In the last year, America has seen a dramatic increase in the number of hate crimes committed against Asians and Asian Americans. Though there are many complex historical and social factors leading to the perpetuation of crimes against Asian communities, there are links that suggest the explosion of such crimes in the past year specifically has been fueled by right-wing rhetoric blaming China for the COVID-19 epidemic.
However, in recent months, as hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have taken center stage in the media, so too has an outpouring of support. One such way this support is being shown is by consumers increasingly looking to frequent Asian-owned businesses. As a matter of fact, Yelp says that searches for Asian-owned businesses increased by 130% in February 2021 compared to the same period a year before.
And that’s why Yelp has announced it is making it much easier for people to find and support Asian-owned businesses. The company is launching a new tool that will allow businesses to self-identify as Asian-owned. If the businesses so choose, they can add an “Asian-owned” attribute to their Yelp listing. Yelp users can then search for businesses with that attribution. The Asian-owned attribution joins other attributions Yelp already offers, including Black-owned, Latinx-owned, and Women-owned.
Yelp notes that the new attribution is opt in, as self-identification should rest with only the business’s owner. The new attribute is available today, and business owners who wish to add it to their Yelp listing can find instructions for how to do so on Yelp’s blog here. For those wishing to support these businesses, you can select the Asian-owned attribution during your Yelp search query.
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