Giving Compass' Take:

• The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is launching a fund to address the uptick in hate crimes and bias against Asian American communities resulting from COVID-19.

 • How can you address hate crimes in your community that are a direct result of the coronavirus epidemic? 

• Read more on how to reduce xenophobia and increase empathy during this time. 

Like many organizations across the globe, Nellie Mae has been carefully monitoring the development of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the hardships that the virus has caused for communities and individuals experiencing it first-hand.

At the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, we recognize that for underserved communities and communities of color in particular — inequities — whether they be access to childcare, healthcare, food, or a paycheck — become exacerbated in such situations.

An unspoken piece of this pandemic is how misinformation and false narratives cause deep harm to communities of color, and in this case, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). We are standing in solidarity with AAPI communities in the New England region who have been impacted by xenophobia, racism and Sinophobia stemming from a perceived connection with COVID-19.

We have been disturbed and disheartened to learn about the bullying and hate crimes against students of Asian heritage that have arisen in our schools and communities as a result of misconceptions surrounding COVID-19. Harmful descriptions of the virus as the “China Virus” or “Wuhan Virus” contribute to a racist narrative about the pandemic that disproportionately harms Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Today, we are launching a rapid response fund to respond to the hate crimes and bias against Asian American communities resulting from COVID-19. The Foundation has allocated resources for the Racism is a Virus Too rapid response grant fund to support Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that provide services for AAPI communities.

Read the full article about racism as a virus by Ellen Wang at Medium.