The rise of hate and violence on our AAPI community and its impact has not gone unnoticed or ignored. As a City, we take these attacks very seriously and are here tonight to listen to your concerns in the midst of these challenging times, and to hear your ideas for how we can better work together to secure safety and justice for those most deeply impacted.
City agencies, including the Mayor’s Commission on Asians Pacific American Affairs, Office of Immigrant Affairs, and Police Department are communicating regularly with community leaders. The targeting of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is unacceptable, and I want our AAPI community to know that hate has no home in our city. We will do everything in our power to keep this community safe.
If you are a victim of any crime, you should call 9-1-1 to report it and get further assistance such as medical attention and victim services. To report non-emergency hate crimes and bias incidents related to fear of COVID-19, you should contact the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) at 215-686-4670 or pchr@phila.gov. You can report an incident in any language. Anonymous reports can be made to the PCHR hotline at 215-686-2856. You can find more information on PCHR’s website.
We also are aware of how AAPI small businesses have faced not only the economic challenges that business owners across the city have faced, but carry the burden of how hate and violence made it extra difficult to keep your businesses afloat. We know that for many of you, these businesses are what you have leveraged to support your families, pay for your childrens’ education and to ensure that your family members back at home also have means to survive.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every other aspect of our lives, particularly for our vulnerable immigrant communities who disproportionately hold low-wage frontline jobs that keep our economy and society running.
We also appreciate the frustration some of you have felt when trying to access the COVID-19 vaccines. Through ongoing communication and problem-solving, we have worked together with AAPI community leaders including members of this Commission, to make adjustments to our public health model so that immigrant and refugee communities were not left out.