Click to watch IsolatePagoda Arts stands in solidarity with activists and anyone standing up to the hundreds of years of racism, inequality, and violence towards the black, and many other ethnic minority communities still going on in the world today. We fully support racial equality and long for a harmonious world alongside every race to work and live together as equals.
We have developed a practical action plan that will enable Pagoda Arts to embed agreed principles of inclusion, the appreciation of different cultures, an understanding of different social groups, and respect for others by acknowledging diversity as an underpinning objective. Pagoda Arts is committed to reflecting this in its policies, programming and recruitment at all levels and at all times.
Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra has participated in various Black History Month events throughout the years in Liverpool. In 2020, orchestra members wrote a song “Isolate” to describe how they feel about racism, how the Chinese community stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, how racism has affected themselves and others.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a 300% increase in race crimes reported to the police from the Chinese, East & Southeast Asian (CESEA) communities. Research (Sky News, The Guardian, Met Police) shows a 900% increase in hate speech on Twitter towards China and Chinese people; a 200% increase in visits to hate websites, and 70% increase in cyberbullying of young people. The majority of our orchestra members, children of ESOL class students have been affected in February/March 2020.
In March 2021, Pagoda Arts has been set up as a third-party reporting center for hate crime aimed towards the Chinese/ESEA communities. We have begun training staff on how to report hate crimes, provide support to victims and listen to issues they have experienced.
