Swift Currie Condemns Anti-Asian Racism and Violence
Swift Currie joins the greater Atlanta community in mourning the victims of the horrific shootings on March 16, 2021. Though these killings remain under investigation, it comes amid a disturbing rise in violence, discrimination and hate directed against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community over the last year especially. We condemn not only these recent actions, but any bigotry or xenophobia directed against any group, and want to especially show our support for the AAPI community during this time. We can no longer ignore nor should we take our focus off the pervasive stereotyping or discrimination that has harmed members of the AAPI community for far too long.
On March 16, Stop AAPI Hate also released its latest report, stating it has received 3,795 accounts of hate incidents from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021. Incidents were reported in all 50 states, women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more than men and people of all Asian ethnicities have been targeted. Stop AAPI Hate's full report with statistics, trends and stories from victims is available here.
So, how can you help or make a difference?
Amplify organizations supporting the AAPI community: Swift Currie encourages you to support organizations that are focused on helping stem acts of hatred against members of the AAPI community. The Strategist, a publication of New York magazine, offers a list of 61 organizations to donate to in support of Asian communities available here.
To donate directly to the victims of the March 16 attacks and their families, please visit the fundraiser set up by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta here.
Be an active bystander: By being an active bystander, you can act and intervene when someone is experiencing racism, discrimination harassment or physical assault. Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) offers a Bystander Intervention training program to teach techniques on safe intervention. Learn more and register for a training here.
You can report hate crimes at stopaapihate.org and standagainsthatred.org.
The Asian Mental Health Collective offers a comprehensive list of mental health organizations across the U.S. and the world here.