April 8, 2021
Dear Governor Ducey:
This letter, in partnership with other community organizations, is in regard to our deep concern and dismay over the increased incidents of violence against people of Asian descent throughout the country.
The recent shootings in Atlanta, Georgia have thrown a spotlight on the awareness of increased hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in America. As of February 2021, Stop AAPI Hate has reported a staggering 3,795 number of anti-Asian hate incidents throughout the United States since March 19, 2020. In Atlanta, six of the eight victims were Asian American, indicating that the perpetrator may have been motivated by racial animus, sending shockwaves throughout our Arizona AAPI community. Our organizations are grieving and enraged over these senseless deaths. These killings and other violent acts are not only devastating for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent, but for all Americans. AAPI community members have already been negatively affected, economically, by the pandemic due to the misguided information that places pandemic blame on the AAPI community.
Here in Arizona, the shocking and needless murder of Juanito Falcon demonstrates that Arizona is not protected from violence against the AAPI community. Mr. Falcon, a 74-year-old man of Filipino descent, was punched in the face while on his daily walk on February 16, 2021. Mr. Falcon passed away two days later from his injuries.
We call upon you, as the leader of our beloved Grand Canyon State, to make the prevention and prosecution of hate crimes against AAPI a top priority in your governmental agenda.
We strongly request that the Governor’s Office, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, and state and local law enforcement prioritize the prosecution of those who commit and/or support hate crimes against our AAPI community pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-701(D)(15). Additionally, we urge you to lead the state by allocating funds to promote greater outreach to the AAPI community and dedicate resources to install programs, such as multi-language hotlines for reporting, counseling and advice seeking services, which will encourage and empower victims to report hate crimes. Moreover, we ask for accountability from the Governor’s Office and elected officials in Arizona when it comes to making statements that could unknowingly result in this escalation of violence against the AAPI community.
We thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter and look forward to hearing back from you as well as working with your office to fight racism and hate crimes against not only AAPIs but against all minority groups who have been targets of hate crimes in America.
Sincerely,
- Jason Wong | Chairman of the Board, Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders
- Chiling Tong | President & CEO, National ACE (Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship)
- Fei Peng | President, American Chinese Family Education Association
- Lihua Lv | Principal, Arizona Art Academy
- Frank Zhang | President, Arizona Asian Alliance
- Arizona Asian American Bar Association
- Homer Zhang | President, Arizona Chinese History Association
- Kaiying Zhen | Publisher, Arizona Chinese News
- Chengyan Xie | Chief Editor, Arizona Chinese Times
- Genevieve Siri | Chief Editor, Arizona Lao Blog
- Thanh Mai Le | President/ CEO, Asian Media Network
- Grace Lau | Chairwoman, Asian Pacific American Women Giving Circle
- Steve Wei | President, Asian Real Estate Association of America – Greater Phoenix Chapter
- Lirong Huang | Founder, AZAsianTV/ AZCTV
- Charles Tsui | President, Chinese American Foundation of Arizona
- Charles Chiu | President, Chinese American Society of Arizona
- Sonya Wang | Moderator, Chinese in Arizona
- Garry Ong | President, Chinese Restaurant Association of Arizona
- Jennifer Yang | President, Citizen Voice
- Derick Anies | President, Filipino American Association of AZ
- Jennifer Delmar-Lewis | President, Filipino American Marriage Group of AZ
- Maria Cunning | President, Filipino-American Business Chamber of Commerce
- Nithiya Shree Uppara | President, Indian Students Association at ASU
- Azra Hussain | Executive Director, Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona
- Astria Wong | President, OCA-Greater Phoenix Chapter
- Paniani loelu | President, Pacific Island Business Alliance – Arizona Chapter
- Erlinda Singarajah | President, Philippine Nurses Association of Arizona
- Edward Lago | President, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Arizona
- Marsine Perry | President, Phoenix Asian American Lions Club
- Yahong Wangcotton | Publisher, Phoenix Chinese Press
- Tony Tang | President, Phoenix Chinese United
- Maribel Dillard | President, Phoenix Lions Without Borders
- Yukihiro Ibuki | Director, Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition
- Susan Liu | Community Organizer, Stop Asian Hate Alliance
- Jira Manceau | President, Thai-American Association of Arizona
- Nancy S. Bae, Ph.D. | President, The Arizona Korean Association
- Qiang Xu, President | The Association of Chinese-American Scientists and Engineers – Phoenix Chapter
- David Vu | President, The Arizona Vietnamese Community
- Jerry Dai | President, United Chinese Association of Arizona
- Phuong Nguyen | President, Vietnamese Community of Arizona
- Dr. Warren H. Stewart, Sr. | Chairperson, African American Christian Clergy Coalition
- Dr. Joanna Szydlo-Moore |President, Americas Aerospace Cluster
- Tammy Gillies |Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League of Arizona
- Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood | Executive Director, Arizona Faith Network
- Monica Villalobos | President & CEO, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Steven G. Zylstra | President & CEO, Arizona Technology Council
- Ricardo Carlo | President, Associated Minority Contractors of Arizona
- Robin S. Reed | President & CEO, Black Chamber of Arizona
- Glenn Kasprzyk | President, Coalition for the Enhancement of Prehospital Care
- Frankie Jo Rios | President & CEO, East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Michael Soto | Executive Director, Equality Arizona
- Rachel Sacco | President & CEO, Experience Scottsdale
- Robert Heidt | President & CEO, Glendale Chamber of Commerce
- Doug Bruhnke | Founder and CEO, Global Chamber
- Sharon Hwang | COO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council
- Neil Giuliano | CEO, Greater Phoenix Leadership
- Richard Kasper | President & CEO, Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix
- Marty Haberer | President & CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix
- Mayra Flores | Co-Chair, Latina Giving Circle
- Dr. Joanna Szydlo-Moore | President, Hungarian American Chamber of Commerce
- Sally Harrison, IOM | President & CEO, Mesa Chamber of Commerce
- Shannon Heinze | Chairwomen, Mesa Leadership
- Keisha McKinnor | President, Mesa-East Valley MLK Committee
- Dr. Karen Hardin | President, NAACP-Maricopa County Branch
- Angela Hughey | Co-founder & President, ONE Community
- Nate Rhoton | Executive Director, one•n•ten
- Tremaine Jasper | Chief Editor, PhxSoul.com
- Dr. Joanna Szydlo-Moore | President, Polish American Chamber of Commerce
- Lee Ann Witt | Executive Director, Scottsdale Leadership, Inc.
- Chuck Peterson | Executive Director, Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS
- Paul Rockower | Executive Director, The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix
- Carmen Heredia | Chief Executive Officer, Valle del Sol
- Suzanne Pfister | President and CEO, Vitalyst Health Foundation
- Sintra Hoffman | President & CEO, WESTMARC
- Deanne Desautels | President, Accounting & Finance Professionals Inc./ Staff-Logic, Inc.
- Gretchen Wilde | President, Airpark Signs & Graphics
- Laukau Ioelu | Owner, Aloha Island Market
- Grace Lau | Managing Principal, Benefit Financial Service Group Phoenix Unit
- Joshua James and Nick Campisano | Co-owners, Born & Raised Hospitality
- Laura Carpenter | President, Bula Intelligence
- Kirsten Steele | Owner, Chestnut Fine Foods & Provisions
- Jenny Poon & Odeen Domingo | Co- Founders, CO+HOOTS
- Susan McCall, CCIM | President, Commercial Property Connect, LLC
- Nancy Rhodes | President, Furniture Affairs
- Cindy Louie | Founder, Hawker Street Market
- Dr. Sharon Lamm-Hartman | CEO, Inside Out Learning
- Rhonda Bannard | Founder & Chief Connector, Inspired Connections
- Irwin G. Pasternack, AI | President, Irwin G. Pasternack, AIA Architects and Planners P.C.
- Mahes Prasad | President, Juncture Wealth Advisors
- Sheila Kloefkorn | CEO, KEO Marketing Inc
- Andrew Kolikoff | Owner, Kolikoff & Company
- Kim Marie Branch-Pettid | CEO & Owner, LeTip International, Inc.
- Kevin Tseng | CEO, Lumina Vision Partners
- Kimber Lanning | CEO, Local First Arizona
- Mi-Ai Parrish | President & CEO, MAP Strategies
- Karie Montague | President, Montague & Company
- Kiem Ho | CEO, Moonshot 11
- Thiru Thangarathinam | Founder & CEO, MST Solutions
- Dale & Derrick Castro | Owner/Partner, Overlap Interactive
- Whitney Walker, J.D. | VP, Public Policy, Advocacy & Organizing, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona
- Diane Thomas | President, Premier Sales, Inc.
- Jack Liu | Managing Partner, ProCARE Portal
- Leonardo Loo | Managing Partner, Quarles & Brady LLP Phoenix Office
- Rowdy Duncan, LLC | President, Rowdy Duncan
- Kat Proffitt | Owner, Rubymint General
- Varshini Methuku and Marie Nguyen |Co-Presidents, Science Detectives, LLC
- Pearl Chang Esau | Founder & CEO, Shan Strategies
- Christy Moore | Owner, Social Spin
- Jan Wichayanuparp | Co-Owner, Sweet Republic
- Anthony Lee, M.D. | Owner, Synergy Rehabilitation and Wellness Center
- Katee Van Horn | Owner, VH Included Consulting & Coaching
- Denise Tanigawa | Owner, Vidogi Salon
- Dr. Heidi Jannenga | Founder, WebPT
- Rodney Hu | Owner, Yucca Tap Room
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