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** OCA and over 180 Organizations Petition White House and Others for Swift Action on Anti-AAPI Hate Crimes
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24 March 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eiley Fong | Communications Associate
202.223.5500 | [email protected]

Washington, DC – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates and a coalition of 188 co-signed organizations submitted a letter ([link removed]) to the White House, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) urging them to publicly recognize and denounce the increasing racist attacks and discrimination against the Asian American community, in the wake of rising concerns over COVID-19.

As these racially-motivated attacks accelerate in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, it becomes increasingly imperative that this nation’s leadership ensures the safety of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). OCA and its allies call upon the President to establish a Task Force via Executive Order in order to investigate and protect the civil rights of AAPIs in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

This Task Force would improve data collection by convening DOJ and FBI officials, improve hate crimes training for law enforcement agencies, and make investigations into anti-AAPI hate crimes a top priority.

The letter furthermore reiterates our request that the White House and other elected and appointed officials cease using terms like “Chinese Virus”, “Wuhan Virus”, and “Kung Flu,” which falsely and harmfully associate COVID-19 with ethnicity. These terms exacerbate the anti-Chinese stigma ([link removed]) associated with COVID-19, and inadvertently condone these hate crimes. Since the letter was released yesterday, President Trump has already publicly spoken out against anti-AAPI hate crimes ([link removed]) .

We thank the signed organizations for their solidarity and support in standing up to racism and xenophobia in order to make the United States of America a safe and welcoming place for all.

OCA encourages victims/witnesses of hate crimes, and AAPI business owners adversely affected by the COVID-19 to contact OCA’s Civil Rights Fellow Matt Nguyen-Ngo (mailto: [email protected]) for more resources and to share their stories ataapihatecrimes.org ([link removed]) . To sign on to the online version of the letter, your organization can still email Maddie Schumacher (mailto:[email protected]) , OCA’s Senior Policy and Advocacy Associate.

OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates is a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).

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View this statement online here ([link removed]) .

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