The pandemic this past year has brought many challenges in our lives both personally and collectively. One thing it has brought to light is the virus of white supremacy and racism which has infected the soul of America for centuries. It has played out in racial inequalities with a devastating effect on the lives of the people of color in marginalized and underprivileged communities, in terms of COVID infections and deaths, of economic hardship, and even of the vaccine rollouts. The killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many other African Americans have revealed the insidious nature of the racist structures and systems and of white supremacy in our society.

 

During the pandemic we have also seen a dramatic surge of hate crimes against Asians across the country, particularly against the elderly and women. An 86-year-old man from Thailand died after being shoved to the ground in San Francisco. A Filipino man was slashed with a box cutter on the subway in New York City. Just a couple of weeks ago, a 56-year-old Malaysian man was pushed to the ground and punched in the face on a subway station. Most recently, eight Asians were murdered by a gunman in Atlanta, six of whom were women. While the overall crime rate has declined from 2019 to 2020, hate crimes against Asians have increased 150%. Since March last year 3,800 anti-Asian hate crimes have been reported, with 68% of the victims being women.

 

Violence against Asians is not new. We have seen this before in this country. The “Yellow Peril” sentiment of the nineteenth century fueled many violent incidents against Chinese communities. The Chinese massacre of 1871 resulted in the Chinatown of Los Angeles being ransacked and 20 Chinese men being lynched and hanged. Those who attended the 2019 Diocesan convention saw the play, Red Altar, which told the story of the massacre of the Chinese fishing village in Monterey Bay. The village was burned down, and the Chinese people were lynched or driven out. When the bubonic plague broke out in 1900, the Chinatown in Honolulu was burned down by a mob, and the Chinatown in San Francisco was quarantined off so that no Chinese were allowed to leave but were left to die while the white residents were allowed to leave. The US government also played a role with the enactment of anti-Asian policies such as the Chinese Exclusionary Act of 1882, the Asiatic Barred Zone Act of 1917, and the Japanese Internment of 1942.

 

As an Asian-American bishop, I am mindful of bringing too much attention to Asian concerns and issues lest people see me as a bishop only for Asians. But I can no longer remain silent. I feel compelled to speak up against the rising anti-Asian hate crimes in our communities. It has been conveyed to me that the members of the Church of Our Savior in Chinatown, many of whom are elderly, are feeling anxious and living in fear. I cannot express how deeply it hurts and saddens me. In the fall 2020 edition of the Episcopal New Yorker, I shared a personal experience of being harassed and called “China virus” by a biker as my wife and I were taking walks in the nearby park. I have been called by racist epithets and told to "go home" many times before. But, never have I felt so fearful for my life as I have felt this past year.

 

Despite the fear and anxiety, however, one thing I have learned in this pandemic is to be grateful for life and not take it for granted. I have learned the joy of being alive through simple things. Easter this year feels so much more meaningful because of that. I have learned the power of gratitude, compassion, and justice. So I ask for your prayers of solidarity and of compassion and justice for the Asian brothers and sisters in your communities. I ask you to reach out to them with a word of encouragement and comfort. I ask you to stand up against all forms of racial violence and hatred in our society as I and many other Asians stand with African American brothers and sisters in their continued struggle against the systemic racism and the culture of white supremacy just as the Asian leaders marched alongside the African American leaders in the Civil Rights movement. Racial justice and healing will be the unavoidable focus of the Church’s mission in the post COVID time. I refuse to let fear take over my life and hatred destroy my faith in the goodness of humanity. At the heart of the Christian faith is the life-giving power of the crucified Christ. Love is the way of the Cross, and love will win over all hatred. Won’t you join me and stand up against the racist and xenophobic violence that is destroying our common life and humanity?

선행을 배우며 정의를 구하며 학대받는 자를 도와주며 (이사야 1:17, NIV 성경)

우리는 미국성공회 시카고 교구,  메트로폴리탄 시카고 대의원회의, 미국 복음주의 루터교회, 연합감리교회 북부  일리노이 지부를 대표하여, 3월 16일 애틀랜타 메트로폴리탄 지역에서 8명의 목숨을 앗아가고 1명에 부상을 입힌 총격 사건을 규탄합니다. 이 총격 사건은 무작위 공격이 아니었으며, 8명의 사망자 중 6명이 아시아계 미국인 여성들이었습니다.

이 사건은 지난 한 해 동안 더욱 심화된 폭력과 여성 혐오와 더불어 아시아계 미국인, 특히 아시아계 여성과 노인을 향한 증오의 문화가 낳은 비극입니다. 코로나19 확산 사태로 반 아시아계 정서가 만연하면서 아시아계 미국인 자매들을 향한 증오 범죄와 폭력 행위가 크게 증가했습니다. 최근 한 보고서에 따르면, 작년 한 해 동안 주요 도시에서 아시아계 미국인에 대한 증오 범죄는 150% 증가했으며, ‘아시아계 미국인 여성의 피해는 같은 아시아계 미국인 남성보다 2.3배 더 많아 졌습니다.

최근에 발생한 이 사건은 아시아계 미국인을 향한 기나긴 폭력과 증오의 역사를 다시 한번 재현했으며, 그로 인하여 우리는 고통과 두려움, 분노와 비탄에 잠겨 있습니다. 지난 화요일 저녁에 목숨을 잃은 모든 희생자들의 가족과 친구들, 이웃들을 위해 온 마음으로 기도드리는 가운데, 우리는 기도를 통해 바로 지역 사회를 위한 행동에 적극적으로 나서라는 하느님의 응답에 따르고자 합니다.

오늘 우리는 하나님의 부르심에 따라 폭력과 증오, 성차별과 경제적 차별에 저항하고 나아가 모든 유형의 인종차별에 저항하기 위해 함께 연대할 것을 새롭게 다짐합니다. 또한 그리스도 안에서 아시아계 미국인 자매들과 연대하고 협력 관계를 더욱 공고히 하기 위한 노력을 기울이겠습니다. 이 비극적 사건을 계기로, 우리는 아시아계 미국인 자매들이 직면한 문제에 더욱 귀 기울이고, 이번 사건과 같이 말로 표현할 수 없는 잔인한 폭력 행위를 유발하는 악과 증오의 세력을 물리치기 위해 함께 협력하겠습니다.

Paula E. Clark 사제, 피선 주교, 미국 성공회 시카고 교구

Yehiel Curry 주교, 메트로폴리탄 시카고 대의원회, 미국 복음주의 루터교회

존 L. 홉킨스 임시 주교, 연합감리교회 북부 일리노이 지부

흑인 에피스코팔 연합과 Kim L. Coleman 주교 및 회장이 본 성명문을 지지합니다.

The Deputies of Color of the General Convention (Asian Caucus, Black Caucus, Indigenous Caucus, and Latinx Caucus) express deep concern and sadness for the increased racial violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander population.  The murders in Georgia on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 reflect the American reality of a society deeply ingrained with racism, white supremacy, and sexism. 

We mourn the lives lost and stand with the victims and families.  We are hurt that members of our Asian community wake every morning fearing acts of violence and have become the scapegoats for this pandemic.  We lament the complicity of silence and we express our gratitude for many who stand in solidarity with the Asians and Pacific Islanders during this troubling time.

It is becoming far too common for people acting through social media or in their day-to-day encounters to encourage such hatred. What is happening and the normalization of violence in any form are not acceptable and need to stop.  The destructive power of words has caused lives to be lost.  For too many years, ignorance and hate have been weaponized against people of color.  This hatred and ignorance are another virus amongst us.

We call on all people across The Church to use their voice and power to stop these acts of hatred and racial violence immediately.  We call on all leaders to set an example in their words, their deeds, and all forms of communication to oppose such hatred instead of encouraging it.  We cannot see members of our community as “others” but as people we are in communion with.

President Biden in his recent address on Asian discrimination stated, “this has to change, because our silence is complicity. We have to speak out. We have to act."  We echo the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.  We appreciate and affirm Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s message calling for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth to “stand up, speak up, and show up when hatred or bigotry is directed at any child of God.”  Today, we stand in solidarity with our Asian siblings, and we are committed to reach out to them, offering kindness and love, so that we can become The Beloved Community.  Acts of racial hatred need to end NOW.

Submitted by the Deputies of Color Steering Committee for the 80th General Convention:

Asian Caucus

Ryan Kusumoto, co-chair                                          Diocese of Hawaii

Alan Murray, co-chair                                                Diocese of Oregon

Canon Barbara Okamoto Bach, secretary                Diocese of New Jersey

Warren Wong                                                            Diocese of California

Black Caucus

The Hon. Rose Sconiers, chair                                  Diocese of Western New York

Louis Glosson, vice chair                                          Diocese of San Diego

Krisita Jackson, secretary                                          Diocese Central Florida

Dianne Audrick Smith                                                Diocese of Ohio

Joe McDaniel, Jr.                                                      Diocese of Central Gulf Coast

Indigenous Caucus

The Rev. Br. Simeon Powell, CG co-chair                Diocese of Northern California

Minnie Steele, co-chair                                              Diocese of Minnesota

The Rev. Michael Sells, secretary                              Navajoland Area Mission

The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton                              Diocese of Olympia

Latinx Caucus

Wendy Cañas, co-chair                                              Diocese of New York

The Rev. Nancy Frausto, co-chair                            Diocese of Los Angeles

The Rev. Jose Rodriguez, secretary                          Diocese of Central Florida

The Rev. Daniel Vélez-Rivera                                    Diocese of Virginia        

 

The continental United States has recently experienced a surge in anti-Asian rhetoric, bullying in schools, racist incidents, scapegoating and hate crimes impacting Asian and Asian American people. It has been reported that: "Anti-Asian hate crime in 16 of America’s largest cities increased 149% in 2020 according to an analysis of official preliminary police data by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, with the first spike occurring in March and April amidst a rise in COVID cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating to the pandemic." While we often feel a disconnect from the harsh reality of the North American States, the inappropriate Anti-Asian remarks by the Police Chief on Kauaʻi brings the crisis home to the Islands.

 

We must be clear that the besetting sins of the United States are racism and nationalism. From the expansion of Europeans into Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania in the fifteenth century, there has been an enduring race-based bias woven into the fabric of the United States from its founding and that reality is even present in our Island home. I am convinced that the tap roots of racism in the United States are Euro-centric imperialism and expansionism (articulated in the Doctrine of Discovery  and shown in Hawaiian history), colonialism (focused on land ownership and control of natural resources), and race based slavery. It is manifest – sadly, all too often unconsciously – in notions that skin pigmentation and the language a person speaks define levels of humanity, and that the “foreigner” is immediately suspect and a threat. It is human sin. It is, however, a personal sin as well as a corporate sin. It is my sin. 

 

As Episcopalians – no, as responsible adults, we must be clear that there is no room for racism and such hate in our society. We must reject the political and public rhetoric of hate that is meant to inflame passions and demonize other human beings. It also means we must put away ordinary “jokes” and side comments that actually dehumanize another person. Even in Hawaiʻi, these are no longer acceptable. Our words shape our actions and reinforce our beliefs. My words matter. This is not about “political correctness,” but about basic morality and humanity. As Jesus taught us in the “Great Commandment”: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

 

While we must walk in solidarity with victims of the racist attacks, and reject hate and violence in thought, word and deed, we must also examine ourselves and our own deep-seated understanding and fears of other people. We must again ask ourselves this question from the Baptismal Covenant (BCP page 305): “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” This question is for each of us and must be answered every day. It means that we are each called to monitor our own thoughts, speech and actions, and to challenge hurtful comments and actions from our own friends and family members – as well as public officials and those in authority. 

 

The current anti-Asian rhetoric and violence speaks to the reality that our 245-year journey as citizens of the United States in becoming a truly just society has only begun. As Christians, we are reminded of our higher responsibility to live into Jesus’ teaching in the “Beatitudes” (Matt. 5:3-16) and “The Judgment of the Nations” (Matt. 25:31-46). It is up to us – to you and me.

 

Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,

+Bob

 

The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick, Bishop

The Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i

The Episcopal Church in Micronesia

As many of you know, I am part of Bishops United Against Gun Violence, group of more than 100 Episcopal bishops working to curtail the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, and together we have issued the followed statement regarding Tuesday’s hate crime and horrific act of violence and terrorism which claimed the lives of eight persons of Asian descent.

On Tuesday, another white man who should not have had a gun shot and killed seven women and one man at massage spas in the Atlanta area. Six of his victims, all women, were of Asian descent. The gunman had been a patron of at least two of the spas where the massacre took place; and in the aftermath of the shootings, he confessed, saying that he considered the women at the spas to be a sexual temptation he needed to eliminate because of his Christian faith.

It is hard to know what to decry first in the toxic stew of racism, misogyny, religious violence, and gun culture. Most basic, perhaps, is the fact that the alleged killer bought his weapon just hours before the attacks began. The sale was entirely legal, showing yet again that standards for gun purchasing and ownership across our nation are far too lenient. Day after day, innocent people pay the price.

In addition to the need to enact sane gun legislation, we must eradicate from our culture the racist, misogynist ideas that lead white men to perceive Asian women as sexual objects. Such demeaning stereotypes that turned deadly in Atlanta on Tuesday are rooted in this country’s centuries-long history of anti-Asian laws and policies. In the past year, these old hatreds have been revived by mendacious politicians and misguided people who have attempted to exact retribution from Asians and Asian Americans for the origin and spread of the COVID-19 virus. Women have borne the brunt of these lies: Stop AAPI Hate reports that in the last year, Asian women have reported hate incidents 2.3 times more often than Asian men.

As Christian leaders and bishops, we are particularly disturbed that the alleged shooter’s Christian faith is reported to have fueled his desire to murder the women in massage spas whom he believed were sexual temptations. It grieves us that the Christian faith we profess can be twisted and deformed in ways that give rise to violence, particularly to gun violence, by white Christian men against women and people of color. Christian churches, regardless of theology or denomination, must explicitly reject the idea that God wants Christian men to dominate or kill other human beings. Such is not the way of Jesus. Such is not the way of love.

We extend our profound sympathies to the families of the victims of this shooting, and we are praying for everyone who has been touched by this brutality. As we have repeatedly emphasized, we pray not to avoid taking action, but to prepare for it. Please join with us in reaching out to the Asian American people in your congregations and communities. Join us too in helping to raise awareness of the ways in which men in this country objectify women, particularly Asian women, and leave them vulnerable to trafficking and gender-based violence. And join us in advocating with your United States Senators to pass these essential pieces of legislation now before them that can help prevent gun violence and save lives:

Blessings,
+Greg

Dear friends,

As we approach the holiest of weeks and journey with Christ through suffering and resurrection, let me offer a reflection on solidarity. 

If one member suffers, all suffer together... 1 Corinthians 12:26

We are experiencing much hope with the ramped-up vaccinations and more people finding safe ways to crawl out of the actual and metaphoric COVID tunnel. At the same time, we're exhibiting old and “normal” behaviors at the epicenter of induced human suffering. These behaviors reveal some of our self-destructive ways as a country. I see violence thriving in three arenas, when we use the right lenses.

1.    Violence against specific communities through racialized, xenophobic, and other discriminatory lenses, 

2.    Violence against anyone through militarized police-shooting and mass shooting-lenses, and 

3.    Violence against vulnerable communities through the economic-disparity lenses. 

The unholy trinity of chronic violence in our country is not a new diagnosis. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made this connection before his assassination. When Nived and I stood at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis earlier this month, I realized afresh that the bullet that killed King was trying to eliminate God’s dream of beloved community for all of us. 

Let me take a quasi-deep dive into racialized violence in this piece. The escalation in frequency of attacks on Asian American-Pacific Islanders during this pandemic has drawn our consciousness to the insidious toxicity of prejudice, scapegoating, and hate against people of Asian descent. Over the past year, we have heard of many overt and covert projections of anger onto members of the Asian American community. As a church, “we suffer/stand with you” if you have been impacted directly or indirectly by acts of anger. You are not alone. We also stand against any member of white, black, or any other community when they act violently against our Asian American siblings. 

Why is this important to us? It is important because, ultimately, we are all different parts of the same body. We all belong in the body of Christ, our safe and spiritual home. When we hurt each other don’t we only hurt ourselves? After all, we are one body. We must never forget how we responded as a world when we knew little about this COVID virus last year around this time. Remember, for the most part; we set aside our self-imposed distractions, we followed guidelines to protect each other, discovered a brand-new vaccine type, and even invited competitors to partner in vaccines' mass production. It's pretty simple. We tend to be more equitable in our productivity when we are more unified in our outlook towards each other.

So, what's behind this hate directed toward Asians? Is there more to triggers and tropes like “China Virus” or “Kung-flu?” Let’s examine what's behind these. All people of color share a history in our country where the sickness of white supremacy justified unspeakable violence against native peoples. Native Americans were made dispensable through the “Doctrine of Discovery” in the name of God! White superiority continued the same kind of violence against our African siblings with the added inhumanity through slavery and later on through Jim Crow and incarceration laws. In this iteration, the sickness dehumanized, owned, and dispensed bodies of African-descent people. We have had anti-Hispanic bigotry from our country's founding times. We can see the same continuum of violence directed toward our Asian American-Pacific Islander siblings. Such violence is not new in that the sickness goes back to the Page Act of 1875, with an explicit connection between Misogyny and racism, leading to the anti-miscegenation law preventing a white person from marrying a “negro, mulatto, or Mongolian.” Such legal and normalized discrimination led to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

FDR’s move to Japanese Internment Camps built on this foundation of simmering hate towards Asian immigrants. The “model minority” identity future churned out a degree of hatred from other racially discriminated groups. Such inter-racial strife is a move from the old playbook of divide and conquer. The most recent attack on Asian women in Atlanta reveals an ancient connection between terror and misogyny. Overall, it is not accidental that some political leaders insisted on calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus.” Strangely, they exposed a trope of this one virus's variant manifesting its destiny seemingly in different structural forms throughout our nation’s history. It is time to name the myth of this ancient lie that white people are superior to anybody. Jesus and the early church contradict this lie very clearly. No, in Christ, there isn't any such categorization but the truth that we are all one, meaning equal, in Christ--Galatians 2:28. We have no room for superiority in the church and hence, in society. 

We ask for heightened vigilance in all our communities to unite at this time. We urge all allies to communities of color to join in acts of grace and abundant generosity toward one another during this time of heightened fear in our Asian American-Pacific Islander communities. Racism is a particular sin that has corrupted our knowledge systems, our national identity, our institutions, and our very soul. It’s time to correct this wrong.  Please consider joining this gathering of Episcopal Asians and allies for lament, healing, action and solidarity in response to the rising tide of violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders, tomorrow at 1pm.  The Racial Reconciliation, Healing and Justice committee has also scheduled our next book study and discussion with the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.  I invite you to join us! You can find more information here.

We call upon all the baptized to reach out to each other as traumatized and hurting communities, be they native American, migrant, Black, Latino, White, LGBTQ, and all others, with hospitality and grace. We all experience the trauma of separation, guilt, and shame in ways. Remember, we are children of a loving God. We are also survivors of a global pandemic. We got here because we helped each other. As we affirm our conviction in One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism, let us prove our identity as One Beloved Community. Let us, as One human Family with One heartbeat, raise each other to our full humanity in Christ! Out of many, One. We rise and fall together. Let us, therefore, suffer together and raise each other to our full humanity.

"In Christ, who suffers alongside all who suffer, this Holy Week!" 

Prince

When Asian have spoken out, responses vary from “Who do you think you are, calling us racist?  “It’s not racism, it’s classism.  You’re not disadvantaged, you have more money, more education…fill in the blanks.”  Even though these responses are admissions, they are also accompanied by a blanket denial.   You, friends and allies, can speak our reality.  We ask your help in becoming the community that Jesus envisioned for God’s people.

Embodying your solidarity might look like this.  It would be you, initiating a conversation with us, letting us know you are concerned.  It would be you, asking about our experiences and concerns; you, asking if you can share these stories. When you see an Asian American leaving the market alone, can you walk with us until you see we are safe?  When your friends utter bigoted remarks, can you interrupt and share our stories?  Friends and allies, you can work to soften hearts and open minds. 

We have been through a lot together over the years.  We thank you for your prayers and supporting us in this way.  May God bless our friendship. Together, we will make a difference in this hurting world.

In my baptismal covenant, I pledge to respect the dignity of every human being.  Each of us has the power to make a positive, constructive difference in the lives of others, and a responsibility to speak up in the face of bigotry and oppression.  I therefore stand united in deploring the “othering” of any of God’s children.

 

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”  (Gal 3:28)