FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

3/17/2021 

Contact: Nick Voutsinos, Jobs With Justice, nick@jwj.org, 717-413-7613 

Jobs With Justice statement on the white supremacist attacks in Atlanta

Washington, DC — Yesterday evening, a shooter targeted places of business within Atlanta’s Asian community. The suspect – a white man – shot and killed eight, including six Asian Americans, in their places of work. Jobs With Justice Executive Director Erica Smiley gave the following statement in response:

“There can be no question that the horrific attacks in Atlanta yesterday evening – which targeted and killed Asian women in their places of work – were rooted in racism, misogyny and a system of white supremacy that has kept working people from coming together across ethnicity around our common economic interests. From blaming Chinese laborers for the decline in the US economy in the 1800s, rounding up Japanese families in concentration camps during World War II, the brutal murder of Vincent Chin by white autoworkers in the 1980s, to the President blaming Chinese Americans for his own failures in responding to COVID-19, people of Asian descent have experienced a long history of being scapegoats for the failures of neoliberalism. Last night’s attack is the latest example of this poisonous dynamic.

We see and recognize the many forms of hate crimes against Asians in recent months – and we see the Asian women who are going to work every day in this pandemic, despite the risks to their health and safety, to make a living and provide essential services during COVID-19. We send love and solidarity to our Asian comrades within Jobs With Justice and the movement – and we recommit ourselves daily to confronting white supremacy in all its forms as we continue the fight for the dignity and safety of all working people.” 

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Jobs With Justice is the country’s leading nonprofit in the fight for workplace and economic democracy. Comprising of a national network of local affiliates in nearly every state, Jobs With Justice brings together coalitions of unions, worker organizations, community groups, students, and faith institutions to win concrete improvements in people’s lives.