As youth and young Asian Minnesotans, it is disheartening to see the attacks against our Asian communities continue to rise. The recent spike in attacks on our elder Asian community, resulting in deaths, have been horrific to witness.
Unfortunately, these attacks are not new — our Asian communities have long been seen as an outsider, and COVID-19 and its health and economic impacts on the people, and political scapegoating by certain politicians that pit communities of color against each other have exacerbated this.
More police is not the answer and it will never be the answer to our city and community’s progress and healing across race. Police have continued the cycle of harm against our BIPOC communities, killing us and leaving survivors traumatized. As we call to condemn the attacks against our Asian communities, we also call to condemn the anti-Black rhetoric as well. These tactics stem from white supremacy and seek to divide us and keep us from building cross-racial solidarity.
Instead, we know that the solution is with our community — with the people and with our neighbors. Community accountability and an investment in our communities — in our schools, in our work and jobs, in our public spaces, and more — will break the cycle of harm.
This February, as Black History Month continues and as Lunar New Year approaches, we continue to build together — across racial lines, across gender, across class, and no matter your zip code, we know that we can work towards a better, more just, and community-driven world for us all.
Learn more about how you can help.
Learn how you can move from bystander to intervention.