In 1997, Asian Pacific American Coalition for Equality formed a state-wide AAPI coalition to join other communities of color, women’s organizations, and national organizations to oppose the passage of I-200, an initiative to end affirmative action in Washington State. Since then, APACE (now known as Asian and Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment) has worked to realize political, economic and racial equity for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. Combating racism, hate and ignorance is therefore directly tied to our mission and values.
APACE denounces all forms of racism before, during and after COVID-19. We explicitly denounce the terms “Chinese Virus”, “Wuhan Virus” and other racialized terms of this disease because we know this fuels anti-asian racism, hate and violence. We urge all communities to redirect their energy and actions towards addressing the root of this hate, which we believe to be ignorance and systemic oppression.
APACE envisions an AAPI community that is well-educated on the issues, informed of the political process and fully participating in democracy. We believe that AAPI communities cannot fully achieve such a vision unless black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ, undocumented, disability and all other marginalized communities also achieve that vision. We believe our work is intricately and inextricably connected to other marginalized communities and communities of color. We know that COVID-19 disproportionately harms black and indigenous communities due to health disparities directly influenced by systems of oppression. It is therefore imperative we stand in solidarity with other BIPOC and marginalized communities to address the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19.
Please report and track incidents of anti-Asian racism at https://www.standagainsthatred.org/. By tracking these incidents, we uplift the stories of our community and understand the nature and impact of this widespread discrimination.
Please learn about how you or your friends can respond and intervene to anti-Asian racism by checking out this quick Teaching Tolerance guide or Hollaback!’s bystander intervention training.
We at APACE stand against all forms of hatred and ignorance and instead seek to educate, inspire and foster compassion within all communities.