We are appalled and outraged by the mass shooting of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia last Tuesday.
- Diversity Working Group
- Mar 22, 2021
- 2 min read
The Diversity Working Group (DWG) is appalled and outraged by the mass shooting of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia last Tuesday. We condemn the racist and misogynistic motivations behind the massacre that led to the deaths of six Asian American women. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends, and Asian American communities. This shooting did not come out of left field: for more than a year now, the COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a resurgence/rise in anti-Asian hate crimes around the world—including Canada. We cannot continue erasing the lived experiences and knowledges of our Asian Canadian communities from view and turning a blind eye to the racist treatment of our Asian Canadian communities. We implore everyone—individuals and institutions—to begin conversations and intersectional interrogations of the fetishization and objectification of Asian women that denies Asian women of their humanity and falsely justifies such gender-based violence as we witnessed in Atlanta. Since the late 1800s, Canada has legislated anti-Asian immigration policies and their racist legacies continue to undermine the value and humanity of its Asian communities. We call for reimaginings of a system that does not imperil our racialized women with a precarious immigration status and unequal protections. We stand in solidarity with Asian and Asian diasporic communities at the iSchool and across Canada and the United States. We stand in solidarity with Asian and all racialized women who, because of such dehumanizing gazes, are subjected time and again to gender-based violence. We stand in solidarity with those caught in the violence and precarity of immigration systems. To our Asian communities, please reach out, take care, and make time and space to grieve and breathe. We remember:
Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49
Hyun Jung Grant, 51
Yong Ae Yue, 63
Soon Chung Park, 74
Suncha Kim, 69
Daoyou Feng, 44
Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33
Paul Andre Michels, 54
Supports and resources
(Readings and resources of anti-Asian racism, prison and police abolition, white supremacy, and settler colonialism)
(Legal resources and supports for sex workers)
(The #FaceRace Campaign, and tips for building resiliency and bystander intervention)
(Links and hotlines for reporting hate crimes, mental health supports, and tips on intervention)
(Resources on histories and experiences of racism in Canada, decolonization and Indigenous allyship, learning tools, and self-care)
(Tools and workshops on how to effectively intervene and report hate crimes)
Overviews and Articles
@NextShark: “Stop Asian Hate”
(A brief overview of just some of the anti-Asian violence experienced by Asian American communities since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020)
Van Jones in CNN: "Black-Asian solidarity has a long and storied history in America"
(Histories of solidarity between Black and Asian communities in the United States)
Connie Wun in Elle: "Ignoring The History Of Anti-Asian Racism Is Another Form Of Violence"
(Histories and experiences of anti-Asian racism in the United States)
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