John—
Today, we honor the lives of nine people shot in Atlanta, eight of them fatally, the victims of a series of shootings at massage parlors yesterday evening. While we're still learning more details, seven of those shot were women, and six of them were Asian women.
This violence comes at a time when racist attacks on Asian Americans—both verbal and physical—are happening more and more often across the country, making these deaths all the more painful. Asian American women often experience the intersection of racism and sexism, reporting hate incidents 2.3 times more than men. The organization Stop AAPI Hate found that since the start of the pandemic, there have been around 3,800 reported incidents of attacks on Asian Americans.1
John, we stand with the AAPI community against this violence, misogyny, and bigotry, and hope you will too. We are committed to disarming hate, preventing violence against women, and stopping gun violence in all forms. We do not have to live like this, and we do not have to die like this.
As we continue to learn more about the victims and the survivors of this mass shooting, I thank you for being a part of this movement. Together, we can make change possible, and make sure that events like this never happen again.
Becky George
Senior Advisor on AAPI Engagement
Everytown for Gun Safety
1. Russell Jeung Ph.D., Aggie Yellow Horse, Ph.D., Tara Popovic, and Richard Lim. "Stop AAPI Hate National Report: 3/19/20 - 2/28/21".
