Alston & Bird: Standing Up to Hate

It has been almost a year since the killing of George Floyd. Sadly, we, as a nation, continue to struggle with bias and hate. Last week, eight people were killed at three Asian businesses in the Atlanta area. Six of the eight were Asian women. The attacks took place against the larger backdrop of an escalation of anti-Asian violence since the beginning of the pandemic. As a firm based in Atlanta with more than 90 Asian American Pacific Islander attorneys and staff, the shootings hit close to home.

Alston & Bird condemns racism and hate in all forms, and we stand with the AAPI community in working to confront these issues. We have active partnerships with many nonprofits serving the AAPI community and with various AAPI bar organizations. We will continue to work with these organizations to support the community in the fight against racially motivated violence and harassment. We are also proud that our partner, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, BJay Pak, and the firm will be representing one of the victim’s families on a pro bono basis. We will work to seek justice for these family members and for the AAPI community at large.

We are committed to do more, to be leaders through action and endurance, and to act by example, not rhetoric.