Washington, DC – The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) is deeply saddened and disturbed by the shooting of two South Asian men in Olathe, Kansas, which left one man dead. Our hearts go out to families of Alok Madasani and Srinivas Kuchibhotla and the communities impacted by the hateful rhetoric and violence that led to this tragic incident.
 
“We are deeply saddened by the loss that our brothers and sisters in Olathe face today,” stated Johanna Puno Hester, APALA National President and Assistant Director of the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME Local 3930. “Our nation is becoming less and less safe, at the hands of people who turn xenophobia and hate into the kind of violence that threatens our very existence. When will our bodies be safe from violence? When will brown and black bodies be able to live free?” 
 
Witnesses reported that the shooter believed these men were Middle Eastern, yelling racial slurs before opening fire on Madasani and Kuchibhotla. The FBI is currently investigating the case but has not yet classified this incident a hate crime. 
 
Monica Thammarath, APALA 1st Vice President and Senior Liaison at the National Education Association, added: “The Trump effect is real; white supremacy is endangering our families and friends. We’re seeing more incidents of hate against communities of South Asian – or those perceived to be – descent. It’s clear that more than ever we need to resist, organize, and fight back against any and all attempts that puts our lives at risk.”
 
“The news of the Kansas shooting was heartbreaking to hear,” commented Maf Misbah Uddin, APALA National Executive Board Member and President and Founder of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL). “We demand justice for Alok and Srinivas, and we are calling on our broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community and our allies to stand together against the rising trend of hate violence and growing anti-immigrant, anti-Black/Brown, and anti-Muslim sentiment we are facing today under the Trump administration.”
 
To read more, please check out the latest report by South Asian Americans Leading Together called “Power, Pain, Potential,” which details over two hundred occurrences of hate violence and xenophobic rhetoric during the 2016 elections alone. To help with the families affected, please donate here:

• GoFundMe page in memoriam of Srinivas
• GoFundMe page for Alok/Srinivas to benefit their families
• GoFundMe page for Ian Grillot

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​Washington, DC – This past Sunday, we marked fifteen years since 9/11 – a particular date of hurt and tragedy in our shared history that has also challenged the fabric of our country and what it means to be American.
 
Kinfolk from Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh American communities have been particularly affected facing unprecedented incidents of hate, racism, and bigotry as backlash from 9/11. In the past few months, we have witnessed arson at an Islamic Center in Florida, two gunned down in Queens, another stabbed to death also in Queens, a woman wearing a religious garb set on fire in New York, the murder of a man on his way to morning prayer, and many others whose stories go unnoticed by mainstream media and the larger national conversation.
 
“Even after 15 years later, we have seen too many hate crimes against our communities. It saddens and angers us to know that my friends and family can’t feel safe at home, work and in their communities,” stated Maf Misbah Uddin, APALA National Executive Board Member and Founder and President of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL). “We have so much more work to do to overcome this entrenched hate and racism within our society.”
 
“From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Japanese American internment to the Southeast Asian deportation crisis, our communities have endured the impact of profiling, criminalization and scrutiny,” stated APALA Executive Director Gregory Cendana highlighting the shared struggle. “Moving forward, we need to train and uplift more leaders at all levels of government, in our community, and in our schools who will stand up against all forms of xenophobia, racism and anti-Muslim hate.”
 
National President Johanna Hester added: “An individual’s experience in this country shouldn’t be based on one’s proximity to blackness or whiteness. APALA continues to rise for freedom -- freedom from surveillance, profiling, hate crimes on brown and black lives. The conflation of what it means to be American with anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia must come to an end, and that includes reforming government policies that both exacerbate a climate of fear and encourage the mass criminalization of our bodies.”
 
APALA continues to partner with ASAAL, Muslim Advocates, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), and the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) to put an end to hate crimes and violence against Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Sikh American communities. Below please find some helpful resources and recent actions in our shared struggle for freedom:
 

• Track hate crimes with these resources from Muslim Advocates, SAALT, and Huffington Post.
• Read more reflections on the 15th anniversary in Colorlines, Medium, and Huffington Post.
• Read about NQAPIA’s joint action in Washington, DC this past weekend against legalized profiling.
• Make a commitment to stand on the side of freedom by taking APALA’s #NotYourModelMinority Pledge. 

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Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance stands in solidarity with millions of individuals across the nation and the globe to mourn the victims of the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando on June 12, 2016. Our thoughts and prayers go out to these individuals, their families, those injured, and all communities who are affected.

It is especially heartbreaking that this act of violence has occurred during the month dedicated to uplifting the LGBTQ community, a time of celebration and unity, and the month of Ramadan, a period of peace and self-reflection.  

APALA condemns rhetoric that serves to further divide our communities and reminds all Americans that the acts of one individual do not represent all Muslims. The constant attempts to use institutionalized polices and rhetoric, such as the term “radical Islamism”, to scapegoat the Muslim community will only fuel anti-Muslim bigotry and lead to additional policies that normalize violence against AAPIs and other communities of color.

Moreover the 49 victims of this massacre targeting the LBGTQ community, including many whom were Latino, depicts the type of fear our queer and trans brothers and sisters have to live with every day because of their identity. This tragedy cannot intimidate LBGTQ people to continue to live in terror, but instead we must all be resilient and band together to stop hateful acts of homophobia and transphobia in America.

Sunday’s horrific shooting was, sadly, not an isolated incident. This year alone, we have seen 134 mass shootings and many more hate crimes throughout the country, patterns of violence that cannot continue. A taxi driver was shot in Pittsburgh, and a store owner in New York City was attacked – two instances of hate crimes all motivated on basis of the victims’ faith. APALA strongly cautions against the compounding of additional hate crimes and the pitting of people of color against each other as both our brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ and Muslim communities understand what it means to be targeted. Together, we are stronger and call for all political, religious and civic leaders to unite against prejudice and violence directed at any group.

The tragedy in Orlando marks one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history and comes at a time where excessive gun violence highlights the dire need for policy change. APALA decries the wide availability of firearms and explosives, along with policies that standardize profiling and surveillance of marginalized communities. We join the national call to strengthen our gun control laws to ban assault weapons and bolster background checks and federal encouragement. 
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“The continued targeting of marginalized communities, from Charleston and Colorado, and acts of terror, from Boston to Brussels, remind us of the deadly force of fear and hate. We stand united against the demonization of entire communities, and denounce all acts of homophobia, Islamophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia,” states APALA National President Johanna Hester.

“We have far to go to in addressing the deep rooted hate, especially towards marginalized people, that continues to plague this country,” reflects APALA Executive Director Gregory Cendana. “We must support each other in these tough times. It’s a shame that mass shootings, hate crimes and other forms of violence are still as common as they are today. And lastly, we must continue to love, to heal, and to grow.”

APALA remains committed to creating spaces where all people can live without fear of being targeted for their sexuality, sexual orientation, their faith, the color of their skin or any other self or perceived identity.
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Click HERE to read the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) Statement.
Click HERE to read the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) Statement.

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