Statement Against Anti-Asian Violence
The College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo strongly denounces the increasing instances of racial bias, violence, hate-crime, xenophobia, and misogyny against the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the United States. We were horrified by the killing of six people of Asian descent in Georgia on March 16th, four members of the Sikh Community in the shooting at the FedEx Warehouse in Indianapolis on April 15th, the attack on Yao Pan Ma on April 27th in New York City, and numerous others that have happened since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. We stand in grief and solidarity with the families and loved ones of all the victims, and more generally with the entire AAPI community in the United States.
We recognize that racism against Asian Americans has a long history in the United States and goes back as far as the Page Act of 1875. This has resulted in Asian Americans being perpetually “othered” and in aggressive acts of violence manifested through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Act of 1924, the Japanese Internment Camps of the 1940s, the Dotbusters gang in New Jersey in 1987, and rampant Islamophobia against Muslim Americans and perceived Muslims post 9/11. However, abetted by the racist and xenophobic rhetoric of elected officials who insisted on calling the Coronavirus the “Wuhan Virus,” violence against Asian Americans has skyrocketed from the start of the Covid pandemic. In fact, just from March 19th, 2020 through February 28, 2021, there were 3795 incidences of Covid related harassment and assault directed against Asian Americans that were reported to the STOP AAPI HATE reporting center. The report mentions that 68% of the individuals targeted reported verbal assault while 11% reported physical assault. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism also reports that preliminary police data show that crimes against Asian Americans had increased by 149% in 2020.
Needless to say, this systemic racism and xenophobia which leads to the constant devaluing of Asian American lives cannot go on. The AAPI community is an integral and vital part of the United States, and deserves to feel safe, valued, and respected in this country. We in the UToledo College of Arts and Letters remain committed to our mission of equity and justice, and pledge to actively continue to denounce and combat Anti-Asian racism. We are hopeful that through education, direct action, and the development of anti-racist practices both inside and outside the classroom, we will be able to fight stereotyping, demonization, and further harassment and violence against the AAPI community. We want to reassure our students from the AAPI community that we see you, we hear you, we value you, and we will continue to elevate your voices. We will continue to take steps to dismantle structural racism and white supremacy that undergirds that. Finally, we will step up our efforts to combat discrimination in all forms to create a more inclusive, safe, and just community.
We encourage you to learn more about this issue, and hope the following resources will be helpful.