ATLANTA, (GNB): The Asian American Advancing Justice, a human rights justice group has called for communities of color to band together to condemn racist violence.
Tuesday night eight people were killed at three separate spas in North Georgia, Six of the people killed were Asian and all but one were women.
The Tuesday night’s Atlanta shootings happened under the trauma of increasing violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by white supremacy and systemic racism, the justice group said in the statement.
In a statement released Wednesday, Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said: “We are heartbroken by these acts of violence. Six Asian women lost their lives. Now is the time to hold the victims and their families in our hearts and in our light. We’re calling on our allies across communities of color to stand with us in grief and solidarity against racist violence in all its forms. When our most vulnerable community members are targeted, we all need to band together.
While the details of the shootings are still emerging, the broader context cannot be ignored. The shootings happened under the trauma of increasing violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by white supremacy and systemic racism. While anti-Asian violence is woven throughout our nation’s history, the Trump administration’s relentless scapegoating of Asians for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased the incidences of hate and violence against Asian Americans around the country.
According to the most recent data, hate incidents targeting Asian Americans rose by nearly 150% in 2020, with Asian American women twice as likely to be targeted. Stop AAPI Hate received 3,800 reports of anti-Asian hate since March 2020 to February 2021, with 35% of discriminatory acts happening at businesses and with women reporting hate incidents twice as men, the statement read.
Phi Nguyen, Litigation Director at Asian American Advancing Justice – Atlanta said “That the Asian women murdered yesterday were working highly vulnerable and low-wage jobs during an ongoing pandemic speaks directly to the compounding impacts of misogyny, structural violence, and white supremacy.”
The Justice group called for local and state government to “provide robust in-language interpretation and translation for crisis intervention resources, including support for mental health and immigration services.
The group said, “It is time for Georgia to invest in transformative justice that begins with cross racial dialogue and community-building that address the root causes of violence and hate.”
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