Philadelphia Asian community speaks

In response to the brutal murders in Atlanta March 16, this statement was issued March 17 by members of the Philadelphia’s Asian community including Woori Center, VietLead, Asian Americans United, API PA, City Council Member Helen Gym, Modero & Co., Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, Pejuang, CAIR Philadelphia, APALA Philadelphia, Red Umbrella Alliance, Asian Arts Initiative and PCDC.

Our hearts are heavy today after the murders of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, in Atlanta last night, making six more people and their loved ones victims of the anti-Asian violence that has terrorized our communities in the U.S. since its genesis.

The recent surge in anti-Asian violence, while horrific, is only part of the longer and larger history of systemic violence in the U.S. Anti-Asian violence, and gender-based violence against Asian and Pacific Islander women in particular, isn’t new.

It is the product of interlocking systems of power that oppress marginalized communities — that strip our communities of resources that we need to live, deport our loved ones, murder our Black community members, make women and elders scared to walk alone at night, force students and teachers to go to school in toxic buildings, gentrify our immigrant neighborhoods, perpetuate unsafe working conditions, and more.