Campaign Against Anti-Asian Bias

June 1, 2020

The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States was associated with rising reports of verbal and physical bias attacks against Asian Americans. Many leaders and organizations have spoken out against these attacks, raised awareness, created reporting mechanisms and advocated for a strong law enforcement response. EBF strongly supports these efforts and wants to help counter this anti-Asian bias by raising awareness of the critical positive roles that Asian Americans have in the fight against COVID. On May 3, 2020 EBF launched the website (https://www.aa-againstcovid19.org), a central repository of curated publicly sourced news stories about positive contributions that Asian American have made as frontline healthcare and other essential workers, in medical/scientific research, in philanthropy and civic engagement against this pandemic. Civic leaders such as Wayne Ho, President and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council, said, "Asian Americans are on the frontlines of fighting the pandemic, serving as doctors, nurses, human services workers, grocers, delivery workers, and more. Our community deserves the support and thanks of the nation, but many community members are facing instead anti-Asian harassment and violence. COVID-19 is a public health issue, not a racial, ethnic, or immigrant issue. We are grateful for this website to document the contributions of the Asian American community and to take a stand against hate." Kathy Ko Chin, President and CEO of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum added that "Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, along with other communities of color, have been fighting on the front lines against COVID-19. Asian Americans Against COVID19 shines a light on the necessary work our community has been doing as we continue to organize and volunteer to be a part of the cure."