Hundreds Gather in Sign of Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Hate and White Supremacy

Call on City Leaders to Create Anti-Racist Solutions

New York - Yesterday on Saturday, March 27, 2021, in lower Manhattan, over four hundred strong joined New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools and one of their members, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, united in one voice to denounce anti-Asian hate and white supremacy and put forward short and long term solutions to address anti-Asian hate and violence.

The slate of speakers included youth, parents, educators, community service providers, artists, and advocates.

New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools is a coalition of multiracial youth, parents, educators, advocates, and community members who together condemn the horrific violence committed against Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Xiaojie Tan, 49, of Kennesaw; Daoyou Feng, 44, in Georgia; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Hyun Jung Grant, 51, in Georgia; Soon Chung Park, 74, of Atlanta; Suncha Kim, 69, in Georgia; and Yong Ae Yue, 63, in Georgia.

They also stand together as New Yorkers to condemn the 1900% increase in hate crimes against our Asian identifying (particularly East Asian presenting) fellow New Yorkers. We stand in solidarity, and in partnership with leaders in the Asian American community to reject this violence, and to situate these events in the long history of racial violence against the Asian community in this country.

This is a moment for all of us to recognize the recent uptick in racial violence against Asian presenting people is violence against all communities of color. This is a moment for us to acknowledge and disrupt the pervasive presence of anti-Black racism within the Asian community, and refrain from using this pivotal moment in history to elevate anti-Black policy responses or narratives that will further criminalize all communities of color. The response to this violence is NOT more police. It is COMMUNITY and SOLIDARITY.

New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools are united in the demand that our city create anti-racist solutions that centers communities of color short and long term need including:

●      Commit NOT to increase the presence of police or the use of carceral solutions.

●      Invest in Culturally Responsive pedagogy, curriculum and trainings

●      Invest in Ethnic Studies programming across all grades

●      Collect and report disaggregated Asian American data by ethnic groups whenever demographic information is collected