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3/18/2021
What we witnessed on March 16 in the senseless murder of eight people, including seven women, six of whom were Asian, was the result of centuries of systemic racism against Asian and Pacific Islander communities and gender-based violence in the United States. This violence comes after a year of escalating, directed, hateful rhetoric and actions against Asian and Pacific Islander communities, fostered from the highest offices in the land. Despite repeated alarms and the staggering 150% increase in documented hate crimes against Asians nationwide in the past year, those who should have paid attention, ignored the warnings until it was too late.
We join in solidarity with millions of Americans to mourn the deaths of the victims of this act of hateful violence, and we commit to the work of addressing America’s history of discrimination and injustice against racial and ethnic communities. We will continue to strive for a more just, more kind, more inclusive society.