Standing with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community

A Message from Mike George, President and CEO, Qurate Retail, Inc.

March 18, 2021: On Tuesday, Stop AAPI Hate released a national report documenting nearly 3,800 hate incidents over the past year in the U.S. targeting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, ranging from verbal and online harassment to physical assault and civil rights violations. Sadly, this sobering report has garnered even greater attention as it came on the same day that a mass shooting at three spas in Atlanta killed eight innocent people – six of whom were Asian women.  

At the time of my writing, police are still investigating the motive for the Atlanta shootings. But it’s clear that these events will add to the pain and trauma that the AAPI community is already experiencing amidst a sharp rise in anti-AAPI violence and rhetoric. The harsh reality is that the AAPI report likely represents only a small portion of actual incidents. We all have an obligation to recognize this crisis and do something about it.  

As an organization, Qurate Retail Group remains clear and steadfast in our rejection of racism, discrimination, and violence in all their forms.  Today, we stand with our team members, customers, business partners, and neighbors around the world who are members of the AAPI community.  

We are supporting the AAPI community in several ways: 

• We are in the final stages of creating an AAPI team member resource group, which we plan to launch in the next few weeks. Our team member resources groups (TMRGs) are voluntary, team member-run groups, formed to advise and work on topics that matter to our communities. We began work on our AAPI TMRG in the U.S. in late 2020 as part of our ongoing efforts to expand the groups, which are vital to our business.  
• We are making a $200,000 contribution to Stop AAPI Hate and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, split evenly between the two organizations. Stop AAPI Hate is a collaboration between the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University to track and respond to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC advocates for Asian American civil rights through education, litigation, and public policy advocacy. 
• We are providing a 100% match for U.S. team member donations to Stop AAPI Hate or Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC made through Partners in Giving, up to $1,000 per team member through May 31, 2020.  

We must do more – much more – to help create inclusive environments that provide equity and a sense of belonging for all. As Qurate Retail Group, we are committed to this effort. We have asked all team members to be a part of this change by engaging with our TMRGs and our diversity programs and by living Our Principles – striving always to act with empathy, do what’s right, and stand with those who are marginalized.