Stop AAPI Hate
The National Japanese American Memorial Foundation mourns the lives of the eight individuals, including six of the victims who were Asian American women, who were lost in the mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16.
Incidents of hate against AAPIs have increased since the beginning of the pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate reports an alarming increase of almost 4000 reported hate incidents against Asian Americans, 68% of the cases are from women, since March 2020. This racism and violence against AAPIs is not new to our community. In the days following the violent tragedy in Atlanta, Vice President Kamala Harris included in her remarks:
Racism is real in America, and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism, too. In the 1860s, as Chinese workers built the transcontinental railroad, there were laws on the books, in America, forbidding them from owning property. In the 1940s, as Japanese American soldiers defended our nation, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps -- an obvious and absolute abuse of their civil and human rights.
Asian Americans have been attacked and scapegoated. People who are perceived as Muslim know what it was like to live in our country after 9/11. For the last year, we've had people in positions of incredible power scapegoasing [sic] -- scapegoating Asian Americans. People with the biggest pulpits spreading this kind of hate.
As our community experiences a growing sense of fear and vulnerability across the country, we call upon our elected officials and leaders to stand up against hate, racism and acts of violence against all people, and stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. If you, a family member, or someone you know experiences anti-Asian hate, or witness a hate crime or incident, please go to StopAAPIHate.org for more information.
You can also directly support the AAPI community in Georgia via these three ways:
Sign on to the collective community statement: bit.ly/aaajcommunitystatement
Donate to support the victims and their families: bit.ly/DonateToGeorgiaAAPICommunity
Share crisis response resources: bit.ly/georgiaAAPIcommunitycare
The National Japanese American Memorial was constructed to raise public awareness of the unjust incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry and to honor the over 33,000 who served bravely and patriotically in the US military during WWII.