Telly Leung, Ann Harada And More Rally Behind #RacismIsAVirus

As the lights over Broadway go dark, so have sentiments around the Asian and Asian American communities throughout the nation. Reports of physical violence and hate speech directed toward the Asian Pacific Islander community have overwhelmed the media and have easily been dismissed by the federal heads of government, including President Donald Trump and his administration.

Asian American celebrities, artists, and community advocates have united around a new social media campaign #RacismIsAVirus to help combat widespread xenophobia and attacks against them amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The #RacismIsAVirus campaign was organized by the Broadway Diversity Project's Diane Phelan (School of Rock, The King and I, Here Lies Love) who gained immediate support from colleagues such as Marc Dela Cruz (Hamilton), Telly Leung (Aladdin, Allegiance, Rent), Ann Harada (Avenue Q, SMASH) and more.

The campaign also includes notable members of the Hollywood community such as Mulan Star Tzi Ma and Sesame Street's Alan Muraoka. Phelan was inspired by images of powerful Asian Americans who were standing against the growing xenophobia and attacks against her community, notably stemming from President Donald Trump's divisive label "Chinese Virus" used to point blame toward its origin. The President has consistently used the term to describe the COVID-19 outbreak and has incited backlash across the nation.

"I wanted to find a unifying image of Asians and Asian Americans standing up to prejudice around the coronavirus," says Phelan. "Our cultures have long been associated with timid stereotypes and the visual of strong, confident voices in the community can be a powerful message to battle ignorance."

Beyond the #RacismIsAViolence campaign, celebrity allies such as Daniel Dae Kim, Jeremy Lin, Spike Lee and more have spoken out about the discrimination felt across communities of color. Since the launch, the campaign has has reached over 600,000 users and growing across social media and has encouraged people to share their personal stories of discrimination. In addition, similar campaigns calling for awareness toward hate have risen given the divided nature of the nation.

"It's time for us to rally, speak up and call for an end for divisive rhetoric. Together with other communities of color and our allies, we are stronger and can battle this widespread hate," says Phelan. "This is no time to be divided and point blame while people around the world are suffering."

Follow the #RacismIsAVirus campaign on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/racismisavirus/

View some of the stars' Instagram posts below: