APISBMA Statement Condemning Anti-Asian Hate

The Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association stands with all API individuals who are subject to violence, hatred and “othering.” According to the California Department of Education, there are over 750,000 Asian Pacific, Filipino and Asian Pacific Islander students who attend K-12 public schools which represents 12% of all California students. The needs of the API students are diverse and quite often overlooked.

The people of Asian descent have suffered intense discrimination since California’s earliest days, including, but not limited to, the inhumane policies and treatment toward Chinese immigrants in the Gold Rush Era, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the persecution of Filipino American workers, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the rise in violence against Asian Muslims and Sikhs after the September 11 terrorist attacks. We must acknowledge, learn and teach this history to not repeat it as schools not only have an obligation to prepare students academically but to provide the foundation for global citizenship as well as participation in civic responsibility, and to provide inclusive curriculum that highlights API and other underrepresented communities’ histories to help students value themselves and others.

Schools must also help dispel the “model minority” myth, a stereotype that the API community is a monolithic group that erases the economic, academic, and social struggles of our diverse communities and can add to API students’ social and emotional burdens.

As we are elected officials who are the governing boards of California public school districts, our values of inclusiveness, humanity, and respect demand that we support our students and staff of Asian ancestry and the larger AAPI community in this moment of national strife as well as at all times.

APISBMA therefore condemns hatred, xenophobia, harassment and violence towards people of Asian ancestry and commits to creating a supportive, inclusive culture that fully embraces students and staff of Asian descent. APISBMA stands in solidarity with all communities that experience racism and oppression by working together to create community centered solutions that stop the violence in all communities.

Please demand that your school board pass a Resolution Condemning Anti-Asian Hatred and Violence and Supporting People of Asian Ancestry

To View a sample resolution please click here.