March 19, 2021
On March 16, a shooter killed eight people in Atlanta; six of the victims were identified as Asian and seven were women. At least four of the people killed were of Korean descent.
The Weingart Foundation stands with communities in our collective grief and outrage at these tragic deaths. We condemn the anti-Asian racism that has led to increased hate speech and violence against Asian American communities.
Racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has remained historically invisible. The Atlanta chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice points out that this includes a long history of hyper-sexualization of Asian women that is rooted in Westernized and colonial perceptions of Asia. This is inextricably linked to harassment and sexualized violence against Asian women. Women of Asian descent have reported 2.3 times more incidents of violence than A.A.P.I. men, according to a new Stop A.A.P.I. Hate report of nearly 3,800 hate incidents reported since March 2020.
While anti-Asian hate crimes have increased during the pandemic, working-class Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Asian American communities have also been disproportionately impacted by the virus and faced higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
It’s important to remind ourselves that racism impacts communities in distinct ways, but it impacts all of us profoundly. From anti-Asian violence to the horrific pandemic death toll in Black, indigenous, and Latino communities, to police and state violence against B.I.P.O.C. people, to the white supremacist insurrection at the Capitol, structural racism is threatening our very existence.
Anti-Black racism and the genocide of Native Americans have formed the foundation from which this nation’s other forms of systemic racism are built. What gives me hope is that communities have been making these connections. They are standing up and standing together, oftentimes led by courageous young people. The Weingart Foundation is united with these movements against racism and in building the bigger We.
President & C.E.O.
As we mourn the deaths of those murdered on March 16, we encourage you to support the work of the following projects and organizations: