A professional South Korean video game player described the “indescribable” racism he has suffered since moving to Texas, in a clip that has gone viral on social media raising numerous condemnation reactions.
Violence against Asians has intensified in the United States since last year, which activists link to former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, especially to his repeated qualification of the coronavirus as the “China virus”.
Lee Eui-seok, who plays the video game Overwatch for the Dallas Fuel team under the name Fearless, explained during a round of questions on the Twitch platform that this is the first time he has suffered from racism. this type.
“Being Asian here is scary,” the 22-year-old said.
“People try to start fights with us … There are even people who cough on us. They deliberately cough on us. They (insult us) while laughing.”
“Racism here is not a joke,” he added.
A clip of the broadcast was posted on Twitter on Tuesday, with English subtitles, by Jade “swingchip” Kim, a Korean player and manager of the Florida Mayhem team who said she had also been the object of racism.
Kim told The Washington Post that Lee’s comments were like “a whiplash.”
“With everything that’s been going on in the U.S. lately, I couldn’t let that happen either, so I translated the clip and posted it,” he explained.
The subtitled clip had recorded more than 326,000 views as of Thursday.
Hate crimes against Asians nearly tripled from 49 to 122 last year in the U.S.’s 16 largest cities, while this type of crime generally fell 7 percent, according to a recent report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
According to Lee, the racist attacks he suffered in Dallas “took place almost daily” and were “terrifying” and “serious.”
People approached him on the street and shouted racist insults at him, he recounted, adding that three years ago, when he was based in Los Angeles, he could “(live) peacefully in the United States.”
“I don’t think we had any problems there.”
Lee’s team is owned by Envy Gaming, founder Mark Rufail condemned the attacks and “unjustified hatred,” promising to ensure the safety of its players.