In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month this May, McLarty Associates is celebrating the AAPI community and the significant contributions its members make to our firm every day. We are extremely proud of the integral role that our AAPI colleagues play here at McLarty Associates and in our communities.

We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to the AAPI community, contributing to an historic and horrific increase in violence and hate crimes against its members. As a firm that has forged deep professional and personal ties throughout the Asia Pacific region, the pain that we feel in solidarity with our AAPI colleagues is especially pronounced. We stand as allies and friends to our AAPI colleagues and offer them our whole-hearted support during these difficult times.

We are clear-eyed about the imperative for visibility and justice for the AAPI community and denounce anti-Asian racism. We acknowledge that anti-Asian sentiment and violence is not a new phenomenon and that much of the pain felt by the AAPI community has long been undercounted, underreported, and misunderstood. Recent incidents are painful reminders of the ongoing struggles for visibility and justice for the AAPI community and that more work needs to be done to fight discrimination, bias, and racism in all its forms.

We unequivocally condemn violence and hate crimes against the AAPI community and all marginalized communities.

Below are ways to celebrate and support the AAPI community:

• Report incidents to law enforcement and Stop AAPI Hate, a non-profit organization that tracks hate crimes and incidents against the AAPI community.
• Educate yourself or others on what to do to combat hate crimes with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s toolkits offered in 25 different languages.
• Donate to AAPI-supporting organizations, such as:
  • Asian Women Alliance, a network that helps raise awareness for and fund AAPI-supporting organizations.
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), which conducts legal advocacy to fight for AAPI civil rights issues.
  • Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, which serves the legal and civil rights needs of the AAPI community in the DMV through its family, immigration, public benefits, and housing practice areas.
  • Asian American LEAD, which supports underserved AAPI youth in the DMV area with educational empowerment, identity development, and leadership opportunities.
• Share resources for AAPI mental health such as:
  • Asian American Suicide Prevention & Education, which provides multilingual mental health education resources to serve the AAPI community.
  • Asian LifeNet Hotline (Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Fujianese): 1-877-990-8585