Written by senior, Kristen Livingstone
The WESP lab stands in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) communities.
Content warnings: Racism and violence
We recognize that as a part of a predominantly white institution and as a part of a larger system and country that regrettably continues to perpetuate white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression that we have not always succeeded in addressing or intervening in situations we should have and that may not have always succeeded in fostering a safe and welcoming environment for BIPOC. We stand with our AAPI students at UVM and our AAPI neighbors in Burlington, in surrounding communities across Vermont, across the Lake Champlain basin and across the country. We do not condone the recent increase in violence towards AAPI people that has disproportionally impacted women and elders.
We recognize that it is not the work of BIPOC and AAPI people to educate us on these topics. We pledge to continue to educate ourselves individually and as a lab group on issues of racism and to work to dismantle our internalized biases. We pledge to offer our allyship and solidarity to the AAPI community and to take actions to resist and dismantle systems of racism and oppression.
On March 16 Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Daoyou Feng, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, and Xiaojie Tan were killed in Atlanta, Georgia in a terrible act of violence. Our hearts go out to their friends and family. We will remember their names.
#stopasianhate
Resources:
Stop AAPI Hate National Report
Vermont Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans (APIDA) for Black Lives Statement
Places to consider donating:
Hate is a Virus: https://hateisavirus.org/donate-archive
Stop Asian Hate: https://donate.givedirect.org/?cid=14711
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum: https://www.napawf.org/
Topics for Further Education:
- The Model Minority Myth
- The Naturalization Act of 1790
- The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Magnuson Act of 1943
- Page Act of 1875
- Japanese Internment Camps post-Pearl Harbor
- Colonization of Asian Countries
- ‘Orientalism’
- The 1982 murder of Vincent Chin
- The fetishization of Asian women