Asian American entrepreneur Cassey Ho, also known as Blogilates, took to her Instagram to share hateful rhetoric that was sent to one of her Black fellow fitness coach in a series of screengrabs.
Ho used her Instagram Story to highlight Jess, a self-described fitness enthusiast, personal trainer and coach who received hateful comments on her posts.
Jess was targeted for being a Black woman on Instagram, with lewd comments and vitriol being made on her posts.
“What’s disturbing is how I always have to see these damn post in my fucking feed everytime ya’ll cant out run the bullets. Good thing you may have a chance since you exercise #whitelivesmatter,” one user commented on Jess’s Story where she was tracking a workout on her Apple Watch.
Another user sent a private direct message to Jess, telling her, “You’re still a n*****.”
When Jess responded that they both were a child of God, the user wrote back, “god don’t make skin that dark.”
Ho does not believe not being racist is enough, as explained in a blog post on her website.
“The hate and blatant racism I’m seeing on social media this week alone is breaking my heart. It’s 2020 and my black friends are STILL getting racist messages. I’m getting nasty messages for simply showing my support for #blacklivesmatter. I’m sick of it,” she wrote.
Ho shared how one person told her via email that she was “obnoxious.”
“Using your exercise channel to preach your inane, junior high school opinions about serious political topics,” the person wrote.
Ho is one of many Asian celebrities who are using their platform to support the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd and other Black victims, leading to nationwide protests calling for accountability by police.
Other sports brands, including Nike, encouraged followers of its brand to make change.
Other Asian fitness instructors have also voiced their support, including Chloe Ting, who has 9.4 million subscribers on YouTube. Ting participated in the black squares post on Instagram, writing to her users how they can help end racism and sharing resources.
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