Statement: Anti-Asian Violence in Georgia & Beyond
From the Progressive Caucus Action Fund
We mourn the lives of the eight people killed in the tragic anti-Asian attack targeting Georgia massage parlors. These racist and misogynistic attacks, specifically targeting Asian American women, are the heartbreaking continuation of the latest spike in racist hate incidents fueled by the rhetoric of many politicians, and emboldened by centuries of anti-Asian racism built into public policy.
From the Chinese Exclusion Act to Trump’s racist scapegoating of Chinese and other Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, anti-Asian violence has been a consistent and integral pillar of white supremacy in America. While full details of the attack have yet to be released, Stop AAPI Hate tracked almost 3,800 hate incident reports against Asian Americans in all 50 states and DC in the past year alone.
As progressives, we believe the work of resisting anti-Asian racism and violence against women is intertwined with the work of dismantling xenophobia, misogyny, white supremacy and anti-Blackness. This attack also emphasizes the need to fight for justice for low-wage and marginalized workers, including massage parlor workers.
We will honor and remember Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, and the other four people whose names we do not yet know. And we will continue the critical work of addressing anti-Asian racism by rooting out white supremacy in all of its forms and by building solidarity across race and gender to ensure every Asian American is safe in our communities. We send our love and solidarity to the Asian American community in Georgia and beyond today and always.