Opinion | APSA condemns AAPI violence
Top row, from left to right: Zoe Rodriguez, junior business administration major, APSA treasurer / Mitchell Tanaka, junior television writing and production major, APIDA co-chair / Ali Marienthal, senior business administration and integrated educational studies double major, APSA Events Coordinator / Cheryl Lee, senior animation and visual effects major, APSA vice president
Bottom row, from left to right: Kylie Tamaki, senior animation and visual effects and Japanese studies double major, APSA graphic design chair / James Tran, junior theater technology major, APIDA co-chair / Irene Huang, senior business administration major, APSA president / Allie Chow, junior global communications major, APSA secretary
Since 2016 and throughout the coronavirus pandemic, racism and hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community have reached an all-time high. In the past year alone, the AAPI community has seen repeated harassment, abuse and attacks on our elderly community and others who are most vulnerable.
The March 16 Atlanta shootings are, in no uncertain terms, hate crimes that led to the deaths of eight victims, six of them Asian women who were targeted inside Asian-owned establishments. Chapman Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA) stands with the families of the victims in sorrow, strength and solidarity. We also strongly condemn the response of the Georgia Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in promoting sympathy for the shooter as someone with a “sexual addiction” who “had a bad day.”
This narrative presents a dehumanization of Asian women that we should all vehemently reject, rather than excuse and sympathize with. Instead we should be focusing our compassion for the families that have now been permanently ripped apart because of one person’s “bad day.”
Historically, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Japanese internment camps to the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, from the model minority myth to the perpetual foreigner stereotype, the AAPI community has always been the target of xenophobic and racist violence and marginalization in America. It should not take a tremendous act of violence for Asian concerns to be heard and heeded, and even then, there are those who will still discount the effects of decades of micro-aggression and marginalization.
To our AAPI community at Chapman, you deserve better. Chapman’s performative activism and lack of commitment to supporting BIPOC students needs to change. The university cannot claim they are diverse and inclusive if they cannot show equal treatment and support for both white and BIPOC student communities.
There must be change for BIPOC students to have the equal space and opportunities to express our opinions and concerns to the school. Here is a brief list of tangible actions Chapman’s administration can make to work toward a more equitable campus:
Conduct quarterly outreach to diversity and cultural organizations for input on university policy
Provide AAPI organizations a seat in equity committees and task forces
Discuss with the student body what specific acts of misconduct should qualify as fireable offenses, beyond that of unlawfulness
Publish monthly updates on efforts to reinforce inclusion of BIPOC on campus
Adhere to the Black Student Union’s 12-point action plan
To our non-AAPI friends at Chapman, we need you to speak up and support your AAPI friends and fellow students where it matters most. Stop the cycle of Asian stereotyping and xenophobia with your actions. Donate to AAPI organizations and charities. Confront racist friends or family if you see them perpetuating Asian hate.
Here are two websites that have compiled resources to support AAPI communities:
Below is a list of AAPI organizations that you can support or donate to:
Asian Mental Health Collective
Organization dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and making mental health more accessible for Asian communities
Initiative where you can report AAPI hate crimes and also seek help dealing with hate crimes
Movement working to empower and raise visibility for AAPI women in light of the #MeToo movement, focusing on fighting for gender equality
Asian American Legal Defense And Education Fund
Organization that works to protect Asian American civil rights and provide means of legal help and education
Donate and support local Chinatown businesses in New York City
Asian American Leadership Empowerment and Development
Supports low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth with educational and leadership opportunities for youth development
Organization working to strengthen Asian Pacific community in the San Francisco Bay Area by providing financial funding in scholarships, grants and financial services
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander organizations
Works to support and raise visibility and support for these communities
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta
Nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in Georgia and the Southeast
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Organization focused on support and advocating for Asian Pacific Women on a sociopolitical and economic front to build power against oppression and marginalization
Butterfly - Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Network
A Canada-based organization that provides support and education to Asian and migrant sex workers and advocates for their human and legal rights
Grassroots collective of Asian sex workers and allies for migrant justice
The only grassroots Chinese massage parlor worker coalition in the U.S.
Organization that offers culturally-specialized support and advocacy for immigrant and migrant women engaged in indoor sex work
Works to advocate and support human and legal rights for migrant sex workers in Canada
Asians and Pacific Islanders for LGBTQ Equality
Organization that works on running campaigns to promote an inclusive, equitable and just society for AAPI LGBTQ+