Dear Hingham Unity Council Friends,
As our mission states, the Hingham Unity Council (HUC) was created to help build a culture that respects and values the dignity and humanity of every community member.
The HUC stands in solidarity with our Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) community on the South Shore and everywhere. We continue to work to dismantle the structures and conditions in our society that perpetuate harassment, violence, and hate against individuals of any race, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion or national origin.
We are angered and heartbroken by the loss of life in Atlanta on Tuesday. We repudiate acts of racism against AAPI community members, including actions that incorporate misogynistic and class violence such as this hate crime directed against women in a highly marginalized occupation.
Our solidarity involves continuing to ask ourselves what we can do to stand alongside our community members with marginalized identities and respond to their needs. We can commit to learning, listening and acting. To those who wish to do so as well, we offer the following resources and suggestions:
Learn:
- If unaware, learn the history of anti-Asian sentiment in our country. This recent Washington Post article titled The long, ugly history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the U.S. is a good starting point.
- Review this research report by Stop AAPI Hate detailing reported hate incidents against AAPI in our country this past year, finding among other things that Asian women report hate incidents more than twice as much as Asian men.
- Visit Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
Listen:
- Attend The Massachusetts Town Hall on Anti Asian Racism Zoom co-sponsored by over a dozen Boston-based AAPI-led agencies on Thursday, March 25th @ 6PM. Register here.
Act:
- For those Hingham and South Shore citizens who are ready to take action and learn how to be better anti-racist bystanders by stopping anti-Asian/American harassment, we suggest exploring this free intervention training course from Hollaback.
- Connect with local AAPI-led businesses and let them know you support them.
- Be civically engaged. Ask elected officials and other leaders what they are doing to increase resources for intervention and prevention-based programs such as antiracism education in schools.
Our steadfast dedication to fostering a community whose culture respects and values the dignity and humanity of every community member will not waiver.
Respectfully,
The Hingham Unity Council