SRCD Signs on to Letter on the Omission of AANHPIs in the NIH UNITE Initiative
SRCD signed on to an American Psychological Association, Division 45 letter on the NIH UNITE initiative. The letter, addressed to Francis S. Collins, Director, National Institutes Health (NIH), calls attention to NIH’s efforts to end structural racism through the initiative, notes the absence of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), and emphasizes the importance of including AANHPIs moving forward.
The letter states, “The goal of the NIH UNITE initiative to end structural racism is laudable. However, the omission of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) as marginalized and under-resourced in the initiative is glaring, particularly in light of current events... Current anti-Asian discrimination and violence is not new or isolated. It is the latest wave of anti-Asian scapegoating that includes World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans, anti-East Asian discrimination and violence in the 1980s in reaction to the U.S. auto industry crisis, and anti-South Asian discrimination and violence following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Racism has the same effects on the health of AANHPIs as it does on other groups.”