U.S (ULTRAVIOLET) : AGAINST the HATE VS ASIAN-AMERICANS.

 

 

 2021-03-17

 

 

 

Dear friend,

 

 

Over the past year, we have seen a surge of violence against members of the Asian American community, from elders struck while walking down the street to racist slurs graffitied on Asian restaurants.^1,2  And yesterday, these hate crimes escalated in a mass shooting in Atlanta, Ga., in which a misogynist white supremacist killed eight people, six of them Asian women.³

 

Our hearts are broken, yet again, by such senseless violence. The United States has a long history of allowing and abetting violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander people. Asian Americans have a long history of being scapegoated and harmed with violence sanctioned by our government, from the Japanese internment camps to allowing fires to burn down the Chinatown in Honolulu.⁴ But today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the amplification of racist lies targeting the Asian American community via social media and Donald Trump's bully pulpit, combined with misogynist and exploitative views of women as well as the easy access to firearms in the U.S., directly contributed to this act of violence. 

 

As we all continue to process and unpack the compounding factors in play in this moment, we wanted to share some resources for our community to learn and take action :

• Learn : Read up on the rising tide of violence against Asian Americans, and especially Asian American women, as well as the long history of anti-Asian discrimination in America
  

• Follow : Many organizations are doing the work of organizing against white supremacy in Asian American communities, including @StopAAPIHate, @AAAJ_AAJC, @NAPAWF, and @18millionrising.
  

• Take action : You can donate to Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, an organization that protects the civil and human rights of Asian Americans , an organization that protects the civil and in Georgia and the Southeast. You can also support Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers. Finally, you can attend a bystander intervention training hosted by Hollaback! and Asian Americans Advancing Justice. 

 

 

 

Yesterday's events were a painful moment in a long, painful history of white supremacist and misogynist violence in our country. It is also a reminder that white supremacy and misogyny hurts us all, regardless of our skin color or gender. But through our work together, as a community, we can work to tear white supremacy and misogyny out by the roots from our society.

 

Thank you for taking action !

 

 

 

 

 

Shaunna, Kathy, Melody, Lindsay, Sonja, Kimberly, Maria, Elisa, KaeLyn, KD, Iris, Bridget, and Katie, the UltraViolet team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources :

 

 

 

 

 

1. Covid fueled anti-Asian racism. Now elderly Asian Americans are being attacked, The Washington Post, February 9, 2021.

2. San Antonio Community Rallies Around Ramen Restaurant Defaced With Racist Graffiti, NBC 4 New York, March 16, 2021.

3. Atlanta Shooting Suspect Charged in Spa Shooting, NPR, March 17, 2021.

4. Anti-Asian violence has surged in the US since COVID-19. But it didn't start there, Today, March 6, 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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