NAACP New Bedford Branch Statement on the March 17th shootings in Atlanta
On behalf of the Executive Board:
The NAACP New Bedford Branch joins with others throughout the country in mourning victims of the March 17th killing rampage in Atlanta and in condemning discrimination, racism, sexism, misogyny and violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander community. We reach out in solidarity with our Asian-American brothers and sisters.
It is clear to this branch that the recent attacks were motivated by racial hatred and gender hatred; we must name these acts for what they are. Of the victims murdered in a killing spree that targeted Asian businesses in Atlanta, six were Asian women. The investigation is ongoing and the motives of the killer are not completely clear. What is crystal clear, however, is a disturbing trend of attacks directed at Asian and Pacific Islanders (APPI) in the United States. The group Stop APPI Hate has documented nearly 4,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans in the last year alone. Recent news stories have reported the assault on an 83 year-old Asian grandmother in White Plains, and others where the victim was told to “go back to China” or was blamed for the “China Virus.” An elderly Asian woman was attacked in San Francisco yesterday. In this case, the woman fought off her attacker, but was not unscathed.
The NAACP New Bedford Branch has called on New Bedford Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro to reach out to the Asian-American community and make courtesy calls to Asian-American-owned businesses, to assure them that extra steps are being taken to protect their safety. We call on everyone to take a deep look at what is happening to us as a nation. These killings are one more sign that America’s racial reckoning is long overdue and that, aside from the pandemic, hate represents the greatest single threat to the survival of our country.
Dr. LaSella L. Hall, Ph.D., President
