Let's Talk Human Rights

The Human Rights Center stands with MEC, UD’s Asian American Association, and other colleagues on campus in condemning the mass shooting in Atlanta this week, as well as other episodes of hate targeting members of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, especially since the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic. In the last year, according to a recent study, there have been over 3800 documented incidents of hate crimes against AAPI individuals, and women are more than twice as likely to be targeted as men.

Our Dayton community continues to grieve for the lives lost in the Oregon District in August 2019. In the first three months of 2021, there have been close to 80 mass shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive. Despite demands for action to prevent further gun violence, little has been done by state and national authorities to adopt common-sense gun laws.  

The killings in Atlanta are connected to the racial animus and misogyny that have deep roots in U.S. culture. These forms of hatred find expression in words, actions, and movements. Effective responses require identifying and interrupting hate speech; tracking and investigating hate crimes; and countering hate groups organized around toxic masculinity and white supremacist ideologies. In the U.S., the failure to regulate the prevalence of guns in the civilian population makes hate especially traumatic and deadly.  

This devastating and tragic event lays bare the negative stereotypes and gender-based discrimination that women - particularly those of Asian descent - face in American society. For women who are migrants and employed in precarious sexualized labor and sex work, the risks of exploitation, violence and even death are exceptionally high. 

To truly value the lives and dignity of those lost in Atlanta and all those impacted by gun violence, local, state and national government action is essential to counter Anti-Asian and all forms of hate, prevent sexual and gender-based violence, fund crisis intervention programs, promote community education and adopt common-sense gun laws and policies.