Dear MACES Members,

 

Last week we witnessed a deadly attack in Atlanta Georgia against the Asian community: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng lost their lives on March 16 to a racially motivated mass shooting.

I encourage you to read their names again.

This week, Monday, March 22 another ten people also lost their lives in Boulder Colorado, six of whom of Asian descent.[1] The increase in hate crimes and racially motivated attacks is not isolated to the U.S. alone, Anti-Asian racism in Canada has become increasingly more frequent. A report by the Chinese Canadian National Council’s Toronto chapter has found 1,150 incidents of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Bias, racism and discrimination have no place in our society and in our communities. I firmly reinforce that MACES is committed to making sure that diversity and inclusion are more than espoused values, and they live in our practices and we stand with the McGill Asian community in our commitment to making certain that each and every person counts.

As we continue to navigate the challenges of the pandemic, if you are feeling alone, please reach out to a friend and stay connected. Your community at MACES is also here to support you – if you ever feel that you have not been treated with fairness due to bias at McGill, please contact me directly at: president.maces@mail.mcgill.ca.

If you have been affected by the recent increase in violence, please also consider reaching out to the free MACES mental health support service – Keep.meSAFE by downloading the MySSP app (click here if you are reading this on your phone!) for 24/7/365 immediate and unlimited access through telephone and mobile chat to a counselor. Counselors are available to serve you in over 60 preferred languages.

You are not alone.

 

Rod Louisa

MACES President

 

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/us/atlanta-boulder-mass-shootings.html. Accessed March 24,2021

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/asian-racism-hate-canada-pandemic-1.5959788. Accessed March 24, 2021.