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The first National Asian Narrative Resource Center presented interactive data on the hate faced by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, with the aim of gathering key information that will allow the creation of functional tools that can protect this population.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in hate and violence against the AAPI community, which is why a group of experts met in a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services, to introduce the first National Asian Narrative Resource Center.
Connie Chung Joe, CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, said the Asian Resource Center is a direct response to the discrimination the community has experienced during and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as there is a critical need for AAPIs to find verified, in-language, and culturally competent resources when and where help is needed.
As part of the fight against hate crimes against the Asian community in the United States, the first digital resource developed by AJSOCAL, Advancing Justice – AAJC, is created and, with the support of Microsoft, a collection of data is carried out by StopAAPIHate.org, StandAgainstHatred.org, the United States Census Bureau, FBI reports, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, local law enforcement agencies, and other sources, with the aim of raising awareness and fostering a deeper understanding of the challenges facing these communities.
Taking into account the narrative context allows for a deeper understanding of the topic, as narratives of events are key resources for promoting debate on the fight against hatred, discrimination and racism against Asians, he said.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (AAJC) is a nonprofit organization that works to advance AAPI civil and human rights through policy advocacy and community education, while AAJC is the largest national Asian American policy advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.
For its part, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) is a national organization that defends the civil and legal rights of the AAPI community.
Meanwhile, AJSOCAL supports more than 15,000 individuals and organizations annually, offering free legal assistance and working to change policies necessary for Asian communities.
The demographic data reflects the continued growth of the AAPI community in the United States, which has grown from 18 million in 2010 to more than 25 million in 2020, representing nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population.
The Pew Research Center study The Asian American population is expected to exceed 45 million by 2060, making it necessary to begin preparing safe and healthy spaces for current and emerging communities.
The Asian-American community has grown by nearly 40 percent over the past decade, and the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community by nearly 30 percent, showing how the U.S. population has changed in the face of the constant growth of these communities that are already making an impact and demanding a voice on sensitive issues.
John C. Yang, of Asian Americans Advancing Justice She said there is a lack of quality data that reflects hate incidents and experiences, so the Asian Resource Center will seek to close these gaps and provide information and data that will allow the AAPI community to face and overcome these challenges.
As the number of Asians has grown, so has the number of hate crimes, many of which go unreported and those who try to report them face many obstacles, including classification of incidents, language barriers, fear of discrimination, distrust of institutions, cultural stigma and lack of information.
The legal side is not clear and most incidents of hate and discrimination do not meet the legal criteria to be considered crimes or offenses and those that do meet them are not always reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by local authorities.
However, it is essential that complaints are made in safe spaces and in their own language, with members of their community, in order to file a report in case of being a victim of any aggression. In this way, a record can be kept and data collected to generate reports that help prevent acts of hate and improve the system, for the benefit of Asian communities.
Microsoft's Merisa Heu-Weller said that through this effort, we are able to provide clarity in the data, as well as material that helps gather information and a national directory to help combat incidents against the AAPI community, helping to understand what is happening in it.
Finally, a directory of resources and services has been made available to the community, with the aim of providing the necessary help for each need of the community with direct, low-cost or free services that are culturally competent and linguistically appropriate.
The list features over 60 organizations that provide a variety of services such as legal assistance, social services, civic engagement opportunities, and more.
Access to the center is free asianresourcehub.org
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the CaliFornia State Library.
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