Ken Jeong has donated $50,000 to the families of the victims of the Atlanta spa shooting that left eight people dead.
According to NBC News, in the wake of the horrific shooting spree across three spas in Atlanta on Wednesday (March 17), five $10,000 donations were made by the 51-year-old Community star to the GoFundMe campaigns for the families of the six Asian-American victims: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Xiaojie Tan, and Yong Yue.
Jeoung, the son of two South Korean immigrants, later took to his official Twitter account to deliver a solemn video on the topic of the recent spate of racist attacks on Asian-American people, asking his 974,000 followers to: "Stop the pandemic of hate."
Take a look at the video the Crazy Rich Asians star posted in the video below:Asian-American actress Sandra Oh has also addressed the subject in a recent rally at Pittsburgh held on Saturday, March 20, where she reiterated her pride in her racial and cultural heritage.
Take a look at the video of the actress' speech in the video below:Per US Magazine, the 49-year-old Killing Eve star told the assembled socially-distanced crowd:
"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.
"One thing that I know is that many in our community are very scared, and I understand that. And one way to go through our fear is to reach out to our community."
She added: "To everyone here … I will challenge everyone here if you see something. Will you help me? If you see one of our sisters and brothers in need, will you help us?
"We must understand, as Asian Americans, we just need to reach out our hand to our sisters and brothers and say: 'Help me and I’m here.' I am proud to be Asian! I belong here!"
A number of other Asian-American stars have voiced their concerns over the disturbing issue.
For instance, actress Olivia Munn recently about the recent shooting spree in spas in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 17, which left eight people dead, including six Asian-American people.
In an interview with MSNBC News, Munn stated: "We are being targeted, we are living in a country that is attacking us simply for being us.
"We need more people to care about us, to amplify this, we need the media to cover it... We have been so invisible for so long."
Meanwhile, former Star Trek cast member and gay rights activist George Takei spoke about the issue in a tweet made to his 3.2 million followers.
Takei wrote: "Anti-Asian rhetoric works on so many because we are still seen as 'others.' To change this, we need greater representation.
"In Hollywood, in Washington, in sports, in business, in education - we need more Asian faces, heroes, and stories. Show us. Include us. We're also America."
NBC News reports that the number of recorded hate crimes against Asian-American people in the United States has increased sharply over the last year.
According to a report from the organization Stop AAPI Hate, approximately anti-Asian 3,800 incidents were reported in the US between February 2020 and March 2021 - around 1,200 more hate incidents than the previous year.
Commenting on the data, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University Russell Yeung told NBC: "There is an intersectional dynamic going on that others may perceive both Asians and women and Asian women as easier targets."
