MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - The Meridian Township Board held a virtual meeting on March 31, where they passed a resolution in support of the Asian and Asian-American communities.

The recent shootings in the Metro Atlanta Area, which took the lives of eight people and wounded another, in conjunction with the increase of hate crimes toward Asians were catalysts for this resolution.

According to Stop AAPI Hate, which is a reference to Asian-American Pacific Islanders, 3,795 of these hate crimes were reported between March 19, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021 across all 50 U.S. states.

Meridian Township residents of Asian descent make up 6.51% of the Township’s 43 thousand total residents, in comparison to 4.2% of the total U.S. population.

Township Supervisor Ron Styka talked about how important it is to pass this resolution, due to the large Asian population in Meridian Township.

“Meridian has a strong Asian American community,” he said. “We have a lot of people from that portion of the world that live here, in terms of their ancestry, live here in Meridian Township. It’s important we make it clear to them how much we support them and their right to be treated as everyone else.”

Meridian Township is now emphasizing one of their core goals, which is to promote respect, inclusion, and a welcoming community for people of all races, national origins and ethnicities.