Violence Against the Asian and Asian American Community

As you all know by now, our mission is more than words to us and transcends just the tech industry, which is why we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss the xenophobic, racist, and violent acts against Asian and Asian Americans happening right now.

In American culture, we have a complicated past with the Asian and Asian American community. By “we,” I am referring to white individuals who use their power to choose when Asians and Asian Americans are part of “in-groups” (when it’s convenient for them) but then are often overlooked when it comes to their true lived experiences. This is also known as the Oppression Olympics.

Treatment of Asian and Asian Americans has never been spoken about or covered in the news (it still isn’t). The pandemic only added fuel to the fire, encouraging folx to toss blame to this community that was falsified and encouraging violence across the world. Stop AAPI Hate reported over 2,100 hate incidents against Asian Americans just in March and June 2020. As of February 2021, more than 2,800 reports of discrimination happened since the pandemic began.

These past few weeks, we’ve learned about the acts of violence against Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man who was walking alone in his neighborhood and was violently attacked and died from injuries two days later. A 91-year-old was pushed to the ground in broad daylight in Oakland’s Chinatown. The suspect who did this went on to attack a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman. In NYC, Noel Quintana, a 61-year-old Filipino man, was slashed across the face on the subway. Again, this is just in the past few weeks. There are more incidents than this.

We want everyone at Treehouse to know that we condemn this behavior and will not tolerate any form of hate at the company. If at any point you feel unsafe, physically or psychologically, please let us know. More importantly, work towards being an active bystander when you see or hear something.

We aim to be part of a solution as we learn how to support the Asian and Asian American community better - this includes our students, employees, and those outside of the work environment.

Below are ways we all can begin or continue our anti-racism work for the Asian and Asian American community.

• Check-in with your family and friends in the Asian and Asian American community
• Call Congress and ask your representative what they’re doing to provide safety to the Asian and Asian American community.
• Raise awareness - this is not being talked about enough!
• Learn about the history of Asians and Asian Americans in the United States.
• Read 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks
• Speak out against this with the hashtag #hateisavirus and visit Hate is a Virus (you can also donate to them!)
• Visit STOP AAPI HATE and use it as a resource to report acts of racism and violence.
• Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide