Standing against anti-Asian violence
Today marks a grim anniversary in our country; one year ago today, 8 people at 3 Asian-owned spas in Atlanta were murdered. This tragic event compelled lawmakers and communities to examine the long-ignored pattern of violence and racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and take action. Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of three advocacy and academic institutions tracking incidents of anti-AAPI violence in the U.S., received 10,905 reports of hate incidents between March 2020 and December 2021.
In New York City, violent incidents against AAPI individuals have occurred at alarming rates. In December 2021, the New York Police Department reported a 361% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes over the last year. Just within the last 8 weeks, an Asian American woman was pushed to her death on the subway platform, another woman was murdered in Chinatown, and two weeks ago, a man targeted and punched 7 Asian women. Just last Friday, a man shouted a racist slur and hit an Asian woman 125 times.
On March 3, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum released a first-of-its-kind report summarizing survey responses from 2,414 AAPI women living in the U.S. The survey found that 74% of Asian American women have experienced racist incidents in the last 12 months, and about half of those incidents were from strangers in a public place. Within the same time period, almost 40% of AAPI women reported experiencing sexual harassment.
We care deeply about our students, staff, and communities. We share the grief and outrage over the continuing epidemic of violence against Asian Americans, and we are committed to providing safe and supportive spaces to our AAPI students and staff.
Several city agencies and community organizations have compiled resources for understanding and leveraging public attention to the issue, reporting hate crimes, and participating in bystander training. Learn more about how you can take action by clicking on these resources:
Upcoming Right To Be (formerly Hollaback) trainings:
