Demand Action Against Violence

Updated Mar 18, 2021
By Mike Chen, board member

We are heartbroken and outraged by the senseless, premeditated mass murder of Asian women in Atlanta, Georgia. These women are our sisters, daughters, cousins, and mothers. We denounce the epidemic of violence that continues against the Asian community, and falls hardest on our most vulnerable: service workers, seniors, and women.

We are outraged by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department’s remarks that excuse the suspect’s actions because he “had a bad day”. There is no justification for pre-meditated murder. We call on the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department to apologize for its offensive and harmful comments, and to continue investigating this hate crime.

We call on our allies to stand with us in grief and solidarity against anti-Asian racism and violence against women. We must protect all women, including women who work in spas.

In the Bay Area, we continue to see a litany of violent attacks on Asians

If you would like to help, Assemblymember David Chiu has recommended some organizations doing critical work during this time:

Stop AAPI Hate – a project tracking anti-AAPI hate incidents, run by Chinese for Affirmative Action, San Francisco State University Asian American Studies Department, and Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a national nonprofit focusing on housing rights, immigration, civil rights, labor rights, and others for Asian Americans.
Hate Is a Virus, a grassroots organization addressing xenophobia and hate in the AAPI and BIPOC communities.
Act To Change, a nonprofit addressing bullying, including in the AAPI community.
Asian Pacific American Leadership Action Fund, a nonprofit preparing AAPI leaders for civic involvement and public service.

Together, we must stand up to these hate crimes until they end. Until then, please stay safe.

Stop AAPI Hate

We are angry. Members of our community were murdered, and many Asian seniors have been attacked. This senseless violence against the Asian Pacific Islander communities in the San Francisco Bay Area needs to stop.

Our communities are traumatized by these violent assaults during a time when we are also deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Asian Pacific Islander struggle is real. Our communities are disproportionately affected by food and housing insecurity, unemployment, safety risks from being essential frontline workers, closing of locally-owned small businesses and the rise in anti-Asian racism.

COVID-19 has not only highlighted the health disparities in our Asian Pacific Islander community and access to quality culturally competent health care, but it has directly resulted in growing anti-Asian sentiment. We know racism has devastating impacts. We have stood together and pledged in allyship to be anti-racist. But the anti-racism movement needs to include Asian Pacific Islanders.

Anxiety is growing within Asian Pacific Islander communities where this violence is happening. Our families live in fear for simply going about our daily lives, going for a walk in our neighborhood or even getting groceries. We will not live in fear any longer.

Our elected leaders, particularly our District Attorney, need to step up to protect our seniors and immigrant families more than ever. We don’t need to hear anymore meaningless words or policy diatribes on public safety. We demand action. Help us fight hate and violence from bigotry and racism.

–Edwin M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club Board

Ed Lee Dems joins Asian Organizations Across the Bay Area to Demand Action Against Violence

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

We denounce violence against members of Asian American communities in San Francisco, Oakland, and the greater Bay Area. We stand in solidarity with victims, survivors, and families who have suffered loss and pain.

These violent assaults have made the especially difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic even more painful. From our Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese elders to our youth, our Asian American communities are traumatized, afraid, and outraged during a time when we are also experiencing disproportionate impacts of the pandemic. These include mass unemployment, safety risks to frontline workers, insecure housing, the shuttering of our local small businesses, and a surge in anti-Asian racism.

Read full statement