STATEMENT BY STANFORD
ASIAN AMERICAN FACULTY
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STATEMENT BY STANFORD ASIAN AMERICAN FACULTY
APRIL 2, 2021
The recent killings in Atlanta are the culmination of a year of harassment and hate crimes waged against Asian and Asian American communities in the United States. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. When people are angry, sad, frustrated, and afraid because they are sick, unemployed, and socially isolated, they are more likely to blame others, and specifically minorities and other cultural outgroups. In the case of the pandemic, Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. have been the primary targets of this blame, and this has been directly facilitated by the polarizing rhetoric of many politicians and pundits. But this is unfortunately not new. Indeed, these acts recall the long record of Sinophobia and anti-Asian racism that marks our nation’s history and illustrates the role that anti-Asian sentiments have played in shaping notions of belonging and citizenship in the United States for more than a century and half. This is a history that is seldom told in American history textbooks or history classes, even though it has been a central theme since the 19th century, when Chinese laborers arrived en masse to the West Coast to work as miners, migrant farm workers, and laborers on the Transcontinental Railroad.
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"Too often Asian Americans are stereotyped as perpetual foreigners." |
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At that time, white mobs drove Chinese Americans from rural communities across the American West from Rock Spring, Wyoming to Truckee, California. Widespread anti-Asian xenophobia resulted in the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which was the first law to ban a specific ethnic group (i.e., Chinese laborers) from immigrating to the United States. Broad fears of Asian immigrants as a “Yellow Peril,” were directed not only at Chinese immigrants but at immigrants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and the Indian subcontinent. In 1907, violent anti-Asian race riots broke out in cities on the West Coast. During World War II, Japanese Americans on the West Coast were deprived of their constitutional rights as citizens and imprisoned in incarceration camps. Even decades after being dubbed the “Model Minority,” Asians in America have continued to be violently attacked, as in the case of Vincent Chin, who in 1982 was murdered by men who regarded him as part of the Japanese threat to the American auto industry. In the past twenty years, South Asian Americans, along with Muslim, Sikh, Arab, and Middle Eastern Americans, have faced regular hate violence as entire communities have been racialized as disloyal and dangerous. Too often Asian Americans are stereotyped as perpetual foreigners. |
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"To some of us, what is particularly surprising and concerning are the actions against Asian and Asian American/Pacific Islanders here in the
San Francisco Bay Area, including on our very own campus.
How can these crimes occur in a place that prides itself on
racial and ethnic diversity and tolerance?"
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To some of us, what is particularly surprising and concerning are the actions against Asian and Asian American/Pacific Islanders here in the San Francisco Bay Area, including on our very own campus. How can these crimes occur in a place that prides itself on racial and ethnic diversity and tolerance? In 2019-2020, there were multiple racist attacks on Asian American students and staff on the Stanford campus, including an assault that was classified as a hate crime. The police identified at least 5 individuals who were responsible for these acts. And just recently, racial slurs were hurled at a student walking on campus, and an Asian American faculty member and her family were harassed by a young man’s expressions of “White Power” when they were driving through downtown Palo Alto.
These acts exact a cost not only on the Asians and Asian Americans who are the targets of harassment and hate, or on those who live in fear for their own safety and that of their loved ones. They also exact a cost on other targets of racism and bigotry, and they harm all efforts to create a more accepting and just society for all. We stand in solidarity with our Black and brown students, faculty, and staff of color, who contend with racism and institutional racism every day of their lives.
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This is the reason that Asian American Studies and all of the other programs on race and ethnicity at CCSRE and AAAS are critical to the mission of Stanford University. Scholarship and training in Asian American Studies are not only critical for combating bias and discrimination against Asian Americans and other racial and ethnic groups, but also for creating global citizens and thriving multicultural communities in the 21stcentury and beyond. Asian American Studies is also central to cutting edge scholarship in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and other disciplines. This scholarship helps explain why Asian Americans are often viewed as suspicious and perpetual foreigners, even when generations of Asian Americans have made significant contributions to every sector of American society. Our field helps identify the misunderstandings that may result from cultural differences between mainstream American society and many Asian societies, and it identifies the similarities that unite Asian Americans with other ethnic groups in the United States.
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"At Stanford, Asian Americans currently comprise 25% of the undergraduate student population. These students—regardless of their fields—are hungry
to learn more about Asian American experiences and what they can do
to support their communities, combat racism,
and promote social justice for all communities of color."
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At Stanford, Asian Americans currently comprise 25% of the undergraduate student population. These students---regardless of their fields---are hungry to learn more about Asian American experiences and what they can do to support their communities, combat racism, and promote social justice for all communities of color. For example, after offering an “Introduction to Asian American Studies” course for two consecutive years (after a ten-year hiatus), the number of majors and minors in Asian American Studies more than tripled. Stanford is a unique place for students to learn about Asian American history because of Leland Stanford’s role in hiring Chinese laborers. Stanford has an active Asian American Activities Center that fosters a strong sense of community among faculty, students, staff, and alumni. We have a vibrant and committed Asian American Alumni Association. Finally, because we are located on the Pacific Rim, in the heart of Silicon Valley where many Asian Americans have thrived, there is significant community interest in supporting Asian American Studies. In other words, there is enormous opportunity for Stanford to be a world leader in scholarship and advocacy for Asian Americans and the Asian diaspora. |
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"Now is the time for Stanford to take world class leadership in issues of
race and ethnicity. Asian American Studies alongside the other
CCSRE programs and AAAS are poised to play a central role in these efforts,
but we must be given the faculty and resources to do so."
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What we lack, however, are enough faculty to help lead these efforts and cultivate these opportunities. While we currently have faculty across a variety of disciplines who study or are interested in issues related to Asian American/Pacific Islander communities, they do not have the resources to offer the courses and training that students need, or to foster relationships across the university and with the larger community to build and promote scholarship and training in Asian American Studies.
Now is the time for Stanford to take world class leadership in issues of race and ethnicity. Asian American Studies alongside the other CCSRE programs and AAAS are poised to play a central role in these efforts, but we must be given the faculty and resources to do so. Otherwise, we fear that the Atlanta killings and other anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic will be just another chapter in a long history of racial injustice and violence in the United States.
Signed,
anthony lising antonio, Education
Gordon Chang, History
Will Gow, Asian American Studies/CCSRE, American Studies
Marci Soonmi Kwon, Art & Art History
Kathryn Gin Lum, Religious Studies
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Asian American Studies/CCSRE
David Palumbo-Liu, Comparative Literature
Stephen M. Sano, Music
Shirin Sinnar, Law
Sharika Thiranagama, Anthropology
Jeanne Tsai, Psychology, Faculty Director of Asian American Studies
Christine Min Wotipka, Education
Sylvia Yanagisako, Anthropology
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Faculty Affiliate Steven O. Roberts (Psych)
Earns APS Rising Star Award
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CCSRE Staff | April 5, 2011
Congratulations to CCSRE Faculty Affiliate Steven O. Roberts (Psychology) for earning the 2021 Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star Award.
The APS Rising Star designation is presented to outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD. This designation recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.
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WHAT IS POPULATION?
Investigating Race, Ethnicity, and Ancestry
In Genomics Research
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BOOK TALK
A Pattern of Violence: How the Law Classifies Crime And What It Means for Justice
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April 12 | 4:30p
What crimes count as "violent," and what significance does that have? In his new book, A Pattern of Violence: How the Law Classifies Crime and What It Means for Justice, Stanford Law School Professor David Sklansky argues that these are moral and political questions and that the answers our legal system has provided have contributed to mass incarceration, police brutality, and other pathologies of contemporary criminal justice.
Join us for a panel discussion of these issues, sponsored by Stanford Law School, the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, and the Stanford Center for Comparative Studies on Race & Ethnicity, with comments from attorney and restorative justice practitioner sujatha baliga, Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the California Supreme Court, Adam Serwer of The Atlantic, as well as CCSRE Faculty Affiliate David Sklansky. Stanford Law School Professor Rabia Belt will moderate the discussion.
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RACE, TECH + CIVIL SOCIETY
Webinar
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ARTS + JUSTICE WORKSHOP SERIES
Technologies of Justice
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April 15 | 4:30p PST
In the first spring event of Arts + Justice research workshop, we gather to consider technologies of justice, with particular attention to the humanistic potential and precarity of artificial intelligence. Featuring visiting artists Rashaad Newsome for a presentation on “Being (The Digital Griot)” and Amelia Winger-Bearskin on “Hopeful Worlds” as moderated by the esteemed Michele Elam, these artist-technologists reflect on imagining the world otherwise, through virtual and visceral modes of engagement.
If you need a disability-related accommodation, please contact Devin Garnick at dgarnick@stanford.edu or (650) 497-9905. Requests should be made at least one week in advance of the event
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FACULTY RESEARCH FELLOW
Chautauqua
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RACE IN MEDICINE
Speaker Series
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RACE IN MEDICINE SPEAKER SERIES
Spring '21
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May 5: Anti-Racism Workshop (no speaker)
May 26: TBD
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NEWS & EVENTS OF INTEREST |
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BYSTANDER TRAINING TO STOP ANTI-ASIAN/AMERICAN AND XENOPHOBIC HARASSMENT |
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In response to the rise in Anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment, Hollaback! partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC to adapt their free bystander intervention training as well as offer a de-escalation training to meet this moment. Please register in advance for all trainings. |
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Have news or events to share? |
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We invite news and stories written by and about our CCSRE community—including from faculty, students, staff, alumni, and on and off campus partners—as well as race-centered events to feature in our newsletter and blog.
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