Dear Friends and Family,

I, like you, am saddened and angered by the mass shooting carried out Georgia on Tuesday, which resulted in the death of eight lives, including six Asian American women. This was a racist, hateful act that we must condemn. Our hearts go out to the friends and families of the victims. The UAC Family stands in solidarity with our friends and neighbors in our Asian American, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities.

Reported in The Philadelphia Citizen, “approximately 115,000 people of solely Asian descent live in Philadelphia, making up about 7 percent of all residents. Asians are 39 percent of our city’s immigrant communities… which together are responsible for the city’s population growth over the last decade, after years of losing residents.”

The reality is that Asian Americans and Asian immigrants play a large part in Philadelphia’s growth and prosperity, from being job creators and service providers to enriching our culture and globalizing communities. And yet, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders increasingly are harassed, assaulted, and are victims of violence and crime, as reported by the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate.

We must realize that this form of racism is one of too many incidences of anti-Asian harassment and assault, that often go under-reported, including here in Philadelphia. We must #StopAAPIHate. And to do so, we must end racism.

Partnering with the Ending Racism Partnership is joining a collaborative movement to develop concrete strategies for ending systemic racial injustice and economic inequality. The Partnership is convened by the Urban Affairs Coalition, Independence Blue Cross, and Mother Bethel AME Church, and we need more companies and organizations to reach our for an equitable Philadelphia. You can join the movement to end racism by visiting EndingRacismPartnership.org.

UAC is also a proud partner of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, who’s mission is to establish programs and services meeting the housing, financial, wellness, family and youth, and neighborhood planning needs of the Chinatown community. In addition to their day-to-day work, they are taking actions to continue the fight against anti-Asian racism and #StopAAPIHate:

  • Partnering with the Ending Racism Partnership
  • Sharing the results of a bilingual survey of community members to self-report incidents of anti-Asian hate
  • Advocating for the stop of anti-Asian hate at Town Hall meetings with elected officials, policymakers, community leaders, and stakeholders

You can follow PDCD’s work at www.chinatown-pcdc.org and on social — @phillychinatown on Facebook and @PCDC_Events on Twitter.

We can end Asian hate. We can end racism. But we have to do it together.

 

Sharmain Matlock-Turner

President/CEO
Sharmain@uac.org