We all at UWCA were heartbroken and devastated by the March 16 mass shooting incident involving the murder of 8 people in Atlanta, 6 of whom were women of Asian descent, and shocked again on Monday to see a 65-year-old woman of Asian descent knocked down, kicked and stomped as she walked to church, in an incident caught on video. We acknowledge these attacks and other acts of hate targeted at Asian communities has created an environment forcing many to feel unsafe in their own homes and fearful for lives of their friends and family.
Sadly, violence and hate directed against Asian Americans have deep roots in in our history, from racist discrimination in the late 1800s under color of law in states like California and at the federal level under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the unconstitutional internment and dispossession of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast during World War II, to violent attacks such as mob violence against Filipino workers in Watsonville in 1930, the tragic murder of Vincent Chin in 1982, and more. This history makes the frequency with which we saw mentions of a “China-Virus” or “Kung Flu” from elected representatives and media personalities even more triggering for our communities, and those speakers more responsible.