Our Asian American friends need our suport

The epidemic of violence against this demographic is poisoning our world

The increase in the rate of violence targeting Asian Americans is truly sickening, and enough is enough. But condemning violence doesn’t suffice. Action must be taken.

The Skyline View has already reported on the way communities are coming together to condemn violence. The article “KTP and FSU clubs speak out against Asian American attacks” described how the clubs listed solutions as to how this can be cornered. That included not having police officers be first responders to calls related to mental health, introducing more ethnic studies classes, and showing solidarity more generally.

Additionally, the interim president of CSM, Kim Lopez, described what the district is doing in terms of addressing racism in an email to CSM students.

“This past year, the San Mateo County Community College District developed a District Council on Anti-Racism,” Lopez wrote. “The goal of the Council is to radically reimagine how we commit to anti-racism, and how we can transform the educational experiences for all students, especially hyper-marginalized students. We are leaders in anti-racist work by ensuring our culture and education are critical, anti-racist, and justice-centered.”

So, while these solutions are great in their own way, there needs to be even more action taken to fight this.

An article from PBS gives a great example of what our community can be doing. The article lists examples more related to the recent incident in Georgia in which a gunman shot eight people, including six Asian American women.

We can think about how this advice can be implemented in the context of our local community. One piece of advice the article mentions is to support AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) groups in Georgia. Luckily, there is a Bay Area chapter of an AAPI organization you can support. It is called Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP).

An article on AAPIP’s website provided resources on where people can spread philanthropic action in their community, and list nine foundations to which people can donate. They also list coalitions, and are promoting community efforts in order to curb this spread of hate.

Some say that speaking out about it is a form of support. Many organizations around the Bay Area, ranging from public transit to sports teams, are making statements daily. However, one sports team is taking it a step further: the San Francisco Giants. In a statement on Twitter, they condemned the violence, but also stated that they will be making a monetary donation to the Stop AAPI Hate organization.

So, how can our community do better? We can start by making small donations to these organizations that are trying to help curb this awful epidemic of violence against Asian Americans. The most important thing is to not just speak about it. Don’t just say that you condemn violence and be done with it. As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words”, so use your actions to help stop these vicious acts.