Asian American Media Company 88rising Apologizes for Posting Yellow Square on Instagram in Response to Atlanta Shootings
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Asian American media company 88rising apologized on Wednesday after receiving intense scrutiny for posting a yellow square on Instagram in response to the shootings in Atlanta that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
The shooting occurred amid a rise of anti-Asian attacks and hate crimes in the United States. The alleged shooter has been identified as Robert Aaron Long, who was arrested and charged on Wednesday.
While law enforcement officials did not identify racism as a motive for Long’s attacks, instead indicating he was driven by a “sexual addiction,” the shootings prompted an influx of support for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community — many recognizing the increase in violence targeting the demographic.
Mass media and talent management company, 88rising, which represents a number of Asian artists, including Jackson Wang and Chungha, also took to Instagram to share their solidarity with the AAPI community.
The company posted an image of a yellow square, as the color yellow has been controversially and stereotypically used to represent Asian skin tones. The move was meant to be reminiscent of the black squares posted in the wake of George Floyd’s police killing.
“Enough is enough. Heartbroken with the disgusting and senseless violence in Georgia tonight,” read the caption, adding, “Violence against the Asian community has to stop. Let’s protect each other and stand against hate.”
While perhaps the sentiment was there, the company missed the mark entirely, as many social media users noted that those participating in the #BlackOutTuesday trend posted black squares to represent silence or a pause in content, not the color of anyone’s skin.
The initial reasoning for posting black images was to fill up people’s Instagram feeds — taking space from the platform’s typical fare in order to push users to utilize their free time to educate themselves on racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The media company first amended the caption following the backlash, only leading to more scrutiny:
k so 88rising updated the caption on their yellow square post pic.twitter.com/yefPnQf4Qo
— ʀᴀɪɴᴀ ❕ DONT QRT MY ART (@hyakukisses) March 17, 2021
88rising eventually deleted the post and issued an apology, also thanking their community for sharing their critiques:
View this post on Instagram
“Thank you to our community for sharing your comments and critiques with us,” the label wrote. “It was never our intention to cause harm, but we recognize the effects of our actions and apologize.”
“We are not trying to start a yellow square movement, though we understand how it was misinterpreted,” they added. “We are heartbroken and wanted to share our thoughts on the horrific violence in Georgia and to decry the racism against the Asian community.”
