Yahoo Finance Chloe Kim feels 'helpless and afraid' over rise in anti-Asian hate crimes
Olympic snowboarder and gold medalist Chloe Kim feels "helpless and afraid" over the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States.
Kim posted an Instagram story Wednesday that detailed some of the hateful messages she has received, according to ESPN.
"On Wednesday night, Kim posted a screenshot of a message she had received in her Instagram direct messages a few moments earlier. "You dumb Asian b****," it read. "Kiss my ass." In the Instagram story post, Kim added, "I get hundreds of these messages and it breaks my heart that people think this type of behavior is okay." Now 20, Kim explained that she has received similar messages since she won her first medal at X Games Aspen at age 13. "I feel really helpless and afraid at times," she wrote. "I'm really struggling."
Kim also told ESPN she's received messages from people saying she is a part of the problem for being silent about the issue.
"I was getting messages from people telling me I'm part of the problem because I was being silent," Kim told ESPN. "I was like, 'Do you realize I'm also Asian American and this affects me?' It was a lot of white people telling me they were upset at my silence."
Asian Americans and members of the Pacific Islander community have seen a rise in online hate and harassment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey shared with USA Today. The hate and harassment has not been limited to online interactions. In March, a 75-year-old Asian woman was attacked and punched by a man in San Francisco. That same month, a shooting spree in Atlanta killed eight women — six of the women killed were of Asian descent.
Stop Asian Hate rallies have been held across the country as a result of the violence.
More from Yahoo Sports:
