Oh#StopAsianHate#StopAAPIHate pic.twitter.com/KAWewMlOLM

— best of sandra oh (@thebestofoh) March 20, 2021

Protests like the one Oh attended are in response to a shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people—six of whom were of Asian descent.

Following the incident, police described the attacker as just having “a really bad day” in a press conference, which left many people feeling understandably angry.

If you don’t live in the US or you missed out on attending one of the Stop Asian Hate protests over the weekend, there are ways you can help combat racism, discrimination and hate crimes in your everyday life. You can learn more about how to do that here.

Header Image: Twitter (@cristinasoh)