FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2021
Contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento
(785) 760-6567 | juan.sarmiento@younginvincibles.org

Statement on Hate Crimes Against AAPI Community

(Washington, DC) — On Tuesday night, shootings at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead, including six Asian women. Details are still being released but this adds to the nearly 3,800 reported hate crimes over the past year. According to Stop AAPI Hate, there have been at least 500 hate incidents reported between January 1 and February 28. The hate incidents reported only represent a fraction of the total that actually occur, highlighting how vulnerable the AAPI community is to various forms of discrimination.

In response, Rachel Fleischer, Executive Director for Young Invincibles released the following statement:

“Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been heightened racism towards the Asian community. We can no longer ignore the rhetoric. We can no longer ignore the 3,800 reports of hate crimes. And we simply cannot ignore what happened last night in Atlanta.

While details from last night are still emerging, what we saw last night adds even more fear and pain to a community that has been the target of an epidemic of racism and violence over the last year. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric, harassment and violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander persons, families and communities have increased. It was the culmination of months long racist rhetoric that blamed the Asian community for the virus. We saw this ugly trend surge a year ago, when Covid-19 first emerged. One year later, we have a vaccine for the virus – but racism is still running rampant.

America has a long, dark history of racism towards the Asian community and it is long past due that we confront it head on. Now more than ever the Asian community needs allyship and we must work together to end the painful and hurtful racist violence

Young Invincibles is committed to building communities of belonging and fighting back against discriminatory acts. Racism, xenophobia, and hate have no place in our communities. It’s our responsibility to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community as it faces this crisis. That means working with our community partners and identifying opportunities where YI can do more”