Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m. ET

Meet at Confederate Soldier Statue (N.Main & Elrod St)

In the midst of the horrific racist and misogynist massacre that took place in Atlanta on March 16; the start of the trial of George Floyd killer's trial, police officer Derek Chauvin; and the still warm blood of 10 people in Colorado, BAP member organization Malcolm X Center for Human Rights, Upstate Black Lives Matter, SC Stolen Lives Project/October 22nd Coalition, Upstate AAPI, and others stand in solidarity with the victims of Hate and Violence in the United States. We join the National Day of Action to End White Supremacy, Stop Violence Against Blacks, Asians & Pacific Islanders, Latinx, LGBTQA, Women, & China-Bashing. We will stand at one of the United States' most celebrated and protected hate symbols, the Confederacy and the Confederate Soldier. We will rally at Greenville's Confederate Soldier statue at 11 a.m. ET, at N. Main & Elrod Sts, Greenville, South Carolina.

The alarming rise in hate crimes and police violence over the past year correlates to a rise in white supremacist extremism, police violence, and an increasingly hostile U.S. foreign policy towards China. The intensified militarized policing of Black neighborhoods seeded by the former president Trump's false election claims and call for the January 6 Capitol riot is reflected in more than 250 voting suppression laws nationally. The opportunistic scapegoating of China during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the intensity by which China is deemed the enemy and adversary of the United States, has driven a widespread Sinophobic sentiment nationally. The Asian American community suffers the brunt of the hatred fomented as a weapon of war. To date, there have been 3,800 self-reported hate crimes against Asian Americans.

The mainstream media’s failure to label the Atlanta massacre as a hate crime demonstrates the gross disregard and injustice that communities of color are facing. Racism is a sick symptom of a system that profits from racism/white supremacy, war and violence. And to put insult to injury, the cop handling the Atlanta case was found to be promoting anti-China paraphernalia. In Greenville, no cop or sheriff's deputy has been prosecuted for the record number deaths and injuries at their hands.

We invite all to join us on March 27 for a national day of action demanding an end to Hate and Violence in the USA. Invited guests include: Upstate AAPI, Beyond Differences, Put Down the Gun Young People, Safe Harbor, Moms Demand Action, Julie Valentine Center, Upstate Pride SC, NAACP, Urban League of the Upstate, Quick Stridders.

More information about the action can be found here:
https://fb.me/e/5rCLlzo1O

Join us for the protest in front of the Greenville's Confederate Soldier (N. Main & Elrod Sts) on Saturday, March 27 at 11:00am ET!

Banner photo: Confederate statue protest in downtown Greenville, South Carolina (WSPA)