Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) and the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) recently joined the newly formed Coalition Against Hate & Bias (Coalition), which is supported by the King County Office of Equity and Social Justice (OESJ).
The Coalition is a community-led initiative to address hate and bias incidents by strengthening and networking communities who experience racist and bigoted treatment and all forms of oppression. Additional partners include the COVID-19 Community Response Fund Alliance, Somali Community Service of Seattle, and United Indians of All Tribes Foundation.
Anti-Asian racism and physical assaults have been rising since the emergence of the coronavirus. To provide culturally and linguistically appropriate support for the community, CISC, SCIDpda, and the other Coalition partners are administrators of the Hate and Bias Incident Response Survey to collect data from communities affected by hate and bias. No personal or identifying information is shared with OESJ or any governing body, nor collected in the administration of the Coalition’s survey.
“The Coalition was formed to remove barriers for communities that have not historically reported hate and bias incidents to the police,” said Christopher Bhang, Civil Rights Program Manager at OESJ. “Coalition partners, like CISC and SCIDpda, are trusted by their communities to provide support, opportunities, and to be an advocate in spaces where government and law enforcement cannot.”
“We as a Coalition partner wanted this to not only be an opportunity to educate our community about hate and bias and how they can manifest, but also to be a trusted community member to come to when people recognize a hate and bias incident for what it is,” said Jamie Lee, Director of Community Initiatives at SCIDpda. “It’s important to offer a safe way to report such incidents with cultural competence and compassion, and be able to connect folks to resources they need.”
“When community members report hate and bias incidents, we are able to provide information, resources, and support,” said Michael Itti, Executive Director of CISC. “We encourage community members to report incidents so CISC and our Coalition partners can advocate for ways to strengthen community safety.”
The Coalition Against Hate & Bias is not an emergency service. If community members are in danger, call 911.
To report hate and bias incidents, community members can contact:
CISC staff:
Cantonese/English: (206) 468-5981
Mandarin/English: (206) 393-2110
Spanish/English: (425) 598-5436
Email: antihb@cisc-seattle.org
SCIDpda staff (Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and English):
Miran Kim at mirank@hhcoworks.org
Jamie Lee at 206-838-8713 or jamiel@scidpda.org
For more information on the Coalition Against Hate and Bias, go to
https://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/equity-social-justice/Coalition-Against-Hate-And-Bias.aspx