HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 - Proclamation - Condemning Acts of Violence and Hate Cri - 3/16/2021
WHEREAS, the outbreak of COVID-19 has seen an unprecedented spread
with devastating effects across countries, communities, and cultures; and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 has no country or state boundaries and was not
created or caused by any race, nationality or ethnicity, and that the World Health
Organization has cautioned against using geographic descriptors that can fuel
ethnic and racial discrimination; and
WHEREAS, hate crimes, discrimination and aggression against specific
communities, including Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, are
on the rise throughout the country due to inflammatory rhetoric blaming these
communities for the COVID-19 outbreak and spread; and
WHEREAS, California has the largest Asian American population in the
United States and one in five Orange County residents are Asian American; and
WHEREAS, the President of the United States stated in a national address
on March 11, 2021, that there have been "vicious hate crimes against Asian
Americans, who've been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated” and that
it is “wrong, un-American, and it must stop;” and
WHEREAS, the City’s Mission Statement is “the City of Costa Mesa serves
our residents, businesses, and visitors while promoting a safe, inclusive, and
vibrant community;” and
WHEREAS, the history of Costa Mesa includes early pioneers of Asian
ancestry, who contributed to the success of agricultural enterprises that
significantly fueled economic growth, adding to the variety of crops and
innovative production techniques, prompting the Santa Ana Register to promote
in 1928 the 150 acres of strawberries farmed year-round in Costa Mesa by the
Japanese American community in the Fairview Avenue district; and
WHEREAS, the Issei, first generation Japanese Americans, contributed to
Costa Mesa’s community education, founding one of Orange County’s early 20th
Century Japanese Language Schools at 18th and Whittier streets, supported by the
Kuriharas, Hashimotos, Ezakis, Minatos, and Shuji Kanno, father of Fountain
Valley’s first mayor James Kanno—one of the first Nisei to become mayor in the
mainland United States—and an elder with one of the oldest Japanese missions
in California, the Wintersburg Japanese Mission at Orange County’s National
Treasure historic place, Historic Wintersburg; and
WHEREAS, Asian Americans such as Isamo Noguchi—confined during
World War II at the Colorado River Relocation Center in Arizona—made
significant contributions to the City of the Arts with the internationally recognized
California Scenario sculpture garden in Costa Mesa’s theater district; and
WHEREAS, in 1986, the United States and Marshall Islands formed an
official diplomatic relationship recognizing the Marshallese right to live, work,
and travel in the United States and many Marshallese came to the U.S. and made
Costa Mesa their home, and
WHEREAS, the Asian American Pacific Islander community continues to
make significant contributions to the fabric of Costa Mesa in the arts, education,
cuisine, and our City’s cultural landscape, bringing international business and
tourism to our community; and
WHEREAS, as our history has shown, times of great fear, uncertainty and
unrest can lead to the demonization, blaming, and scapegoating of groups as the
other, leading to unjust actions such as World War II incarceration of Costa
Mesa’s early Japanese pioneers, destruction of property, physical violence, and
fear, preventing full participation in civic life; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, Katrina Foley, Mayor of the
City of Costa Mesa, do hereby proclaim the City of Costa Mesa affirms its
commitment to the safety and well-being of all community members, including
the Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and in combatting hate crimes
targeting Asian American Pacific Islander communities, and ask residents to join
us in calling attention to these harms and condemning hate to help keep us all
safe during this unprecedented pandemic and beyond.
PRESENTED this 16th day of March, 2021
________________________________
Katrina Foley, Mayor of the City of Costa Mesa