Anti-Asian Violence To Be Discussed At Alexandria Town Hall

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month wraps up at the end of May, residents are invited to an Alexandria town hall focused on anti-Asian violence in the time of COVID-19.

The virtual town hall titled "Contextualizing Anti-Asian Violence in the Age of COVID" will be held Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m. by the Alexandria Office of Human Rights. A panel discussion will focus on racial incidents and attacks targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panel participants will include Elisabeth Chan, Sue Jean Cho, John Min, and Alexander Purrugganan, who are faculty at Northern Virginia Community College's Alexandria campus. Their panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session.

The event is free, but registration is required. Chinese language interpretation will be available.

The event follows Alexandria City Council adopting a resolution to condemn hate acts against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The resolution was in response to March 16 shootings that killed eight people in the Atlanta area, including six Asian American women.

Hate incidents have notably risen since the COVID-19 pandemic started impacting the U.S. last spring. The nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate was created in March 2020 to document hate incidents in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 19, 2020 to March 31, 2021, 6,603 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate. The numbers significantly increased in March 2021 from 3,795 to 6,603 incidents, reflecting incidents that happened both this year and last year.

Those who have been the victim or witness or a hate crime in Alexandria can contact the city's Office of Human Rights at 703-746-3140.