From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Barred Zone Act to Japanese Internment, anti-Asian racism is not new in our country. However, it has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The language used around the coronavirus caused many to associate the virus with people of Asian descent and emboldened others in their anti-Asian statements and actions. Between March 19 and December 31, 2020, the organization Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate received more than 2,800 first-hand reports of anti-Asian hate across the country. The accounts range from physical violence—like the 91-year-old man who was forcefully rammed causing him to fall face-first into the pavement—to verbal attacks—like that experienced by the husband of a client, who was berated in front of his kids and told to return to his country after being rear-ended. None of these incidents is ok and any action of racism is an act too many. Kilpatrick Townsend stands unequivocally against racism in all of its forms. The recent rise in attacks against our country’s Asian Pacific American communities is unacceptable. 

We stand in support of all Asian Pacific Americans, including our attorneys and professional staff as well as our clients and colleagues in the legal profession, and continue to encourage everyone to speak out against injustice whenever and however it presents itself.