A Virus That’s Even Deadlier Than This Pandemic
By: Filipino Helping Society In Norway
Tags: Filipino, Respect, Volunteering, Injustice, Asian Hate Crimes

While the rest of the world still hasn’t taken their eyes off the coronavirus, another form of disease has revealed itself during this time: hatred.

It’s been all over the news: random civilians are harassed and attacked out of nowhere. But let’s get our facts straight. These aren’t just random attacks. And this violence did not come out of nowhere or without a precedent.

This is not a stand towards expressing differences. This is about standing for what is right.

Violence against Asian minorities in America isn’t really news to most people in the United States. Still, it has certainly made headlines recently worldwide, when these brutal attacks on the elderly, women, and even minors have sparked rage on the internet. This highlighted what is collectively considered hate crimes under the systemic grip of racism in a country embattled with this type of social injustice for over two centuries and counting.

A year ago, protests against racial discrimination in the form of the Black Lives Matter movement had re-emerged on social media, drawing support from various parts of the world, mostly from countries where racial minorities in the US come from. But what will it take for this inhumane treatment of other human beings to stop?

A problem as systemic as racism in the US requires a massive overhaul of an entire nation’s values and belief systems. From the outside, it seems impossible to achieve. But while we can focus all our time and attention on all the negative things humans do to each other, we can also choose to look past our grievances and try see each other eye to eye.

If hate is a compelling force to act in violence, then we need an equally powerful force to quench the flames of this wildfire of an attack against our fellow human beings, and that is love. To love means to look past our grievances, set aside our differences, and put others before ourselves — something that we, The Filipino Helping Society in Norway, aims to do for our immediate communities, our neighbors, and hopefully, to the rest of the world, where our work is needed.

FHS is here to contribute in building peaceful and inclusive world for everybody.

We believe that everyone can create an impact. First of all, within ourselves, next to our environment, and then on other people. We take this issue very seriously because life is the very thing that connects us all. And when the lives of others are threatened or challenged unjustly, there will always be a window of opportunity to offer help, no matter how small or trivial it may seem.

Black, Brown, White: Don’t All Lives Matter?

Regardless of who gets the shorter end of the stick, it all boils down to respect for all human beings and life, in general. Until we learn from within our hearts to look past other people’s colours, can we finally figure out the root of this problem that everyone has to deal with, in one form, one way or another.

Change, as expected, will not happen overnight. While there’s always a battle we face every day, there’s also a reason to hope and believe in the goodness of human beings and our moral nature. Let truth and love be the cure that eliminates all doubt, envy, and hatred against other human beings. We can choose to stand for what’s right, what’s good and worth emulating. But we have to do it right now, while it still matters.

If you would like to get in touch with us or contribute to our cause, you may send us a message through our Facebook page @fhs.org.no or email us at info@fhsnorge.org.