The PLTC DE&I Committee unequivocally condemns the escalating violence directed toward Asian-American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) nationwide. The March 16 shooting near Atlanta which killed eight individuals, six of whom were AAPI women, is the latest incident to exacerbate the fear and pain the community has experienced from the rise in violence and xenophobia since the start of the pandemic. We mourn the victims of this crime and extend our support to the AAPI older adults who were attacked, and in one case killed, over the past three months.
As members of PLTC, we find the attacks on these older adults especially reprehensible because they were inflicted upon the most deeply respected and vulnerable members of the AAPI community. According to data gathered by Stop AAPI Hate, there have been nearly 3,800 reported incidents of discrimination directed toward AAPI individuals in the U.S. since March 2020. Thus far, over 7% of the incidents reported are from individuals age 60 or older. This figure likely is underreported because of language barriers among the many older AAPI adults who are immigrants.
Individuals who were targeted also indicated that they found these incidents traumatic and view anti-Asian xenophobia as a primary source of emotional stress. In order to promote healing and create a sense of safety within the long-term care settings where you practice, we encourage PLTC members to continue to embrace difficult conversations with your older adult clients, particularly individuals of color, who may face past or current race-based traumas.
We also invite our members to be “called in” to continue to speak up in solidarity with vulnerable communities targeted by discrimination and violence. We encourage you, in the places where you practice, teach, and conduct research, to foster meaningful dialogue with others about racial justice and dismantling systems of oppression. Toward this end, included below is a resource to help promote understanding about the long history of anti-AAPI racism in the U.S.; please feel free to use and share widely. The support allies show toward marginalized individuals can be incredibly powerful, validating, and healing, and counters the self-gaslighting that can occur among individuals when they do not hear active and vocal support within their wider communities.
In peace and solidarity,
PLTC DE&I Committee