RESOURCES TO EDUCATE AND MOBILIZE – There is a long history of anti-Asian racism and xenophobia, and many resources out there to learn about how we got where we are today. Here are just a few:
Stop AAPI Hate
Stop AAPI Hate (established by Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and San Francisco Asian American Studies Department) has been a leader in bringing to the national spotlight hate incidents targeting the AAPI community. From March 2020 to March 2021, the reporting center received more than 3,800 reports of hate incidents from around the country. Stop AAPI Hate National Reports include critical and specific data about location, types of violence (verbal harassment, shunning, physical assault, online, workplace, barred from establishment or transportation), and victim demographic to provide context for these numbers.
Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit
The Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit was created by a collection of AAPI organizations and reflects the organizations’ analysis of the interconnectedness of issues and constituencies within the structures of white supremacy. In addition to workshop modules, the Toolkit offers some experiences and lessons learned in working to dismantle structural racism.
NAPABA Hate Crimes Task Force and Pro Bono Legal Resources
NAPABA has compiled many hate crime resources, including a Combat Hate Crimes Toolkit. Also established pro bono legal resources to ensure that local communities have legal resources to address the most egregious hate-fueled attacks against our community.
Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations
The Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations can enforce the State’s anti-discrimination laws when a discriminatory act occurs in the workplace, housing or place of public accommodation, and partner with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, victim services, and various community networks to ensure that a community as a whole responds to incidents with a united and coordinated effort. This PHRC Hate Crimes Facts Sheet explains hate crimes and bias incidents as defined under Pennsylvania law. NOTE: These definitions differ in different jurisdictions.
PA Attorney General’s Office
The comprehensive Hate Crimes Resource Guide from the PA Attorney General’s Office summarizes federal and state law relevant to combating hate crimes – including the rights afforded by the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions, as well as federal and state criminal and civil statutes. In addition, the brochure lists the agencies you can contact if you have been subjected to hate, bias, or discrimination.
REPORTING HATE INCIDENTS – Reporting helps us understand what is happening and guides us in developing policies and advocacy
Anyone can report a hate incident at the Stop AAPI Hate website in English and eleven (11) AAPI Languages or at through the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) reporting form, available in seven (7) languages.
Reporting Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents in Pennsylvania
Dial 911 for an emergency. Non-emergency PA State Police: 717-783-5599 (Monday through Friday 8:30 A.M. – 5:30 P.M.). To report an incident to Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) for informational and tracking purposes, please contact 717-772-0523. To request assistance in determining if a hate crime is actionable under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA), contact the Philadelphia Regional Office (215-560-2495); Pittsburgh Regional Office (412-565-5395); or Harrisburg Regional Office (717-787-9780).
Report to the US Department of Justice and FBI Pennsylvania Field Offices.
The FBI Civil Rights/Hate Crimes Unit investigates and prosecutes hate crimes throughout the US. 1-202-324-3000.
Reporting Philadelphia Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents
Dial 911 for an emergency. For non-emergency reporting: Contact the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) at 215-686-4670 or [email protected]. The PCHR also has an anonymous hotline at 215-686-2856.
Reporting Pittsburgh Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents
Dial 911 for an emergency. For non-emergency reporting: Contact the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (PghCHR) at 412-255-2600 or [email protected].
SAFE INTERVENTION RESOURCES – Learn safe ways to handle yourself and potentially help others
If you are a victim or a witness of a hate incident:
- If it is an emergency, dial 911
- Document any information you have regarding the crime as soon as possible after the incident. Include any details about the perpetrators physical appearance including gender, age, height, race, weight, clothes, and other distinguishing characteristics.
- File reports with your local police department and the FBI. Be sure to get the responding officer’s name and badge number and a case number. Get your own copy of the police report if possible. If you need the phone number for a local police department, please call 1-800-VICTIMS.
- Find support from friends/family and from a professional if needed.
In response to the rise in Anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment, Hollaback! partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC to adapt its free bystander intervention training as well as offering a de-escalation training to meet this moment.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
- Be kind to yourself and allow yourself time to process these traumatic events. Seek help from a professional if needed.
- Check in on your AAPI colleagues, friends and family.
- Offer to accompany an AAPI individual during their errands or commute for safety.
- Share safety tips from Stop AAPI Hate for those experiencing or witnessing a hate incident.
- Ask your elected officials what they are doing to increase resources for survivors and their families, and for intervention- and prevention-based programs such as anti-racism education in schools and in communities.
- Support local Asian-owned businesses, which are predominantly small businesses and experienced a decline in patronage when stay-at-home orders were enacted and as a result of rising xenophobia during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
- Donate to organizations supporting and amplifying support for and protection of AAPI communities across the country.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND RESPONSES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Philly Asian Americans have experienced a year of hateful acts, and fear it’s going to get even worse
by Erin McCarthy, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar 18, 2021
APABA-PA‘s past president Djung Tran was quoted and our member Stephen Kulp, who chairs the Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association, recounts from his personal encounters in Philly.
Statement by the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs Condemning Racial Violence Against Asian Pacific Americans
February 22, 2021
Harrisburg, Pa. – The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs condemns the recent attacks on Asian Pacific Americans across the nation and calls for all Pennsylvanians to stand up against anti-Asian hate and racism in all forms.
From Oakland, California to Brooklyn, New York, innocent Asian elders have been severely injured or killed in wanton acts of violence. Here in Pennsylvania, witnesses have reported more insidious forms of hate, including threats of bodily harm to Asian American high school students and the casual use of the term “COVID” to name Asian-influenced food. This targeting of our Asian and Asian American community members is part of a long history of anti-Asian racism in the United States – from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese Internment during World War II.
Hate and racism have no place in Pennsylvania. Whether it is hateful rhetoric against a religion; discriminating against someone from receiving service because of their gender identity; or excessive use of violence by police because of the color of a person’s skin; we stand against all forms of social injustice.
If you see a hate crime occur, call 9-1-1. Non-emergency hate crimes and discriminatory acts should be reported to state and local police, the FBI, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. For more information on reporting and combating hate, visit: https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/protect-yourself/civil-rights/combatting-hate-crime/.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stephanie Sun, [email protected]
APABA-PA Statement Regarding Anti-Asian Racism Associated with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
(Released March 12, 2020; updated March 23, 2020)
The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania (APABA-PA) denounces the increase in racist attacks and xenophobic profiling against members of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community in the wake of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Amid public fear and panic about the COVID-19 outbreak, there are increasing reports across the country of attacks targeting APA communities linked to racist assumptions about who has COVID-19. For example, in San Fernando, CA, a16-year-old APA boy was physically attacked at school after being accused of having COVID-19 because he is an APA. In Plymouth, IN, two Hmong men were denied service at hotels due to the false assumption that they were Chinese and carrying COVID-19. In New York City and in Philadelphia, PA, APAs were physically and verbally assaulted in subway stations or trains, in incidents being investigated as COVID-19- related hate crimes. The fact that COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China has at times led to APAs being stereotyped as infected with the virus, and this racist assumption hurts APA communities all over the country. These and other racist attacks harm APA communities and the larger community by stoking animus between groups when it is important to be as cooperative as possible.
These violent incidents recall past attacks that have remained a permanent stain in U.S. history, including the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, an American perceived by his killers as being part of the Japanese auto industry that was surging against the U.S. auto industry at that time. We must denounce anti-Asian bias and racial intolerance and stop it from becoming normalized.
As part of this effort, APABA-PA urges the media, elected officials, and community leaders to help stop the spread of xenophobia and misinformation by only sharing confirmed and verifiable information pertaining to COVID-19, how it spreads, and what actions we can take to ensure the best protection for everyone. In addition, APABA-PA encourages providing information about all measures that impact APA communities in multiple languages so that those who are limited English proficient are able to access important information in a timely manner. APABA-PA continues to encourage local efforts to curb xenophobia, such as city officials reminding the public that it is safe to support local APA-owned businesses to the extent possible while adhering to social distancing and quarantine rules, such as grocery and convenience stores, and takeout and delivery food services, and to support their APA neighbors.
COVID-19 is an important public health challenge that is also causing widespread economic harm. It does not discriminate by race. The harm caused by COVID-19 will be greater if we allow it to divide us, and eradicating the virus will depend on our ability to work together.
APABA-PA encourages anyone who experiences discrimination, or encounters or witnesses attacks or harassment to report it to the proper channels. If you witness or are the victim of a crime, call 911 immediately and request language assistance from law enforcement entities if needed.
- In Philadelphia, reports can be made to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) at 215-686-4670, [email protected] or leave a voice message at the 24-hour hotline at 215-686-2856. Reports can be made anonymously;
- In Pittsburgh, reports can be made to the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations (PghCHR) at 412-360-9553, or online here;
- Across Pennsylvania, reports can also be made to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) at 717-787-4410.
Founded in 1984, APABA-PA represents the interests of the APA law students, lawyers, and judges and the APA community across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by supporting the advancement of APA attorneys and promoting justice, equity, and legal access, especially for all APA communities. Routinely, APABA-PA speaks out on legal issues that affect the APA community in Pennsylvania.
APABA-PA and other NAPABA affiliates joins NCAPA and a coalition of over 260 groups calling on Congress to speak out against anti-Asian discrimination.
Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission releases guidance relating to COVID-19
- Available Covid-19 Guidance (العربية, 中文, 한국어, नेपाली, Tiếng Việt)
- Additional guidance around discrimination and COVID 19
Download – PHRC COVID-19 GUIDANCE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES in cases of discrimination related to COVID-19
City of Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and Office of Immigrant Affairs statement on hate crimes – “Hate Crimes based on Ethnicity and Fear of Coronavirus are Illegal”
State Police Reinforces Commitment to Prevent, Investigate Bias-Based Crimes
Due to the recent rise of hate crimes against members of our Asian American communities, the Pennsylvania State Police would like your assistance in disseminating the attached document to the members of these communities, as well as your other community and law enforcement partners so that our message can go even further. We would like to encourage Asian Americans to report any and all instances of hate or bias crimes that they may have witnessed, or been a victim of. We also want to reassure them that a thorough investigation will follow any report of hate or bias, and we are able to communicate with them in multiple languages.
APABA-PA’s President Djung Tran was asked to comment for 6abc Action news last Thursday on the segment “Some Philadelphia Asian Americans link attacks to coronavirus rhetoric“, March 19, 2020.
Recorded discussion on “Addressing Hate, Discrimination, and Mental Health in the #AAPI Community“, was hosted by the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.
PCDC shares resources available to the community.
NAPABA Webinar
Pandemic and Acts of Hate Against Asian Americans: From Past to Present
Recorded April 3, 2020
The COVID 19 pandemic has led to an upsurge in violence and racial harassment against Asian Americans, and a rise in racially charged remarks from politicians, including the White House. What lessons from our past inform our present? In the San Francisco bubonic plague epidemic of 1900, a race-based inoculation plan and quarantine was enforced against Chinese residents. This was but just one example of a long and unfortunate history of racial scapegoating. Learn how race has been used in the arena of public health, how you can right discrimination, and how states and the federal government can help.
Presented by the NAPABA Civil Rights Committee & the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY)
Panelists:
- Chris M. Kwok, NAPABA Dispute Resolution Co Chair, AABANY Issue Chair
- Prof. Gabriel “Jack” Chin – UC Davis Law School
- Harpreet Singh Mokha – US DOJ – Community Relations Service
- Rahat N. Babar – Special Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey; Chair, NAPABA Civil Rights Committee