Stop The Hate 

Statement From AAPHP President, President Elect and Past President

20 March 2021

Stop the Hate …

Asian Americans have been assaulted on an increasing basis since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Statements made by elected officials, who have sworn to protect our citizens have had exactly the opposite effect by stoking anti-Asian sentiments. These sadistic random attacks have occurred from coast to coast in the U.S., while these defenseless victims were just walking or getting groceries. The attacks have also involved elderly citizens, for example, a gentleman dying on the pavement after being shoved to the ground in San Francisco and another having their face slashed and mutilated with a box cutter in New York. More recently, Tuesday, the 16^th of March 2021, eight people were slain, without provocation, allegedly by a single, 21 year-old white male in Atlanta metro-area … six were Asians.

Nearly 3,800 Asian Americans have been targeted with hateful incidents during the past year in 47 states and Washington D.C. The use of terms such as Kung flu, China Virus are racist in intent. These rhetorical phrases, spoken repeatedly by our elected officials, intentionally or unintentionally have led to racist and hateful attacks. Racism and hate are paramount public health threats, whether anti-Asian, anti-Pacific Islander, anti-Black, anti-LatinX, anti-Muslim, or anti-LGBTQ, either or all, continues to undermine our democracy and allows the flourishing of a system, based upon anarchy, analogous to the insurrectionist attacks on our U.S. Capitol, 6 January 2021. Without a doubt, this was our 2^nd day of infamy since Pearl Harbor. Following the U.S. entrance into World War II, FDR’s Executive Order 9066, led to the Internment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans from 1942 - 1945.

Our democracy is again imperiled … if we are to preserve and protect this republic, we must protect all vulnerable citizens no matter their country or community of origin. We must refrain from divisive rhetoric, commit to dismantling sadistic and sinister practices, originating from inter-generational beliefs, behaviors, and values based on ignorance, structural racism and evil intent. Such senseless victimization presents an ever-present danger to us all. We urge that appropriate resources be utilized on the Federal, State, Local and Tribal levels to combat this embarrassment to what we stand for as a nation. We must restore a sense of dignity and trust, to not only the Asian American communities, but other immigrant communities that helped build this nation.  Individuals, organizations and corporations must stand in unity against assaults on the Constitutional and democratic principles we hold … so near and so dear to our national identity. Now is the time to acknowledge and boldly address our fear of others, our hate, our racism. We can and we must … Stop the Hate!

Respectfully,

Thomas Britt, MD                Damon T. Arnold, MD        Dennis Garrett, MD

Thomas Britt, MD, MPH                Damon Arnold, MD, MPH              Dennis Garrett, MD

President, AAPHP                           President-Elect AAPHP                   Immediate Past President, AAPHP

 PDF of letter : Stop the Hate.pdf