COLUMBUS, Ind. — Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger is speaking out against anti-Asian xenophobia due the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide increase in hate incidents targeting people of Asian descent over the past year, including Cummins employees in Columbus.
Linebarger told The Republic on Tuesday that Cummins employees of Asian descent have been receiving more discriminatory remarks and threatening looks in public since the pandemic started and “I want to stand up for” employees.
Employees of Asian descent, including some in Columbus, have reported a “pretty wide range of emotions” over the past year due to the increase in incidents across the country, including disappointment, anger, as well as fear and anxiety when going to the grocery store, Linebarger said.
“Things have gotten notably worse in the last year and many of them we’re feeling quite scared about just normal everyday activities,” he said. “They were worried about their parents going outside. That’s how bad it has gotten.”
“There is a heightened level of concern … This is different and worse,” he said.
Linebarger said he sent out a note to all employees on Monday “to make sure that people knew that I care, but also to call our employees to action to “step up, speak up and speak out” and “stand with your colleagues.”
“These (employees) are people that work for us, give us everything they have in the company, they are great members of our community and they’re in our churches and they just need to have a voice to say that this is not right.”
The comments from Linebarger came about a week after a white man shot and killed eight people at three Georgia massage parlors, including six women of Asian descent, according to The Associated Press.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
