Mr. Lee's encounter and the many other hate incidents that have been reported over the last year are deeply troubling.  As Mr. Lee put it himself, "I grew up in the fifties when we were the only Chinese family in our school district.  It was not a great time to be Asian.  In many ways this brought back things that I thought we had put behind us.”  Indeed, the events of the last year or so have demonstrated that while we have made significant progress in our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in America, a lot of work remains to be done.

To combat hate incidents, we must be vigilant against them.  Last Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey launched a hotline that allows people to report incidents of vandalism, harassment, and intimidation directed at racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.  If you know anyone who has been a victim of hate violence, please direct them to call the Attorney General’s Office’s hotline at 1-800-994-3228 or file a civil rights complaint online.

In addition, AALAM has reached out to other organizations, and we hope to plan a series of joint events in the near future to encourage conversation about issues such as hate crimes and discrimination and how we - as a community of Asian American lawyers - can be of help.  Please stay tuned.

We are also mindful that alternative views may not have received due consideration and invite proposals, participation and leadership in our organization to help us through a challenging national transition at all geographic and demographic levels.