Addressing Anti-Asian Racism and Hate: Racial Equality and Justice Task Force Update

We are deeply horrified and saddened by the ongoing violence and racism against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. First, we saw an increase in xenophobic attacks at the beginning of the pandemic, then a rise in unprovoked attacks against elderly Asians in major cities around the world, and most recently, the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, where eight people were killed — and most were Asian women. In the midst of the rise of anti-Asian racism and attacks, the Asian community is rightfully hurt and frightened. 

At Salesforce, we’re committed to taking action against racism, violence, and hate. The Racial Equality and Justice Task Force was formed to address systemic racism, brutality, and injustice — inspired by the events we saw against the Black community last year. We are continuing our focus on the Black community along with systemic inequities impacting underrepresented minorities in the workplace and society —  while acknowledging that with the rise of attacks against the Asian community, we must also address anti-Asian racism in our efforts.

The dual threat of COVID-19 and racism continue to expose systemic racism against the AAPI community and harmful stereotypes such as the “model minority” myth, which is intended to further silence the AAPI community while driving a wedge between communities of color and minimizing the impact racism has on all of these groups.  Racism against anyone impacts us all. We can all take action as active allies to create a more equal and just world for everyone. 

Building on the actions we are already taking to support our Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities — here are some of the additional steps we are taking across our 4 P’s to address anti-Asian racism, violence, and hate:

People

• New Asian leadership development program to empower, elevate and advance careers and widen access to opportunities. 
• Launch company-wide microaggressions training that will include addressing microaggressions impacting the Asian community in the workplace. 

Philanthropy

• Salesforce is donating $600,000 to Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination against the AAPI community in the United States, and works to build cross-racial solidarity. In addition, Tableau Foundation is donating over $100,000 in software, services, and financial support to Stop AAPI Hate’s public information programs.
• We donated $250,000 to the Chinatown Community Development Center, which is committed to empowering low-income residents, diversity and coalition building, and social and economic justice, with a focus on serving the Chinatown neighborhood.

Purchasing

•  We are financially empowering Asian-owned businesses as part of our broader effort to support minority-owned businesses. To date, we’ve spent $135 million with minority-owned businesses.

Policy

• We’re continuing to support critical Hate Crime legislation, including the bill passed in Georgia last summer. The law allows for extra penalties to be applied for crimes motivated by a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, or disability.

We are also working to mobilize all our employees and communities as active allies.  Asiapacforce, our employee resource group for the AAPI community – put together a resource with organizations you can donate to and support. 

We will continue to use our company as a platform for change and to inspire others to advance racial equality and justice. At Salesforce, we are committed to this journey through our various programs and initiatives, learn more: Salesforce.com/REJ