Response to Atlanta-area Mass Shootings

We join Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — especially those within BRYC — in anger and grief over the recent Atlanta-area attacks in which a white male shot and killed eight people, of whom six were Asian and seven were women. Whether or not the attack is determined to be racially motivated doesn’t change its backdrop: Stop AAPI Hate reveals that 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents were reported in the last year, 68 percent directed at women. Who knows how many went unreported.

It’s hard to admit that anti-Asian racism is deeply American, dating back to the 1850s when the first East Asian immigrants were met with discrimination and violence. It’s not hard to see the correlation between increased xenophobic hate speech in national politics and the staggering uptick in anti-Asian hate incidents.

I’m looking in the mirror, personally and organizationally, when I say it should not take a mass shooting to realize how white supremacy supports anti-Asian violence. The first step is conscious awareness, followed by changes in individual and institutional behaviors. BRYC intends for equity not to be in our DNA but to *be* our DNA. We’re early on in the lifelong process of scrutinizing how racism manifests in BRYC spaces and building systems to interrupt it. This journey is as emotional as structural. Our hearts weep with the Asian community as we feel the toll these racial hate events take on our collective sense of physical and psychological safety.

Next Steps: