Statement of Solidarity

Dear Triton Community,

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAAPI) communities are experiencing a rise in racism, xenophobia, and acts of violence as a result of COVID-19 in the U.S. and across the globe. In the twenty weeks between March 19 and August 5 of last year, over 2500 anti-Asian hate related incidents were reported, with 46% of these reports coming from California. From verbal assaults and the more insidious “shunning” to violent hate crimes, in businesses, on streets, and in public parks, with women targeted more than men, this alarming rise of anti-Asian racism is deeply concerning and affects many of our students, staff, and faculty in the Triton Community. 

We recognize this pandemic also disproportionately affects our AAAPI members who embody other marginalized identities including disabilities and chronic illness, LGBTQ+, and migrant/refugee communities. Such compounding experiences, coupled with the systemic erasure, invisibility, and conflation of AAAPI communities across a wide range of ethnicities only serve to further exacerbate existing disparities and fuel xenophobic and racist acts that often go unnoticed or underreported.

We also acknowledge the similar and stratified experiences of Black, Native, and Latinx communities that are deeply impacted by the same stream of hate and ignorance. We honor the intricately intertwining histories of oppression against these communities as well.

We condemn the rise of anti-Asian racism occurring in the U.S. and around the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. We stand in solidarity with our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities.

Actionable items we can take:

• Refer to the UC San Diego Principles of Community
• Refer to the virus and pandemic as “coronavirus”, “COVID-19”, or “SARS-CoV-2” in both written and oral communication.
• Be an upstander: if you witness an anti-Asian racist incident, stand up for the victim and discourage others from engaging in this kind of behavior.
• Educational and empowerment resources
  • Anti-Asian Hate Crime During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Reproduction of Inequality
  • Report from the National Institutes of Health: Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States – COVID-19 and history
  • Anti-Asian violence and US imperialism - authored by Simeon Man, Associate Professor of History, UC San Diego

If you have experienced racial bigotry or been victimized at the university, report the incident to both the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) and Stop AAPI Hate.

If you need additional support, contact Counseling and Psychological Services and your college's Dean of Student Affairs.

In solidarity,

Sixth College