Skip to main content

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION STATEMENT ON HATE FACING ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

March 24, 2021

LOS ANGELES - The City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission voted unanimously to release a statement today following a rise in hate crimes and violence directed at the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

The City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission (HRC), strongly denounces the senseless violence against the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. We stand in solidarity with the AAPI community across Los Angeles and beyond. On Tuesday, March 16, a gunman entered three Atlanta-area spas and killed eight innocent people, six of whom were Asian American women. This violent, racist, and misogynistic attack is part of the disturbing and inexcusable surge in anti-Asian hate crimes fueled by xenophobia and intentional disinformation related to the source of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially by the former president. We join in grieving for those who have suffered and lost their lives and commit to continuing to defend the rights and dignity of all people.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, since the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, nearly 3,800 attacks and assaults on Asians have been reported in the U.S. Even more concerning and appalling is most of those attacks–68 percent–have been against Asian American women. This is troublesome, but it is not new. Anti-Asian discrimination has a long history in the United States – from the Los Angeles Chinese Massacre of 1871, to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and more. 

We must continue to denounce systemic racism, white supremacy, extremist beliefs, and misogyny that motivate violence against AAPI communities and other communities of color. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us:  “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We must value the diversity of Los Angeles, continue to build inclusive communities, and foster greater understanding and respect for each other. 

Please report hate incidents at stopaapihate.org and standagainsthatred.org and 2-1-1.

You can find more resources at the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department website: https://civilandhumanrights.lacity.org/stophate.

- CITY OF LOS ANGELES HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION

ANGELICA SOLIS-MONTERO, PRESIDENT | IRMA BESERRA NUÑEZ, FIRST VICE PRESIDENT | ANTHONY MACK, SECOND VICE PRESIDENT | COURTNEY MORGAN-GREENE, COMMISSIONER | MELANY DE LA CRUZ-VIESCA, COMMISSIONER | NIRINJAN SINGH KHALSA, COMMISSIONER | HERPSIMA KHATCHADORIAN, COMMISSIONER | ROSA RUSSELL, COMMISSIONER | JAY SANDERSON, COMMISSIONER | IRENE TOVAR, COMMISSIONER | STACY TWILLEY, COMMISSIONER