As we celebrate Asian Heritage Month, the time is now to collectively centre dialogue against anti-Asian racism, with an optimistic view for a global reset.
Claire Sachiko (left) Lex Shu (right) of Recipes Against Racism - Copyright Claire & Lex By
• Updated: 02/05/2021
“Go back to your country” or “you don’t belong here” are just some of the choice words Lex Shu Chan has been subject to since moving from Hong Kong to the UK for their studies almost 20 years ago.
“One particular incident that I remember is having chicken bones hurled at me by a group of drunk men as they aggressively recited items off a Chinese takeaway menu” 38-year-old Lex recalls.
Claire Sachiko Fourel, 36, from London, tells a similar story. “I grew up in the UK and have been told things like ‘get back on the boat’, or have people aggressively mime ‘slitty eyes’ at me on the street. I have been spat at, asked if I was allowed to work in the UK. While I was at university, I was told that I was undateable because I wasn’t white by a fello
Published:
1:30 PM April 27, 2021
Claire Sachiko (left) and Lex Shu (right) have collected Recipes for Racism in aid of two charities supporting the Asian and South East Asian communities
- Credit: Terry Vietheer
A Hackney duo have launched a cookbook of Asian dishes from the capital s top chefs in a bid to battle racism.
Claire Sachiko from Haggerston and Lex Shu from Dalston hope to raise £20,000 for two charities supporting the East and South-East Asian communities, with their downloadable Recipes Against Racism.
The lawyers, who have run supper clubs and music events, collected more than 20 recipes for the likes of Kung Pao chicken, Taiwanese minced pork, and salmon and cod green curry balls from London s leading Asian restaurants and chefs including Chinese Laundry, Farang, Kiln, Lucky & Joy, and Atsuko Ikeda who runs “Atsuko’s Kitchen” on Columbia Road.
A 24-hour Stop Hate UK Helpline service is being launched in Wandsworth. The service gives people directly affected by hate crime, and witnesses to hate crime, a safe place to talk about their experiences and offers advice. Hate crime is motivated by hostility towards a person - it is usually ‘who’ the victim is, or ‘what’ the victim appears to be - that motivates the offender. Prejudices include a person’s perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender. Stop Hate UK is working with Wandsworth Council to introduce the helpline - in the hopes of driving out hate crime, encouraging people to report it and offer support to people affected by it.