June 14, 2021
CONTACT Sara Braun, stopaapihate@fenton.com
Deeper Investments are Required to Protect Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) Against the Racism and Discrimination Sparked by the COVID-19 Pandemic
Over forty leaders from California’s AAPI community have released the following statement demanding Gov. Newsom adopt the API Equity Budget ahead of the June 15 state budget deadline:
“The hate that the AAPI community has faced since the start of the pandemic is a real and persistent threat in California. Governor Newsom must take action and unequivocally support the API Equity Budget — a $210 million proposal that would make historic investments to address the racial inequities that have long affected the AAPI community, as well as the surge in anti-AAPI hate and violence over the past year.
Between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2021, Stop AAPI Hate received 6,603 reports of hate incidents nationwide — 2,640 of these incidents were reported from California. Governor Newsom and his administration must go further to protect California’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. During several stakeholder listening sessions with the AAPI community, Governor Newsom committed to taking serious action to address anti-AAPI racism and we implore him to make good on his word to make holistic and significant investments.
AAPI leaders have worked hard to outline concrete solutions in the API Equity Budget that would more effectively address the hate and discrimination our community is facing. The budget has the support of the API Legislative Caucus, both houses of the legislature, and the leadership of over 150 leading AAPI and ally organizations. This is Governor Newsom’s chance to do something meaningful about anti-AAPI racism in this state, so we hope he will turn his words into tangible, real change by supporting this budget.
Funds from the API Equity Budget will:
- Bridge the gap of linguistically and culturally competent state services to AAPI Californians as our communities respond to anti-AAPI attacks;
- Protect our communities by investing in programs and partnerships that advance community and neighborhood safety; and
- Promote inclusive economic development to build back and support historically AAPI neighborhoods.
Gov. Newsom’s adoption of this budget would show that he is committed to protecting AAPIs and that he sees AAPI leaders as a critical part in following through with this commitment.”
Signatories
- Aarti Kohli, Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
- Annie Lam, Executive Director, League of California Cities Asian Pacific Islander Caucus
- Anni Chung, President & CEO, Self-Help for the Elderly
- Audrey Yamamoto, President & Executive Director, Asian Pacific Fund
- Brocade Wu Harmon, President, OCA San Diego Chapter
- Carl Chan, President, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
- Chanchanit Martorell, Founder & Executive Director, Thai Community Development Center
- Charles Jung, Executive Director, California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal-APABA)
- Chun-Yen Chen, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF)
- Connie Chung Joe, CEO, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
- Cynthia Choi, Co-Founder, Stop AAPI Hate & Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)
- David Kakishiba, Executive Director, East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC)
- Diana Vuong, Executive Director, Southeast Asian Community Center (SEACC)
- Ellen Ahn, Executive Director, Korean Community Services (KCS)
- Erich Nakano, Executive Director, Little Tokyo Service Center
- Eunice Song, Executive Director, Korean American Coalition Los Angeles (KAC)
- Geraldine Alcid, Executive Director, Filipino Advocates for Justice
- Hyepin Im, Founder & President/CEO, Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE)
- James An, President, Korean American Federation of Los Angeles (KAFLA)
- Jenny Leung, Executive Director, Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco
- Jinky Dolar, President, OCA Sacramento Chapter
- Jonathan Vorasane, Chair, Laotian American National Alliance (LANA)
- Karthick Ramakrishnan, Chair, California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs
- Katherine Yeom, Executive Director, Korean American Family Services (KFAM)
- Kimmy Maniquis, Executive Director, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA)
- Lina Park, Executive Director, Korean American Community Foundation of San Francisco
- Linda Ng, National President, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Lisa Fu, Executive Director, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
- Mandy Diec, Director of California, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
- Manjusha Kulkarni, Co-Founder, Stop AAPI Hate & Executive Director, Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council (A3PCON)
- Mariko Kahn, Executive Director, Pacific Asian Counseling Services
- Mary Anne Foo, Executive Director, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Inc. (OCAPICA)
- Miya Yoshitani, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
- Naindeep Singh, Executive Director, Jakara Movement
- Nancy Xiong, Executive Director, Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP)
- Nkauj Iab Yang, Executive Director, California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs
- Pao Yang, President & CEO, The Fresno Center
- Pat Fong Kushida, President & CEO, California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
- Richard Konda, Executive Director, Asian Law Alliance
- Rick Yuen, Executive Director, APA Family Support Services
- Seng Yang, Director, Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County
- Stephanie Nguyen, Executive Director, Asian Resources, Inc.
- Stephenson Loveson, President, Asian Pacific State Employees Association (APSEA)
- Susan Lew, President, Asian Americans in Action
- Tammy Kim, Managing Director, Korean American Center
- Terrence Valen, Executive Director, Filipino Community Center
- Dr. Victor Thompson, Executive Director, National Pacific Islander Education Network
- Vincent Pan, Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)
- Zainab Syeda, Interim Executive Director, South Asian Network