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WGSS statement in solidarity with Asian-Americans
The Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University stands in solidarity with Asian-Americans and against anti-Asian violence and attacks on Asian-American communities that have increased over the last year. Across the country, Asian-Americans, mostly women, have been targets of hate crimes ranging from verbal and physical assault to murder. This past week in Atlanta, eight people were murdered, six of them Asian-American massage workers, targeted by a white supremacist misogynist whose acts have been excused and facilitated by politicians, the police, religious extremists, and the general climate of anti-Asian racism, harassment, scapegoating and targeting that has been on the rise over the past year.
The violence and hate directed toward Asian-Americans has a long history in the United States, from the 1854 legal ruling of People vs. Hall and the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the internment of tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II, to attacks on Vietnamese shrimpers in the 1970s, on Asian-Americans during the Los Angeles riots in 1991, and on Muslim, Sikh and other Asian-Americans in the wake of September 11. This history informs, frames, and has allowed for the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans, the racist, mysoginist fetishization of Asian-American women, and the classist, racist attacks on Asian-American working people in the current moment. It is time for all of us to protest, resist and and organize against all forms of white supremacy, misogyny, and hate directed at Asian-American and BIPOC communities.
We mourn the loss of those murdered: Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. Our deepest condolences go to their families, friends, neighbors and community members. We stand with Asian-Americans everywhere who feel unsafe leaving their homes to go for walks or to carry out everyday duties and errands. We acknowledge and hold space for this tremendous loss, and commit to working to fight the white supremacy, misogyny, racism and classism that have marked the attacks in Atlanta and across the country.
Dr. Ethel Brooks
Chair and Graduate Program Director
Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
