NYAPRS Note: Protests and vigils calling for an end to violence against Asian-Americans were held around the country over the weekend as lawmakers pushed for better tracking of hate crimes following the deadly shootings at Atlanta-area spas. Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked 150 percent since the pandemic began, according to a recent study. NYAPRS condemns mounting racism and violence against Asian Americans and other targeted groups and shares the powerful sentiments of member agency Fountain House’s President and CEO, Dr. Ashwin Vasan in the following statement.
Statement from President and CEO, Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, Regarding Violence Against Asian Americans
Ashwin Vasan Fountain House March 17, 2021
The continued and tragic racism, violence, and murder of Asian Americans is tearing further at the already frayed fabric of our society. This is a time when we should be joining together to rebuild our communities, centering and celebrating diversity, and holding on to the optimism that vaccines have brought to so many. Instead, this week we mourn more senseless murders, continued hate, and the ugliness of white supremacy rearing its head once again.
As a south Asian American and the child of immigrants from India, the murder of eight of our brothers and sisters in Atlanta hits close to home. As immigrants we want nothing more than to be included, accepted and celebrated in our society. But at the very least, we want to be safe. Free from violence, trauma, and discrimination. The rise of anti-Asian sentiment due to Covid-19 has shattered any semblance of safety we have felt, and this tragedy is a byproduct of our tacit acceptance of the othering and marginalization of an entire group, based entirely on racist disinformation.
At Fountain House, more than 60% of our population identify as BIPOC, and every attack, every aggression, every senseless act is felt deeply by our community, and has ripple effects felt long after the headlines have ceased. As a community, we deal with the lingering mental health impacts of these murders for years, and though we have a supportive community in which to process grief and insecurity, we wish that we did not have to.
Prior to COVID, Asian Americans experienced some of the highest rates of depression and suicidal ideation, and were half as likely to access help compared with other racial groups. Rates of serious mental illness in Asian American and Pacific Islanders increased from 2.9 percent to 5.6 percent in people ages 18-25 between 2008 and 2018. This is only likely to increase. The continued trauma faced by Asian-Americans throughout COVID is going to have long-term mental health impacts that need to be met by culturally competent mental health services and supports.
We are ready to meet this challenge. But now we grieve, we remember, and we stand together to #StopAsianHate.