Good evening [ Yuni Sakurada, Khaled Itani, Jiselle Lee introduction ]
The organization Stop AAPI Hate put out a report covering 3,795 incidents pertaining to acts committed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from March 19 2020 to February 28 2021.
Unfortunately this has been an increased trend since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and associated heightened national and political rhetoric targeting East and Southeast Asian communities.
The tragedy in Atlanta is not an isolated incident, it is a loud testimony to the inherent sociocultural problem the United States and much of the Western world have had and continue to have with societies in Asia and its diaspora.
The perpetual othering of Asian Americans has a deep rooted history in sociopolitical campaigns to raise support for wars in the Asia Pacific Region and Middle East, in xenophobic domestic policy like the Asiatic Barred Zone Act of 1917 and Executive Order 9066 for Japanese Internment camps, as well as a multibillion dollar media industry that has consistently exoticized Asians and Asian Americans with imperialist tropes and stereotypes rooted in white supremacist thought which persist in society today as racist stereotypes, hyper-sexualization and an active sociocultural antagonism.
Collectively American society has failed to reconcile with this ugly reality, and unchecked racism towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will continue to exist as a societal disease unless we as communities rise collectively to condemn this deep rooted xenophobic hate.
We at AsiaTrend are calling on communities in Central Florida and beyond to do the following:
- Support organizations making active strides in Asian American justice initiatives, to name a few
• Stop AAPI hate who has a reporting feature in many languages for Asian American hate crimes and who also publishes an annual report on said hate crimes
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Atlanta Chapter who has put out a collective community statement for organizations to sign, a fundraiser for the victims and their families as well as several educational resources
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Chicago chapter who is hosting a series of bystander intervention trainings through the month of April
This list is not exhaustive, on our website we will include a link to a Carrd.co resources page
- Demand that your elected officials not only stand in solidarity with Asian American communities, but also that they are not perpetuating the very tropes that feed into this perpetual cycle of hate. Racism whether manifested as Anti-Asian xenophobia, Anti-Blackness, Anti-Latinx xenophobia, Anti-Indigenous sentiment, Islamophobia any everything beyond has no place in our political sphere, yet it continues to thrive year after year and election cycle after election cycle. Ensure you are not complicit in this societal poison and hold accountable parties responsible with your activism and your vote.
- Call out racism within your own spheres, if you normalize racism you are complicit in it, often times the conversations that are hardest to have are the most meaningful.
- Support Asian American businesses, creatives and initiatives ranging from restaurants to freelance artists and everything in between.
- Call upon the Education departments in your area to begin teaching Asian American history in schools.
To our Asian American community in Central Florida, we stand together in these trying times, if you need a public forum for dialogue, we support you fully, we will get through this together, but please preserve your mental health and take the time to grieve. Our platform exists to uplift AAPI narratives, and we are here to serve you as our community.
Please take care of yourselves
AsiaTrend
- Stop AAPI Hate: https://stopaapihate.org/
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Atlanta Chapter: https://www.advancingjustice-atlanta.org/
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Chicago chapter: https://www.advancingjustice-chicago.org/what-we-do/bystander-intervention-trainings/
- Carrd.co: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/?fbclid=IwAR1bHMEkA9zyTqetvnv1PVEKXcIw3Ziipi_rbcw8HPdwtUCoTd5rnkA289o
Join March 23 at 6:30PM at the UCF Reflecting Pond
Moving Mountains: A Vigil For Victims of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
Join the Asian Pacific American Coalition and the Social Justice and Advocacy Department as we host a vigil in honor the 6 Atlanta victims, and all victims of anti-Asian hate crimes. Our event will take place in accordance with COVID19 protocol, but allow for participants to take part in spoken word and a lantern ceremony, following our University and community speakers.
Date: Tuesday, March 23rd at 6:30PM
Location: UCF Reflecting Pond
Guests may park at Parking Lot B for free after 5:45PM | Day passes may be purchased through the parking machines for $1/hour, or all day for $5.Check in begins at 5:30PMPlease fill out the following form for contact tracing purposes: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOCa7yhvJ-EJKoanN49quuxe2LW6YelivcpAjtwcqhEmM1rg/viewform
