The Young Buddhist Editorial is absolutely heartbroken for the victims and their families of March 16th’s horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia which targeted Asian women. Out of respect for the victims and their families, we have chosen not to include their names in this letter. These hateful acts have no place in our society, and yet this violence is our country. Misogyny, xenophobia, racism, heterosexism, hate, and prejudice all fall under the umbrella of white supremacy which continues to endanger our lives and threaten our communities today. As an organization rooted in the Asian American Buddhist experience, we know too well the traumatic impact white supremacy has on our community and other vulnerable communities.

We urge our fellow Asian American Buddhists and those who stand in solidarity with us to see the recent anti-Asian violence not as isolated incidents or recent trends but as part of a larger complex history of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Laws and policies like the Page Act, Chinese Exclusion Act, Executive Order 9066, PATRIOT ACT, redlining, and refugee resettlement programs have excluded, targeted, persecuted, and murdered us long before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We must also recognize that Asian women and femmes have been particularly impacted by white supremacy as they face violence both within and outside of the Asian community. Gender-based violence and the hypersexualization of Asian women in popular culture and media is linked to the historical and current-day sexual exploitation of Asian women and femmes by U.S militarism in Asia and the Pacific. And for too long, the Asian American community and our Buddhist temples and sanghas have contributed to and been complicit in American heteropatriarchy, silencing voices and invalidating the experiences of survivors. 

As we fight for liberation, healing, and justice, we call on our Asian American Buddhist community and those who stand in solidarity with us to act with kindness, wisdom, and compassion. We must remember that safety and accountability for anti-Asian violence will not come by perpetuating anti-Blackness or supporting, funding, and seeking security in institutions and systems that harm BIPOC communities. Rather than unite us in solidarity, more policing will only continue the divisions between Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian communities. Our community will be the safest when we join together to form community-based responses. We understand that this may be new and unknown terrain for our community and change will not happen overnight. Below we have included some resources about how our community can move forward in solidarity with others.

Finally, we hope that our Asian American community takes time to heal and process so that we can come together and fight for equity and justice because one of the most powerful ways to resist white supremacy is to flourish in spite of it. We are valid in our feelings, our anger, and our hopes for our community. YBE will continue to use our small platform to spread awareness within our community so that this world can be one without suffering. 

In Community, 

The Young Buddhist Editorial 

We, the undersigned, join The Young Buddhist Editorial in committing to:

1. Educating ourselves on the intersections of gender, race, class, and religion with white supremacy

2. Acknowledging and understanding the racialized and religious political identities of our Buddhist sanghas and how they impact our communities

3. Highlighting the demands and uplifting the voices of low-resourced Asian American communities and Asian sex workers to protect the most vulnerable of our community

4. Reimagining and working towards a world without police by being in conversation with anti-racist groups already working towards this goal and calling on our community when in need.

Signed,

Janet Fukushima Quan
Maria Victoria Ribeiro Ruy, Coletivo Dinamene
Gabriel Kodo Isuka
Juliet Bost, Young Buddhist Editorial Member, San Mateo Buddhist Temple
Marisa Eng, Young Buddhist Editorial Board Member
Ronald Gee, Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple
Gillian Yamagiwa, Young Buddhist Editorial, Fresno Buddhist Temple
Trevor Yokoyama, Young Buddhist Editorial
Koki Atcheson, Young Buddhist Editorial

Asian American Community Resources: 

• NAPAWF

• Red Canary Song

• CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities

• Butterfly SW

• SWAN Vancouver  

• KIWA workers for Justice 

• Chinese Progressive Association 

• Asian Immigrant Women Advocate  

• Asian Pacific Islander Council

• Building AAPI Collective Power

Alternatives to Policing resources:

• Critical Resistance  

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta  

• 8toabolition 

• CALL ON ME NOT THE COPS 

• Don’t Call the Police