“The only way to survive is by taking care of one another.”
– Grace Lee Boggs, Democracy Now interview, 2010
Grace Lee Boggs
World Critical Dietetics (WCD) stands in solidarity with the Asian-Pacific Islander (API) communities by bringing a call to action to stop API hate violence. Anti-Asian hate violence rates have doubled in 2020 in some cities across the world, with API members being harassed, pushed, robbed, stabbed, raped, and killed. This is due to the racist rhetoric and scapegoating surrounding the API community with the rise of COVID-19 cases, in line with historical API scapegoating worldwide. Anti-API hate stems from racism, White supremacy, and settler colonialism. For example, API indentured servitude on plantations and railroads, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Japanese American Internment Camps of World War II, and the continued racist attacks after 9/11 on the Muslim, Sikh, Arab and South-Asian communities are only some of the events that continue to haunt our communities.
The recent mass shootings resulting in the murder of six Asian Women at three Atlanta-area spas as well as four members of the Sikh community at a FedEx in Indianapolis, Indiana has sparked national outcry for government and community support in dealing with the rise in violence against the API community. We are losing parents, siblings, relatives, partners, and friends simply because they fit the stereotype of someone “dangerous”, “suspicious”, “exotic”, “weak”, or “less than”. These stereotypes are deeply rooted within our society and culture, where they create purposeful divisions between communities. The division of marginalized groups is a fundamental factor for maintaining institutional oppression and the status quo, solely at the expense of those divided. We live in a society that normalizes living in fear, enduring acts of hate, and managing our trauma, but we can use these experiences to empathize with one another, despite differences in race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. So now, as in the past, we need to come together to support one another, and fight against those who attempt to harm our communities
WCD will use our power and voice to amplify marginalized communities so they can speak about their challenges and concerns. WCD condemns all anti-Asian hate speech and actions, and stands in solidarity with the API community.
We stand committed to take the following actions:
1. We will seek, listen, and learn from the stories of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities to discuss barriers and matters about race.
2. We will continue to educate ourselves and others about the ways racism is perpetrated in BIPOC communities, and how to address the dismantling of negative rhetoric and stereotypes.
3. We will use our space and resources to create an ongoing platform for BIPOC communities.
4. We will work with BIPOC communities to identify the needs and create resources to support dietitians, healthcare providers and researchers in anti-racist work.
5. We will advocate for social justice through research, education and practice that addresses social and health inequities.
WCD is in the process of creating a comprehensive action plan to address racism within WCD, within dietetics which will be shared for feedback shortly.
We stand in solidarity with the most oppressed and will fight for a world free from racial violence, human suffering and exploitation, where equal access to life is valued for all.
In Solidarity,
WORLD CRITICAL DIETETICS BOARD 2021-2022
World Critical Dietetics 
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