Union Seminary condemns rising anti-Asian violence

RICHMOND, VA (April 5, 2021) – Union Presbyterian Seminary issued the following statement in response to swelling anti-Asian violence in the United States:

We, the Union Presbyterian Seminary community, are alarmed at the steady and painful resurgence of anti-Asian sentiments in the recent past resulting in nation-wide violence against our Asian American and Pacific Island siblings. In addition to the trauma COVID-19 has caused, Asian Americans have faced numerous incidents of racist violence — verbal and physical — in the past 12 months. The reprehensible killings of eight individuals, including six Asian women, two weeks ago in Georgia, reveal the extent to which this anti-Asian hatred has reached. These murders have caused an immeasurable emotional trauma to the community.

As persons of faith called to find and follow Christ among victims of all ages and regions, we as a seminary join in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Island siblings. Our faith in a God in covenant with the wounded and the vulnerable calls us to participate in their suffering through our prayers and protest. We pledge to ensure through our thoughtful actions that our Asian American siblings feel cared for, respected, and secure in our communities and our neighborhoods.

Read a statement from the Association of Theological Schools on anti-Asian violence signed by President Brian K. Blount.

###

Contact:

Mike Frontiero
Union Presbyterian Seminary
mfrontiero@upsem.edu
804-278-4279