I was pleased to read about Congressman Mike Thompson’s AAPI roundtable and his leadership in pushing for identification of anti-Asian hate crimes as well as his work co-authoring the COVID 19 Hates Crimes Act and the Hate Crimes Commission Act.

Although hate crime statistics are still being compiled for 2020, one of the most stunning trends are the number of hate crimes being committed against elderly Asian Americans. Older Asian Americans already feel particularly vulnerable with the memories of our racist past still living in their bodies. We should not turn our heads away from the white supremacist legacy in the AAPI community.

As we move forward in the coming months, I urge Congressman Thompson to continue his leadership by supporting the THRIVE agenda which will allocate resources to local communities so that responses can be tailored to specific needs.

Deb DePuy lives in Los Angeles, California.