The Asian American Journalists Association stands in solidarity with our black colleagues during this challenging time. Just as we stand up to racism against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, we stand up to racism against the black community, including the targeted and violent actions toward journalists of color during the protests of the last week.
We recognize the trauma our black colleagues are experiencing while reporting current events. All too often, black journalists are denigrated while doing their job and providing the public service of bearing witness and telling the story. And that is unacceptable.
Recent events– and the missed opportunities we have witnessed in both local and national coverage– underscore the need for greater equity and inclusion in newsrooms. News leaders must realize that their editorial decisions have real-life impact on the safety and well-being of their black journalists and other journalists of color. Newsrooms must diversify, and so must its leadership and decision-makers at every level.
These moments have shown us that we must confront how to be better allies to our black colleagues. For too long,
anti-black sentiments have been pervasive in the Asian immigrant community in America. We recognize and fully support AAJA members’ growing efforts to confront our community’s history through our work, on social media and through personal conversations to better educate ourselves and others about the necessary work to support the black community.
As an organization, AAJA is committed to becoming even stronger allies of journalists of all backgrounds. AAJA will work to share resources for our members and create spaces for meaningful conversations around allyship, with the goal of growing together as an AAJA Family.
-AAJA Board of Directors
