Standing In Solidarity With Our AAPI Peers
The increase in violence we have witnessed against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in the United States is unacceptable. We have friends, family, and supporters who are part of this community, and we stand in solidarity by choosing not to remain silent in the face of racial violence. According to police department statistics, hate crimes against Asian Americans in the United States grew by 150 percent in 2020 and remain on the rise.
We are committed to creating a safe space in the Tuolumne Watershed for all, but that isn’t possible until everyone feels safe, respected, and valued.
Advocates at the Asian American Advancing Justice – Atlanta are urging folks to become better allies in actionable ways:
Speak out if you witness a hate crime or incident
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC’s tool for reporting hate incidents and Stop AAPI Hate’s tool for reporting hate incidents.
Learn what makes a hate crime from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Get trained to step-in and become a better ally.
Check out these bystander intervention trainings so that you can learn how to stop anti-Asian harassment when they see it.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC develops projects, training, education and advocacy to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans.
Check-in with your Asian American peers. Let them know you care and ask how you can support them.
Learn about the history of Asian American discrimination
Read about the long history of racism against Asian Americans in the U.S. here and here.
Educate yourself and share timely articles here and here about the intersection of racism and misogyny in the Atlanta shootings and how white supremacist efforts to divide Black and Asian American communities and how they have worked to find common ground. – SURJ Bay Area
Advocate for awareness in your workplace
“The patterns of injustice we have witnessed in the United States over the past year are evidence of a country with white supremacy woven into its very DNA, replicated at every level. Changing that pattern means recognizing our place in it—examining where it lives around and within us. You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it and unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”
Author and Activist Grace Lee Boggs
White supremacy constructs and continues to perpetuate a model minority myth towards AAPI communities. This, in turn, has not only created hierarchies that separate and divide but has also produced grounds for the invalidation of violence against AAPI as racially motivated hate crimes. This fractures our communities and makes us blind to our interconnectedness – not only among the people that we share this planet with but with the many species in vast ecosystems that sustain life in all of its beautiful forms.
Racial justice and climate justice have the same common enemy in white supremacy. The extractivist mindset has looted and polluted both people and the planet. Check out this fantastic article by Hop Hopkins called Racism is Killing The Planet for more on this topic.
Again, we encourage everyone to take time to check in on your AAPI colleagues, friends, and loved ones.
Check out the list below for more anti-racism resources to support AAPI communities:
Learn what makes a hate crime from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Learn about coded language from the National Education Association's EdJustice.
Oakland Chinatown Coalition brings together cultural organizations to advocate for neighborhood improvement projects and community engagement.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC develops projects, training, education, and advocacy to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans.
The Center for Asian Pacific American Women offers professional development programs for Asian women.
Check out the resources at StopAAPIHate
The National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, helps provide affordable care, translated resources and cultural competency for professionals
Send Chinatown Love, which supports restaurants, many of which are immigrant-run and cash-only and so were rejected for government aid.
Goldhouse has compiled a comprehensive fundraising page on GoFundMe featuring local nonprofits by region, ways to help small businesses, and social media toolkits.
You can support the families of the victims of violence in Georgia here.
