Sent to ASAG community on February 15, 2021
We write to you today to acknowledge that our community is in pain and that there is much grief to be processed. As we enter a new lunar year, the Year of the Ox, we are called to be more grounded and intentional about our actions. We love our community and are fueled by its tenacity. Those messages of the Year of the Ox ring loudly, calling us to action in the face of surging anti-Asian violence and xenophobia in America.
Over the past year hate crimes against Asians and Asian Americans have increased by 1,900%.
- 2,800 anti-Asian & anti-Asian American hate incidents were reported in 2020.
- In recent weeks, over 20 assaults have occurred in Northern California alone.
Sadly, this bigotry aimed at our Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) community is not a new phenomenon. Throughout hxstory, Asians and Asian Americans have been wrongly targeted due to mass hysteria. And after centuries of xenophobia, we continue to find ourselves on the receiving end of discrimination and racism in the wake of the global pandemic.
ASAG is committed to the work of radical solidarity and collective liberation for all. We hold space for processing trauma and erasure- a complex and essential part of building and sustaining an anti-racist society, and we ask you to support and participate in our calls to action.
Furthermore, we identify and recognize our connections with other communities who are also hurt by American xenophobia. Our Middle Eastern, North African, and South/Southwest Asian family experience extreme harm from the affliction of xenophobia and Islamophobia. Restrictive and racist immigration policies, internment, post-911 harassment, and surveillance of Muslims and Sikhs are several methods of harm that have impacted our communities for decades. We protest the violence that exists every day for people made to feel marginalized, and underscore our support for the safety and equality for all QTBIPOC. Imperialism, white supremacy, narrow exclusionary practices of capitalism, and patriarchal hierarchy are not safe spaces for any of us. We will continue to protest and build inclusive, intersectional structures that sustain our community.
At the same time, ASAG wants to make clear that we vehemently reject any plots rooted in white supremacy that seek to position Black, Asian, and all people of color against each other as all oppression is interconnected. We acknowledge the ways that the APIDA community, and specifically affluent East Asian communities, have been historically weaponized against other communities of color, particularly the Black/African American community. Further, we demand accountability that is not rooted in punitive systems but calls for transformative justice for our communities.
ASAG AAPI Community Call to Action:
- Make space for yourselves and provide permission for other AAPI friends and family in your communities to experience grief and pain; our emotions are valid and need to be seen; we cannot continue to allow white supremacy to make us invisible
- Tell our stories, especially in our departments and networks at Northwestern
- Condemn anti-Blackness and policing as solutions for accountability
- Report hate incidents here: https://stopaapihate.org/
- Donate to relief, care funds, and community mutual aid networks
ASAG Ally Call to Action:
- Learn about APIDA histories both in their countries of origin and in the diaspora – how varied their past, their cultures, their experiences, and their traumas
- Confront and condemn anti-Asian racism and xenophobia
- Challenge the erasure of APIDA people in conversations about racism and activism
- Actively help dismantle the “black/white binary”
- Recognize that we are not a monolith or a model minority – our stories and experiences deserve space, too.
- Spread awareness and support Asian communities
- Donate to relief, care funds and community mutual aid networks, including hard-hit food and food service industries in the Chicago-land area
Complete liberation can only happen in community, love, light, and solidarity.
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