Adrian Dominican Sisters Call for End to Violence against Asian Americans

March 22, 2021, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement, calling for an immediate end to the violence against Asian Americans and people from the Pacific Islands, and for the enactment of strong legislation against these hate crimes. 

We join in the national call for an immediate end to acts of violence against our Asian-American and Pacific Island sisters and brothers. We were horrified by the mass murder in Atlanta last week of eight individuals – seven of them women, including six women of Asian descent. The killings evince racism and misogyny, pointing to a hate crime.

On the day of these mass murders, a report was issued that showed nearly 3,800 hate incidents have been reported against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Most of these hateful acts were directed at Asian women who encountered spitting, name-calling, shunning, refusal of service, and physical assault as they went about their daily life and work. 

No one should be subjected to such hateful and violent behavior. Each of us is made in the image of God and precious in God’s sight and none exempt from our nation’s promise of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

We call on Congress to enact strong hate-crime legislation to ensure those rights are protected by law. And we pray for a profound conversion of heart among us all that we may root out the racism that continues to cause such injury to our sisters and brothers of color and to erode the moral fabric of our nation.