Supporting Asian Americans in Alaska - will you join us?
Anna and her son Nolan, age 2
“A year ago, Asian Americans across the United States were calling for allies, for fear that a surge of hate would follow the continuous flippantly racist remarks being made in the media about COVID-19. We all saw this coming”, says Anna McGovern, a Chinese American mother of two and an employee at Alaska Children’s Trust. Over the past year, Anna has been grappling with the recent anti-Asian attacks across our country and what these attacks mean for her two sons, ages 2 and 3 months.
The recent attacks against Asian Americans are appalling acts of racism, hatred, and domestic terrorism and are directly threatening children and families. The murder of six Asian American women in Atlanta last week, attacks on Asian elders in the Bay Area of California, and various attacks on Asian Americans in New York are just a few of the 3,800 hate-fueled attacks reported by Stop AAPI Hate, the coalition that tracks incidents of hate towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), since last March.
Alaska is not immune to anti-Asian racist behaviors. ACT Team members and partners have shared stories of our AAPI brothers and sisters being told to go back from where they came from, blamed for local restrictions, and some have been physically attacked. Across the country, about 3 in 10 Asian-American adults say they’ve experienced jokes or slurs about their race or ethnicity during the pandemic, and in downtown Anchorage specifically, some business owners are reporting business being lower than their non-AAPI peers and believe it may be because of their Asian-American identity.
These events are unacceptable and have direct, negative impacts on our children and families. The stress of discrimination and the added concern for their own and their families’ safety wears down a caregiver's capacity to attend to a child’s needs, and dealing with racism hampers the safe, stable, and nurturing relationships needed for a child’s development. It hurts the Alaska Children’s Trust to think of children suffering at the hands of racism. Anna says “it is up to my generation to stand up, speak up, and reclaim our space” so that our children do not have to carry the heavy weight of racism. It is up to all of us to help in that mission and ensure it does not fall on Asian Americans alone.
Alaska has the benefit of an incredibly diverse population, with nearly 7% of Alaskans identifying as Asian American, but, as Anna reflects, “the representation we see in our state legislature and other governmental bodies, in funding focuses, and in outreach do not match that statistic. We as a community, as a state and country need to be more intentional in lifting the voices of those who have historically been ignored. As more BIPOC [black, Indigenous, people of color] individuals are demanding and creating space to address hate and racism in this country we are asking for support, to lift our voices, to say something when hate is being spread”.
Alaska Children’s Trust stands against racism. Like Anna, we are hopeful for the future of all our children. She says she “hopes, as Alaskans, we can work towards creating a world where my sons’ Asian-American identity is celebrated, where they don’t have to carry the fear that my grandparents, parents, and I must carry. Where they can be proud and showcase their Chinese heritage”.
Join us in taking up the mantle of stopping racism in its tracks!
You can start today! Here are 4 meaningful ways to get involved:
Today, March 24, at 4:30 p.m. there is a training by embracerace: Violence Against Asian Americans: How Do We Support the Children?
Take this bystander intervention training so that you have the tools to intervene if you see racism occurring.
Find ways to talk to your children about racism by using this resource for parents or this fantastic resource for educators.
Or join ACT on April 27 for our Prevention Month webinar “Racism, Sexism, and Prejudice: A Conversation on Talking to your Kids About Equity”. Registration will be open for this event at the beginning of April.