BPE Global Hot Topic – May 2021
Asian American Violence is Serious, and it Cannot be Tolerated
An Asian American woman that I love and respect no longer carries a purse when she goes outside of her home in San Francisco. My beloved Wok Shop in Chinatown where I bought the tools to make pot stickers for Lunar New Year was broken into and vandalized.
There has been an uptick in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islanders in all major cities across our nation. This is unacceptable. Seeing this recent spate of violent behavior made me realize that other people and places that I always thought were safe from danger are not. Just because someone is strong, or a place has been around for ages does not protect them from racist behavior and we cannot assume that because they do not speak about being targeted that they don’t feel at risk or have actually been targeted.
As a company committed to the equality for all people, we cannot ignore this criminal activity against our Asian American and Pacific Islander sisters and brothers. As employers and communities, we must provide support to the people around us in the form of crisis intervention resources.
We must speak out or actually intervene when we witness a hate crime or incident. This means stepping up and stepping in between. We must stand when our friends, family and our community members are being targeted. When we witness hate, we must report it. The Asian American Advancing Justice organization provides a place to report in multiple languages.
More immediate – we all need to check in with the Asian Americans in our life and ask how we can support them. Let them know that we are there for them and that we will stand by them. Stay close and provide support when asked for it. As coworkers we need to create an environment that promotes equity and encouragement.
There is plenty else that we can do, including educating people. This type of hate is not new, it is deeply rooted in American culture and the pandemic has not helped ease the situation. Bigotry and hatred at any time is unacceptable, anti-Asian violence has always been a problem that the Asian-American community has had to deal with. Making all people aware of the history of what Asian-Americans in America have endured is an important step that we all can take.
Here is a link where you can find resources that have been gathered to help individuals educate others, take action, donate and more. The Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) is also a great place to start.
The incidence of hate crimes is on the rise, not declining. We must all recommit, link arms and continue to fight against hate. I am reaching out to each of you and am asking that you to join me in this fight. We can do anything together.
BPE Global is a global trade consulting and training firm. Beth Pride is the President of BPE Global. You can reach Beth by email at beth@bpeglobal.com or by phone at 1-415-845-8967.