We are writing with broken hearts after eight individuals, six of whom were Asian women, were slain after another devastating event of white supremacy and white male rage in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Anti-Asian hate and misogyny are rife in America, around the world, and in our own Bay Area community. While incidences of hate and violence have spiked in the past year due to pandemic related racism, it is not new. We condemn this violence against the AAPI community today, and always, and are holding those impacted close in our hearts.
AAPI (Asian-American Pacific Islander) youth are angry, scared, and exhausted, and the classroom is a space to acknowledge what is happening. Learning environments are not neutral, and everyday they should be safe, celebratory, and joyful for our AAPI students, and BIPOC students at large, whose histories have been rendered invisible and demeaned in the classroom and our institutions. In moments like these, it is important to show support, listen, and show love. In order to do either of these things, we, as educators, must consistently interrogate our own identities, and how they exist in confrontation with, and support of, anti-racism in our work and in our lives.
We have aggregated resources from our team to support learning and taking action. Start classroom, team, and dinner table conversations about dismantling anti-Asian hate, xenophobia and racism, and amplifying the richness and diversity of AAPI histories and heritage. We invite you to share more in the comments below.
Learn, Share, Act
Read and share this article on the rise of recent hate crimes on Asian Americans by Vice: Asian Americans Are Calling on Allies in Response to a Wave of Violence
Read about anti-Asian racism during COVID-19 and how to advance Asian American recovery
AAJC has been working to raise awareness about increased racism and discrimination against Asian Americans – https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/anti-asian-hate
The AAPR COVID-19 Project, a collective research study, shares resources for hate crime reporting, mental health support, and education addressing Coronavirus racism. https://www.aapicovid19.org/resources
This crowd-sourced resource guide includes statistics about anti-AAPI violence as well as petitions to sign, educational resources for children and adults, donation links, and national mental health resources: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Sign and share these petitions to raise awareness and stop anti-Asian racism
- Get mainstream news coverage of national elderly Asian American assaults
- End Hate Crimes against Asian Americans
Specific Education Resources
Teach and Transform founder Liz Kleinrock also talks about how to address anti-Asian racism with students – https://smithsonianapa.org/learn/learn-archives/2020-04/
Addressing Anti-Asian Racism through Restorative Dialogue, a guide for educators
These resources introduce ways for students to recognize and speak up against anti-Asian racism, and start conversations with even the youngest learners about recognizing and acting to address injustice. – https://www.learningforjustice.org/
Founded by Julia Wang and Kathy Lu, the initiative’s mission is to change “how we talk about race, migration, and social justice as a global society.” In 2020, Julia and Kathy collaborated with restorative justice specialist Sarah Appelbaum on the creation of a new activity to help educators talk about anti-Asian racism with learners.
https://www.immigranthistory.org/empathy.html
If you are in the Bay Area, EBAYC is an incredible community based resource
Support with Money
All of the above resources are free. But the thought work and emotional labor that went into them were not. Please consider donating to these organizations in kind.
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