The Black and Puerto Rican Caucus (BPRC) issued a statement on Thursday strongly opposing the growing number of hate crimes against Asian-Americans in the country.
This week, a 21-year-old white man opened fire on three massage parlors across the Atlanta metro area, killing eight people, including six Asian women in the latest major incident of violence against Asian American communities.
According to a recent report, hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have surged over 150% in major cities in the last year. Our Asian sisters have been affected the most, having reported twice as many hate incidents over the past year.
Also, in the last year, we heard terms like “Kung Flu”, “Wuhan Virus” and “China Virus” – referring to the origin of the coronavirus – from former President Donald Trump as well as from other elected officials who are still clinging to those same divisive, offensive terms today.
This cannot be tolerated. Our country is better than this. All people should be treated equally, regardless of skin color or nationality; no matter what part of the world they are from or represent.
The BPRC will always speak out against and support those who are being subjected to discrimination. Our Asian-American brothers and sisters need our support now and we’ll be there for them as well as those affected by the awful acts that have been perpetrated against Asian communities such as the one that took place earlier this week.
Stop the hate!