Whereas, eight people were murdered in Georgia on March 16, 2021, including six Asian American women; and

Whereas, there has been a rise in vicious attacks on Asian Americans throughout the country, including on the elderly; and

Whereas, attacks on Asian American women have a long and sordid history, perpetuated by negative media images and misogyny; and

Whereas, anti-Asian violence is not a new phenomenon, but has deep roots in white supremacy and racism within U.S. society; and

Whereas, since 1882, with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, anti-Asian immigration laws and policies were upheld by the U.S. legal system for more than 80 years until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s successfully challenged them; and

Whereas, the former Trump Administration falsely blamed China and Asian people for the COVID-19 pandemic, referring to it the “China Virus” and “Kung Flu;” and

Whereas, the former Trump administration has emboldened racist vigilantes and bigoted hate groups and encouraged the violent white supremacist insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021; and

Whereas, the rise in anti-Asian violence is directly related to the police killing of unarmed black women and men, the shameful anti-immigration policies that have led to caging of children along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the long legacy of slavery, mass incarceration, and Jim Crow policies that the United States as a nation has never honestly and openly addressed; and

Whereas, U.S. unions historically have been complicit in policies of white supremacy and segregation, including advocating for the Chinese Exclusion Act and exclusion of people of color from labor unions in generations past; and

Whereas, the CFT is committed to advance multi-racial unity, and to challenge discriminatory policies and practices throughout U.S. society; and

Whereas, the CFT has a special role to play in educating the future generation within our state, and to promote racial justice and racial healing;

Therefore, be it resolved, that the CFT condemns the heinous murder of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021, including six Asian Americans; and

Be it further resolved, that the CFT deplores the rise in anti-Asian violence that has been encouraged by racist rhetoric and policies advanced by the Trump administration; and

Be it further resolved, that the CFT will advocate for anti-racist curriculum in the schools of California, and support expansion of Ethnic Studies, including Asian American, African American, Latina/o, and Native American Studies; and

Be it finally resolved, that the CFT pledges to promote racial justice and racial healing, and to challenge racially motivated hatred and violence within our society.
 

• Passed as a Special Order of Business by CFT Virtual Convention on March 27, 2021
• Submitted by the Executive Council