Newsletters
Solidarity with our AAPI Community
Irvine,
March 31, 2021
Tags:
Racial Justice
Dear Friend,
I’m proud to represent Orange County, which is home to a vibrant Asian-American community. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders not only enrich our communities—they help them flourish. Celebrating and supporting this diversity is core to our Orange County values. I have been deeply disturbed by the rise in hate crimes committed against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. On Friday, I joined Orange County Human Relations and the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance for a town hall on the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and federal and local efforts to stop them. We discussed the ways that we can educate ourselves and others in our community to help make Orange County a safer place for everyone. As your representative, I will continue to do all I can to protect our families and our values.
At a town hall, I was joined by community leaders to hear from Orange County families and talk about what we can all do to combat hate. Since the beginning of the pandemic, hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased nationwide. In Orange County alone, we have seen a 1,200% increase in these awful acts. I worked to introduce a bipartisan resolution that condemns hate crimes and denounces violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This resolution urges law enforcement to take these crimes seriously, commits to improving reporting of violence against the AAPI community, and demands that those committing these acts of hate are brought to justice. As a member of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, I have worked with colleagues across the country to call out the racism and xenophobia stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
I proudly joined our community to rally against the rise in anti-Asian hate. As we start to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must work in solidarity to build a future that lives up to our American ideals of freedom and equality. When we all denounce racism, combat disinformation, and pursue justice, we are building a safe and vibrant society that benefits all of us. |
