May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This is an important time to honor the diversity of Asian cultures and elevate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voices while recommitting to stand against hatred toward the Asian and Pacific Islander community. As students and families deal with the trauma of increased violence this year targeted at AAPI communities, we call for a stop to the hate, terrorism, racism and violence perpetrated against AAPI students and families.
The long history of discrimination against AAPI students and families includes stereotyping them as a monolith – both as perpetual foreigners and “model minorities” – and failing to address their diverse needs.
We condemn the
rise in hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic and recognize that AAPI students live with fear and anxiety that their family members might be attacked.
Families have become more hesitant to send their children to schools that are reopening for fear of what their children may face in and on their way to school.
We urge educators to take affirmative steps to eradicate racist and harmful rhetoric that have fueled attacks on the AAPI community.
To our Asian American and Pacific Islander students and families we say...
We hear you. We see you. We are with you.
IDRA promotes policies and practices that affirm your right to exist and thrive. We affirm that…