A Statement from Michael S. Rafferty
President & CEO, New Detroit, Inc.
Like countless others across the nation and globe, we are outraged by the ongoing rise in violence against our Asian American friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbors.
We condemn all acts of Xenophobia and Sinophobia and stand in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in protest of these horrific acts of cowardice and violence. While shocking, the anti-Asian hate that has dramatically increased within the past year is not an anomaly. Anti-Asian sentiment is a part of a longstanding, shameful, and tragic fabric of U.S. history that has continuously blanketed us in white supremacist ideology – the othering of our neighbors – perpetually viewed as foreigners to be mocked, ridiculed, and injured. In our ongoing fight for racial justice and equity we denounce these racist notions of who “real” Americans are as well as the “model citizen” myth that often relegates our Asian American neighbors to prized possessions for capitalist systems.
These dangerously false narratives inflict trauma upon Asian American communities, and we will work with them to dismantle the institutions that continue to uphold them. We will call out anyone, in our local communities and at every level of governing, who bolsters hateful rhetoric perpetuating the idea that our Asian American neighbors are to be avoided, harassed, harmed, or ousted.
We say the names of the victims who lost their lives in the horrific mass shooting in Atlanta: Xiao Jie Tan; Dao You Feng; Soon Chung Park; Sun Cha Kim; Young A. Yue; Hyun Jung Grant. We say the names of most recent victims of vicious attacks perpetrated against our elders: Xiao Zhen Xie; Knoc Pham; Vilma Kari; Rong Xin Liao.
We are committed to working with our colleagues and community partners in putting an end to racism, individual and institutionalized white supremacy, inequities, and injustice in whatever form they take. We encourage everyone to take their anger and outrage and turn it into action and advocacy. Learn about the issues impacting the Asian American community now, and get involved in the work.
A list of local APA organizations to support:
Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission MAPAAC@michigan.gov
American Citizens for Justice www.americancitizensforjustice.org
Council of Asian Pacific Americans ryan@capa-mi.org
APIAVote-Michigan www.apiavotemi.org
Association of Chinese Americans www.acadetroit.org 313-831-1790
Japanese American Citizens League-Detroit tbm0306@live.com
Korean American Community Detroit 248-945-9044
MIIndia.com www.MIIndia.com
Philippine American Community Center 248-443-7037
Vietnamese American Association of MI www.vaamichigan.org 248-921-3140
We want to hear from you. If you have more organizations to add to this list please contact us: https://www.newdetroit.org/contact-us/.
Stay well,
Mike