Statement Opposing API Violence

Over the last few months, national attention has been brought to the systemic racism and violence against the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the United States and beyond.  Tragically, six Asian American women, many of them mothers, were killed in March in Atlanta while at work.  This racism is not new – AAPI communities have been plagued with discrimination throughout US history, but the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased these horrific occurrences.  Nationwide, nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have been documented through Stop AAPI Hate, a national hate crime reporting effort, from March 2020 to March 2021.  These numbers do not include the innumerable incidents that go unreported.

MAMA Seattle condemns all forms of hate crimes, racism and discrimination perpetrated against the AAPI community and stands in solidarity with the AAPI community against these atrocious attacks.  We stand firm in our support of other Washington minority bar associations in this struggle and join them in a call for action.

MAMA Seattle recognizes that offering support and solidarity is not enough, and we pledge to do more.  We remain committed to grow, to listen and to educate our membership on the history and continuing racism against the AAPI community.  We will work with our membership and the broader legal community to take meaningful action toward creating a legal profession that does not allow racism or discrimination to thrive or to survive. MAMA Seattle has made a donation on behalf of our membership to API Chaya, an organization dedicated to the support of survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in the South Asian, Asian, Pacific Islander and all immigrant communities.

—Lori Hurl, MAMA Seattle President

To encourage our members to engage in this crucial work, we have compiled the following resources:

Learn

• Know What Your Asian Colleague is Experiencing— Fakequity
• Hollaback Bystander Intervention Training – Training to stop anti-Asian/American xenophobic harassment
• “To be an Asian woman in America” – Opinion piece by Jennifer Ho, published by CNN
• “The Atlanta Shootings Fit Into a Long Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence in America” – Article by Cady Lang, published by TIME Magazine
• CAPAC Members Mourn Victims of Atlanta Spa Shootings and Condemn Anti-Asian Violence – Statement from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives

Advocate

• Stop AAPI Hate @stopaapihate – Tracking and responding to hate crimes committed against the AAPI community
• Anti-Asian Violence Resources – Created by the Healthcare Alliance for Asian & Pacific Islanders (HAAPI ERG)
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Support local AAPI-Owned Businesses — The Intentionalist