Anti-Asian American actions spark concern
An increase in threats, harassment and even physical violence in the last year of the pandemic is being levied against those of Asian descent and it is cause for concern, say some local officials.
Several of them — Royersford Mayor Jenna Antoniewicz, Royersford Councilman Anil Dham, Phoenixville Mayor Peter Urscheler, Reena Kolar from the Perkiomen Valley School Board — are speaking out about the issue.
They are speaking through an open letter decrying discrimination and calling for understanding and tolerance that was also signed by three candidates for office — Erica Hermans, who is running for the Spring-Ford School Board, Sara Hughes, a candidate for the Springfield Township School Board and Susanna Ratsavong, a candidate for Springfield Township Commissioner.
“We recognize that our experiences and backgrounds are unique, even within our own pan-Asian communities. No matter who you are, the victims of these bigoted acts and attitudes are our neighbors and friends, family members and loved ones,” the Royersford Mayor Jenna Antoniewicz
letter reads.
“We are calling upon our fellow leaders of neighboring municipalities, school districts, and beyond to continue the work of combatting all harassment and discrimination, keeping the recent vulnerability of the Asian American community in mind,” the letter reads.
“‘Violence against Asian Americans sharply increased in March as COVID-19 began spreading across the country, and some politicians, including former President Donald Trump, blamed China for the pandemic,’ said Russell Jeung, who created a tool that tracks hate incidents against Asian American Pacific Islander communities called the Stop AAPI Hate tracker” USA Today reported last month.
“When President Trump began and insisted on using the term ‘China virus,’ we saw that hate speech really led to hate violence,” said Jeung, chair of the Asian American studies department at San Francisco State University, told the national newspaper. “That sort of political rhetoric and that sort of anti-Asian climate has continued to this day.”
Antoniewicz declined to lay all the blame at the former president’s feet.
“Just as I do not believe there is a ‘silver bullet’ solution to correcting all social and racial injustices in our country, I do not believe there is a single cause for the negative impacts we are seeing in any of our marginalized or underrepresented communities,” she wrote in an email response to a MediaNews Group query.
“However, that said, I’d simply like to reiterate that in my opinion, any person in leadership has a responsibility to be aware that our words and actions are important and have consequences. As any member of any community, it’s important to call out injustices when we are aware of them, and it’s important to recognize that language is important,” she wrote.
Antoniewicz said the letter calling out those injustices began as a conversation between herself and Ratsavong, who both said they were concerned about those of Asian descent being harassed.
“Our intent was threefold: to both bring attention to and raise awareness of this issue, recognizing many may not be aware. To reach out to those who may feel alone, concerned, or
“At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, are on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives. And still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It’s wrong, it’s unAmerican and it must stop.”
— President Joe Biden
frightened in our community,” Antoniewicz wrote.
“This letter was also meant to serve as a resource and toolkit for our community members,” she added. The letter ends with a lengthy list of places to turn for help. “If you are experiencing any kind of discrimination, it can be difficult to know who or where to turn to, particularly if you feel unempowered or voiceless,” she wrote.
That’s one reason for ongoing discussions to create a “Racial Equity Learning Community,” now underway by the TriCounty Community Network, the Bucks-Mont Collaborative and Interagency Council of Norristown.
The idea is “a new effort to deepen learning and practice of racial and social justice concepts in the human services community in Montgomery and Bucks counties,” according to a presentation made last month to the Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia.
The next listening session will be held online on Thursday, March 18 from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
Planning for this effort is supported by a $50,000 grant from the HealthSpark Foundation, Lansdale.
The grant “supports the design and development of a personal and organizational training curriculum to advance racial and social justice in the nonprofit sector in Montgomery County,” according to an announcement made in December.
The effort “will allow the organizations to build an inclusive advisory council to guide the planning process, identify training tracks and curriculum, and identify trainers,” according to the announcement. “The training program will be open to members of the three collaboratives, which jointly represent almost 200 social services nonprofit organizations in the county.”
They will have their work cut out for them.
“Stop AAPI Hate, Jeung’s website, which includes a self-reporting tool for harassment, discrimination and violent attacks, recorded 2,808 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination across the U.S. from its inception on March 19 to Dec. 31, 2020. Another organization, Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Asian American Justice Center, recorded more than 3,000 hate incidents in their selfreporting system since late April 2020. That is by far the highest number in the tool’s four-year history,” USA Today reported.
During his prime-time address to the nation Thursday, President Joe Biden took on the issue and denounced “vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who’ve been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.”
“At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, are on the