Thread by @JeffreyDLe

🧵.@WhiteHouse & Congress have taken steps against #AAPI hate. But if leaders really want to protect & boost Asian American & Pacific Islander opportunity, they must focus on women, small business & seniors. My latest @politico @POLITICOMag politico.com/news/magazine/… #StopAsianHate

To support #AAPI women:
Congress & the administration should provide targeted federal funding directly to long-standing AAPI civic groups w/the right cultural fluency, subject matter expertise and a track record of delivering services, such as @AAAJ_AAJC or @NAPAWF. 2/

Women of color are still not returning to the workforce. Investments in child care, day care and elder care programs should be set aside to support women entrepreneurs & working women so they can stay in the workforce & keep their businesses running. 3/

#AAPI-owned small businesses broadly were hammered by #COVID19 & vandalism. 80% of surveyed businesses experienced “negative effects," with 10% permanently shuttered and almost half unable to keep employees on payroll. 4/

1 in 5 AAPI business operators & owners do not expect their business to make it through the year.
A third of all self-reported acts of hate have come at places of business.
1/4 AAPI-owned small businesses say they experienced vandalism or threats against their business. 5/

Like my parents' experience as farmers and small business owners, 2 in 5 say they were blamed for #COVID19. 6/

Federal policymakers can look to CA on how to directly respond to AAPI economic crisis. The State Legislature passed & @GavinNewsom signed the $156.5 million #APIEquityBudget - includes $20 million in grants to AAPI small businesses & community hubs. news.yahoo.com/california-app… 7/

Then there are older AAPI adults.

As the country opens up and older adults return to public spaces, acts of violence & hate may increase. Congress should fund additional bystander training sessions, safety programs, information campaigns & even civic community self-defense. 8/

Older AAPI adults also need physical and mental health services. Older AAPI adults, especially foreign-born ones, have long experienced an overall lower quality of life than the general elderly population — including higher poverty rates. 9/

According to data from 2015 and 2017, over 23 percent of older Cambodian American adults were living in poverty & Vietnamese, Hmong and Indonesian Americans 65 and older had a poverty rate of 17.9 percent, more than double the poverty rate for the general elderly population. 10/

Older AAPI women have some of the highest rates of suicide. Older AAPI adults not only face a significantly higher risks from #COVID19 than the general population, but language barriers & xenophobia have increased their isolation. 11/

To support AAPI women, small businesses & older adults, @POTUS, Biden administration & Congress should deepen its investment in the American Jobs Plan & the upcoming budget to ensure that there's meaningful resources to respond to hate & inspire economic recovery. -30-