March 26, 2021
The Kansas City Chinese American Association (KCCAA) strongly condemns the rise of Anti-Asian Violence and Hate Crime across our country. We were heartbroken by the Atlanta shooting on Tuesday March 16, 2021. The loss of eight lives, including six Asian women, is one of many tragic acts of violence against Asians in our country recently. Our hearts go out to the victims and their surviving family members. We also want to express our thoughts of comfort and condolence to the entire Asian American community.
Since March 19th, 2020, there have been more than 3,795 hate crimes and incidences of racism reported to the “Stop AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Hate” organization. The incidents were also occurred in Kansas City Metro during the past year, according to the record from Kansas City Police Department. All these reported cases only represent a fraction of the true total number of incidents.
The shooting in Atlanta has been a wake-up call for all of us in the Asian-American community. Protests and vigils calling for a stop to the violence against Asian-Americans have held in many cities around the country. Hate violence and crime toward people of color, including Asian Americans, is NEVER acceptable and will NOT be tolerated.
As a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, KCCAA has dedicated and held a longstanding commitment to supporting our local community. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked tirelessly to donate large amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) and financial support to our local hospitals, health clinics, police departments, nursing homes, and to schools in low-income communities. Today, again, we are with you all, together, to FIGHT and STOP the Anti-Asian Violence and Hate Crime.
We invite the community to join us in defeating racial violence and ensuring the communities we live in are a safe place for all. If you see a fellow Asian American in a dangerous situation, please intervene if possible, call for help, and document the incident to bring the perpetrator to justice. If you know of an Asian American elder who might be fearful of going out to the grocery store, please offer to go with them. It‘s time to speak up and take action to STOP hate violence and crime before more innocent lives are lost.
Lastly, we welcome community residents to join us together to encourage our local government and law enforcement agencies to take necessary actions to address the surge of Anti-Asian Violence and Hate Crime and ensure the safety of Asian Americans and businesses. KCCAA is also working with other Asian American organizations and communities to form coalition and task force, and to provide continuous support to our Asian American communities throughout Kansas City metro area.
We highly encourage everyone to share the safety tips and utilize the reporting and support resources listed below:
· Safety tips for those experiencing or witnessing hate violence (multiple Asian languages available) https://stopaapihate.org/resources/
· Report a hate incident to Stop AAPI Hate organization (multiple Asian languages available) https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/
· Report a hate incident to Asian Americans Advancing Justice (multiple Asian languages available) https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/
· Report a hate incident to Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate
· File a complaint to Kansas Human Rights Commission http://www.khrc.net/complaint.html
· File a complaint of Discrimination to Missouri Department of Labor https://labor.mo.gov/mohumanrights/File_Complaint
· Seek legal support offered by National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) https://www.napaba.org/page/HateCrimeResources
.To reach out your elected officials https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
这些天，KCCAA中美联合会针对目前亚裔的歧视问题，联合媒体，与当地报社The KC Star 记者一起工作，组织了6个年轻人的采访团队，接受采访，替我们向社会发声，谴责任何形式仇恨亚裔的犯罪行为，以求得到社会的支持力量。下面是The KC Star 文字和视频报道，请点击阅读以示支持和关注，谢谢！