April 5, 2021 COMMUNITY THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 11 Oregon API leaders, allies in solidarity to #StopAsianHate March 19, 2021 To our Asian family and community: By now, we have all heard of the devastating news of another mass shooting — this time in Atlanta, Georgia against our Asian community. Our hearts are heavy, as we mourn the loss of eight people, six being from our Asian community. We send our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this horrific act of violence. Hate and bias incidents against Asians have increased exponentially during the past year, since the start of the pandemic, due to the bigoted political rhetoric against Asians by racializing the coronavirus and calling it the “China virus,” “Wuhan flu,” and other derogatory names. According to Stop AAPI Hate, there has been a more than 150% increase in Asian hate crime and bias incidents since March of last year, with nearly 4,000 incidents reported nationwide and 68% of those reported against women. According to the Department of Justice, in Oregon there were 15 hate crimes/incidents reported in March 2021, with 10 of them being a crime and not an incident. This is a gender-based racist hate crime, an attack based on racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. The victims and their families deserve for us to speak truth to what it is. Justice requires us to name it and work to dismantle white supremacy and misogyny. Violent acts against Asians have often been overlooked and rejected as hate crimes — as in the recent murder of an elderly Asian man in Oakland, California, and again, now as the Atlanta sheriff spokesperson said the killer had a “really bad day... and this is what he did.” We know there is a long history of hate crimes and massacres of Asians Americans in the United States, from the massacre of 18 Chinese immigrants living in Los Angeles in 1871, the massacre of as many as 34 Chinese gold miners robbed and killed on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon on May 25, 1887, the shooting of five Southeast Asian refugee schoolchildren in Stockton, California in 1989, the Sikh Temple shooting in 2012 when ten people were shot and seven of those individuals died from their injuries, and numerous individual murders like that of Vincent Chin in 1982, who have been the symbols for social justice and civil rights for many API activists. The United States’ past anti-immigrant, anti-Asian poli- cies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, the incar- ceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, and the Muslim ban in 2017 are at the core of white supre- macy and American propaganda against Asian Americans. We stand in solidarity with our Asian communities and organizations when we say this violence — this hate — must stop. We all need to stand up against racism, xenophobia, and misogyny towards all Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and immigrants and refugees. We call on one another, our elected leaders, law enforce- ment, and the legal system: w to stand up against white supremacy, bigotry, and miso- gyny; w to bring justice and hold white nationalist hate groups and the perpetrators accountable for the threats and crimes they commit; w to hold investigators and law enforcement accountable to the communities they are there to serve and protect and to create change so law enforcement is not perpetrating white supremacy, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia; w to uplift and support policies for additional protections for communities of color and immigrants and refugees, including gun control measures; w to provide healing, resources, and language access to sup- port individuals and families when they become the victims of violence and hate; w to provide protection and support for frontline workers, service industry workers, and care professionals as they are often at the frontline of risks and threats. This increase in violence has shaken up our Asian and Pacific Islander communities, especially our elders and our women. We know there is a lot of fear and worry. We hope your family is staying safe and vigilant. We stand by you, and we are committed to building a safer and stronger community for all of us. Our community is strong and resilient, and we will get through this together. We see and hear you. We love and support you. You belong. We belong. Below are some resources we gathered for you and your loved ones. Please report any incidents you experience and/or witness. Most importantly, please stay safe and take care of one another. Sources to report a hate incident/crime to, in addition to calling law enforcement: In Portland: Portland United Against Hate: https://www.portlandunitedagainsthate.org CAIR Oregon: https://cairoregon.org APANO: https://www.apano.org/reporthate IRCO: https://irco.org/support In Oregon Department of Justice: www.doj.state.or.us (click “Bias Crime”) Nationally: Stop AAPI Hate: https://stopaapihate.org Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC): https://www.standagainsthatred.org Muslim Advocates: https://muslimadvocates.org/issue/hate-crimes Council on Islamic-American Relations: https://www.cair.com Act to Change: https://acttochange.org/#about Mental health/social support resources: Asian Health & Service Center, Mental Health Support: https://www.ahscpdx.org/mentalhealth.html Portland Racial Equity Lines for Life: https://www.linesforlife.org/racial-equity-support-line IRCO Pacific Islander & Asian Family Center (PIAFC): https://irco.org/who-we-are/asian-family-center.html APANO: https://www.apano.org Asian Mental Health Collective: https://www.asianmhc.org Mental Health America: https://www.mhanational.org/ issues/asian-americanpacific-islander-communi- ties-and-mental-health Webinars, conversations & resources: APANO & PUAH Resilience to Hate Resource Guide: www.apano.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/PUAH- Resilience-to-Hate-Resource-Guide-3_23_20.docx.pdf National Council on Asian Americans: https://now.org/break-the-cycle-a-conversa- tion-about-the-rise-of-anti-apia-racist-violence Asian American Advancing Justice trainings: https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/events Stop AAPI Hate: Safety Tips for Those Experiencing or Witnessing Hate: https://stopaapihate.org/safety-tips-english Hollaback’s Guide to Bystander Interventions: www.ihollaback.org/app/uploads/ 2016/11/Show-Up_CUPxHollaback.pdf White Sexual Imperialism: A Theory of Asian Feminist Jurisprudence: www.wlu.edu Coalition of Asian American Leaders: https://caalmn.org/asians-mns-alliance-4-justice/ take-action-against-anti-asian-racism Solidarity messages & call to action statements: White House Memorandum Condemning and Combatting Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States: www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-ac- tions/2021/01/26/memorandum-condemning-and-combat- ing-racism-xenophobia-and-intolerance-against-asian-amer icans-and-pacific-islanders-in-the-united-states Oregon Department of Justice: www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/ uploads/2020/04/COVID-19_Call_to_Action.pdf Multnomah County: https://multco.us/multnomah-county/news/ multnomah-county-board-issues-statement- condemning-anti-asian-hate-crimes City of Portland City Council: www.portland.gov/ wheeler/news/2021/3/17/city-council-condemns-at- lanta-shootings-stands-solidarity-asian-american In Justice, Peace, and Solidarity, Oregon Asian Community, Leaders & Advocates Editor’s note: This open letter, signed by hundreds of organizations and individuals, may be read in its entirety at . 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