DMPS Stands With Our Asian Students, Staff and Families

In light of an increase in violence and hate crimes towards Asians, Des Moines Public Schools shares a statement of support for our Asian American and Pacific Islander students, staff and families, and will share the message “Stop Asian Hate” on our school signs throughout the city.

You need only type the words “Asian hate crimes” into a search engine to gather evidence from reputable news sources that these evil acts are being recorded at an alarming rate. The stories are heart wrenching but only begin to reveal the racism that disrupts the lives of our fellow Iowans every single day.

Des Moines Public Schools is home to more than 2,600 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, over 8% of our total enrollment. We are committed to providing a safe place to learn. Our community needs to be a safe place to live and work.

A safe place means a place free of all manner of hate, from teasing, stereotyping, harassment, and assault. While many recent attacks against AAPI people may have been triggered in response to COVID-19, a global disease that has nothing to do with a person’s race or nationality, racism targeting Asians is nothing new.

DMPS joins other organizations, locally and around the nation, in condemning hate crimes and violence against AAPI people. That is why DMPS will share on our school signs a message repeated at vigils and rallies across the country in recent days: “Stop Asian Hate.”

Every one of us has an essential role in not only countering racism but in being anti-racist. We need to create communities where violence in word or deed is not tolerated, and all people are valued and treated as equals. Our schools must and will contribute to such a community.