Dear EOCF Community,
Educational Opportunities for Children and Families, first and foremost, acknowledges and gives reverence to the victims of the hateful and violent acts of one white man, committed on 03/16/2021 in Atlanta where eight lives were taken, six of whom were Asian women. Their names are: Xiojjie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Soon C. Park, Hyun J. Grant, Suncha Kim, and Yong A. Yue. This event represents a clear and terrifying escalation of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in our country, where we have also seen increased racial, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigrant violence and harassment.
Violence against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities has always been present. More recently in the news we have observed a response of utter shock and dismay to the decision made by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to remove books that “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” A study published in the journal Research on Diversity in Youth Literature titled “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books” reviewed fifty Dr. Seuss books and found forty-three characters of color that showed “characteristics aligning with the definition of Orientalism,” and two “African” characters with anti-Black characteristics in roles described as “subservient, exotified, or dehumanized.” In fact, Suess enthusiasts familiar with the Doc’s work are not surprised. The recent massacre that took place in Atlanta is a reminder of how harmful images that “other” or “dehumanize” a race of people can have harmful impact.
Today we write to express our sorrow and frustration regarding the continued loss due to acts of racism, Xenophobia and violence imposed upon our community. To all our Asian American and Pacific Islander children, families, staff, and community members, we see you. We love you. You belong here and EOCF will always stand in unity with you, support you and grieve with you.
EOCF believes the future of education is reliant on our “collective accountability” to demonstrate to each family in our community that they matter. Their well-being, ways of being, and experience is valued. We must continue to commit ourselves through actionable steps for the advancement of racial justice. Here are some actions you can take:
- Checking in on individuals we know and love in our personal lives.
- Making public statements on our social media and all business platforms.
- Getting proximate by listening to those within the (AAPI) community. Honoring their stories and following their lead on calls for action. [See episode 41 show notes for recommendations on who to follow]
- Donating to the Comm/Unity Action Fund to support the work of Hate Is A Virus; a nonprofit community of mobilizers and amplifiers to dismantle racism and hate.
- Signing up for Bystander Intervention Training to stop anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic harassment.
- Demonstrating your Allyship to the AAPI community. Suggestions for how to do this are provided in this article written by My Tam H. Nguyen, “Asian American Women Are Resilient — and We Are Not OK”
Resources
If you are hurting, needing comfort or are curious to learn, videos are available for streaming on the PBS Video app. Additionally, resources to learn how to fight violence against Asian Americans are available.