Anti-Racism and Support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community

Photo: GoToVan from Vancouver, Canada, CC BY 2.0

A Special Statement of the American Meteorological Society

Adopted by the AMS Council on 22 April 2021

We are deeply saddened to witness the increasing trend of violence and hate crimes¹ targeted against individuals and groups in our country, and we acknowledge the impacts that these tragic events have on members of our community. While this hate is not new, it has been further fueled over the past year by inflamed rhetoric tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AMS condemns any action intended to neglect, disrespect, or abuse any persons of color, and in light of recent events, particularly Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).

The AMS supports and is in solidarity with our AAPI community members. We recognize that as a community, our actions must go beyond our words. It is especially important that we support each other as we continue to confront any acts of violence, racism, xenophobia, harassment, and/or discrimination. We can only advance if we advance together.

To our AAPI community and greater BIPOC² community: we see you and we value you. As a Society we will continue to provide opportunities to listen and educate our community on anti-racism, both individual and systemic, and call for all of us to be intentional and fully commit to bring anti-racism to practice.

¹https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2019/hate-crime
² BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, People of Color