The South Orange-Maplewood Community Coalition on Race encourages all in our community to follow public health advice and directives to keep all our friends, neighbors and family safe as they relate to the containment and mitigation of the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. We also strongly urge everyone to speak out against the unfounded racism and vitriol directed at our Asian and Asian American friends, family, and neighbors at this time. We know from history that our country has a long history of erroneously scapegoating marginalized groups (like the LGBTQ+ and Haitian communities during the HIV/AIDS epidemic) for public health matters that are NOT at all related to race. We must all come together now to do our part for community protection; by carefully adhering to public health directives, as well as denouncing emphatically the utilization of this crisis to allow racism, hate, and xenophobia to gain an even greater foothold in our society.