NAB Stands Against Anti-Asian Racism & Hate
Categories: General
North Atlantic Books stands against the violence and racism perpetrated against Asian Americans and in solidarity with Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.
Last week’s killings are painful evidence that the nexus of racism, misogyny, and classism is embedded in the heart of our nation. Along with the recent violence against Asian American elders in our local communities of Oakland, San Francisco, and elsewhere, these incidents are not an anomaly but rather expressions of anti-Asian hate that intensified throughout the last year and is rooted in a history of xenophobia, discrimination, otherization, and exploitation.
The Bay Area, where NAB calls home, has a long history of anti-Asian racism—as well as a deep, rich legacy of Asian American activism and advocacy. Oakland-based AAPI Journalist Sarah Belle Lin created a list of resources that we invite you to check out and share widely: How to Support the AAPI Community in a Time of Hate and Violence. This list includes links to donation funds, journalists and authors to follow, and additional reading on the recent hate crimes in Oakland and elsewhere.
NAB remains committed to dismantling systemic racism in all its forms, and we will continue to be active and vocal in our antiracist work—both in our publishing and in the organizations whose work we’re privileged to help support. We have endorsed the statements of two AAPI-centered organizations, Red Canary Song and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and we are making donations to the grassroots-organizing groups Red Canary Song and StopAAPIHate.
We also encourage readers to support the campaign to save the South/Southeast Asian Library (S/SEAL) at our neighbor, UC Berkeley. At risk of closure, S/SEAL represents 19 South and Southeast Asian countries, and houses material in more than 30 languages sourced over decades. You can join NAB and author Chenxing Han in fighting against erasure and invisibilization, and sign the petition to protect the library and its vital resources here.
*Update, 03/23, from UC Berkeley: Due to an outpouring of support to save the S/SEAL, the Cal Library has announced its decision to withdraw the proposal to close the South/Southeast Asia Library. “With the decision to withdraw the proposal, members of [South and Southeast Asian] communities will continue to have a safe, welcoming environment that fulfills this important role. In the meantime, the Library is exploring other ways to reallocate space to meet the evolving needs of Berkeley students and faculty.”
In solidarity,
North Atlantic Books
About the Author
Bevin Donahue
Bevin is the associate comms director at North Atlantic Books.
