The Indo Project Statement Against Racism And Violence Against Individuals Of Asian Descent

The Indo Project has a long history of standing for what’s right, and our support of the many organizations denouncing the recent violence against Asian Americans is no different. For us, this issue hits home in a personal way. Many of the people in our Indo community have their roots in the former Dutch East Indies, now known as the country of Indonesia. Many of us share an Asian ethnicity. Some of us have experienced, for the first time in our lives, violence directed toward us due solely to that identity. This is unacceptable.  We are proudly committed to our diverse, thriving, mixed race community. 

These alarming trends are happening all over the United States and now is the time to stand up against those who would harm us and to demand justice. For instance, in Los Angeles, according to a report presented to the Los Angeles Police Commission, 2020 saw a 114% increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. These statistics grossly understate the actual number of anti-Asian hate incidents because of under-reporting by victims and under-counting by law enforcement. The rash of incidents in California, including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, has included attacks on frail senior citizens walking alone in their neighborhoods, resulting in death and serious injury. Indeed, the non-partisan group Stop AAPI Hate,  “catalogued nearly 3,800 hateful incidents — which is not limited to crimes — during the first year of the pandemic. AAPI stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander. Most of those hateful incidents targeted women.” The Tampa Bay Times, Hate crimes against Asian Americans: What the numbers show | PolitiFact, published March 20, 2021.

While civic leaders, including local prosecutors, have condemned such vicious anti-Asian hate, we must stand together in solidarity. We have a responsibility and a moral obligation to confront and eliminate institutional discrimination against all people – regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Each of us knows in our hearts that silence is not an option in the face of injustice.

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

–Martin Niemöller

Thus we strongly condemn all forms of violence, racism, harassment, and xenophobia towards any person or community. We call upon our families, friends, and supporters to join The Indo Project in its steadfast resolve to eliminate all forms of insidious hate, discrimination, bias, and inequity by taking the time to listen to each other, to together work towards finding common ground in understanding and respect for one another, to demand justice in the face of inequity and to stand together in solidarity with those of us now under attack.

In Solidarity,

The Indo Project – Board members

Dutch-Indo Community Facebook – Jack Profijt