The Indiana Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) launched a petition in March 2021 urging Governor Eric Holcomb to take swift action to condemn and combat racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Indiana's Asian American communities.
In the two years since, Asian American Hoosiers have endured a slew of troubling hostilities. The Sikh community suffered a horrific mass shooting at the Indianapolis FedEx facility. Purdue University students, staff, and faculty were subjected to “mock Asian” gibberish uttered by the Northwest Campus Chancellor during a commencement ceremony. A young Asian American woman was stabbed on a Bloomington bus for being “Chinese.”
Indiana has a chance to take action on the issue, as other states and localities have. It is time for Indiana to build a robust policy, program, and organizational infrastructure to ensure that AAPI Hoosiers are able to thrive in a safe and inclusive environment.
As a meaningful first step, we respectfully renew our call to Governor Holcomb to take the following steps to ensure that Asian Americans — no matter their background, the languages they speak, or their religious beliefs — are treated with dignity and equity. Such actions will help make Indiana a more hospitable place for everyone:
Initiate official action to recognize and condemn acts of racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian American persons, families, faith communities, businesses, and institutions.
Implement procedures and programs to help Asian Americans targeted by acts of anti-Asian racism. Asian American Hoosiers need systematic and accessible mechanisms for reporting anti-Asian racism and receiving concrete support. We urge Indiana officials to pursue restorative justice-based solutions, rather than escalating law enforcement, to prevent further incidents.
Lead efforts to establish a statewide advisory commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs. Such a body should serve as an accountability mechanism and a direct communications pipeline between Indiana's Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Indiana Governor's office. These types of commissions are an essential step to prevent expressions and escalations of anti-Asian racism.
Form hosted by the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum