“This week, our country saw yet another incident of violence against people of color, as a young man murdered 8 people in Atlanta, including six Asian women in their place of work. While the details of this violence are still coming into focus, make no mistake, these killings did not occur in a vacuum. They took place within the larger context of hatred and violence aimed at members of the API community occurring all across the United States.

Anti-Asian racism is not a new phenomenon in this country, and the alarming uptick in anti-Asian violence we are seeing from the Bay Area to Atlanta and beyond must not only be broadly and roundly condemned but also must be seen as a call to action for the rest of us to protect one another.”

As union members, we believe that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ and that our strength comes from our unity. We must not just say those words but commit to living them every day. For us to create an inclusive, multiracial society where we all have a chance to thrive, regardless of our background and heritage, we must be prepared to stand up against the dangerous threat of violent white supremacists facing our nation. We must be committed to protecting one another when our institutions fail us and fall short, and we must take steps to defend one another—particularly those of us living and working in situations that make us vulnerable.

SEIU 1021 mourns the lives of all eight victims who were murdered in Atlanta. We call for solutions here at home which will provide support, protection, and transformative justice for communities who are susceptible to the impacts and violence of systemic racism.”