
Eric Nam takes on anti-Asian racism following Atlanta murders, joining other K-pop stars like Mark of Got7, Jay Park and CL
- The 32-year-old Nam, who grew up in Atlanta, has used his platform as a celebrity to raise awareness of historic anti-Asian sentiment in the United States
- As well as Nam, other people in K-pop have spoken out against anti-Asian sentiment in the US, publicised campaigns, and spread the hashtag ‘Stop Asian Hate’
Singer Eric Nam grew up in Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia, before moving to Seoul, South Korea, to pursue a career in K-pop. His is one of the loudest celebrity voices speaking out against anti-Asian racism amid a rise in hate crimes in the United States.
In the wake of a gunman’s March 16 spa rampage in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asian women, the 32-year-old Nam has used his platform as a celebrity to raise awareness of historic anti-Asian sentiment in the United States.
This included penning a Time magazine article titled “If You’re Surprised by the Anti-Asian Violence in Atlanta, You Haven’t Been Listening. It’s Time to Hear Our Voices”.
Nam has also used his social media platforms and spoken on CNN to raise awareness of, and call for action against, racism towards Asian communities in the US. He’s discussed growing up Asian in the US many times in his career, but this follows a rise in hate crimes and attacks against Asian-Americans that coincided with blame being put on China by public figures for the coronavirus pandemic.
As well as Nam, other people in K-pop, especially Korean-American stars, have spoken out against anti-Asian sentiment in the US, publicised charitable campaigns and spread the hashtag “Stop Asian Hate”.
Other artists associated with K-pop, American and otherwise, have used their platforms to speak up against hate aimed at AAPI communities, including Tablo, CL, P1Harmony, Alexa, and Holland.
