The rise in violence against the Pan-Asian community worldwide has increased at an alarming rate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most recently, the frequency of violent incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the U.S. has grown exponentially.
It is incredibly infuriating that these acts are being perpetrated, and disturbingly against the most vulnerable in our communities – the elderly, who have already been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic.
Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thailand native who lived in San Francisco, died several weeks ago after being shoved to the ground. Also recently, in New York City, a 52-year-old Chinese-American woman was attacked outside a bakery on the same day two Asian seniors were assaulted on the subway. Angelo Quinto, a Filipino Navy veteran suffering a mental health crisis, died after a Northern California police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, in the same manner George Floyd was murdered last year, forging unity efforts between Asian and Black communities to fight for racial justice. And the list goes on.
StopAAPIHate, a group that has been tracking hate incidents, has tallied nearly 3,000 cases since last March.
We believe that at LRN, we occupy a place of particular responsibility. We have chosen to make our day-in and day-out work inspiring principled behavior. Helping people around the world do the right thing by inspiring principled performance assumes an obligation to create an environment representative of justice, trust, fairness, equity, and inclusion.
We don’t just reject racism in all forms, we are trying to create an environment at LRN that is actively anti-racist and to deliver products and services that enable our partners to do the same in their own organizations. We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion is a matter of LRN’s mission and purpose and is of strategic importance to the company. We are actively committing to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive as a company, in the work we do with our partners, and in the world. Immediately, LRN is making a meaningful donation to the CommUNITY Action Fund by Hate is a Virus in support and solidarity with the Pan Asian community.
LRN believes that violence and hate are never the answer. We must stand in solidarity to fight against the underlying problem that is racism, which is so deeply rooted in our society.