March 18, 2021

Dear SOJC community,

Please join me in solidarity against the recent acts of violence and discrimination toward people of Asian descent in the United States and around the world.

Hate crimes against Asians have risen nearly 150% in major cities across the country since the pandemic began. This increase is documented through data compiled by California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and in stories shared by the Asian community.

As President Schill and Provost Phillips said in an email yesterday, we must all stand up against anti-Asian racism and condemn the violent and hateful acts of white supremacists. Violence against Asians has increased during the pandemic, but this narrative of racism isn’t new. It is our responsibility to speak up, stand up against all forms of racism, and give our strong support to all who are targeted by hate speech and violence.

Misinformation, microaggressions, and overt violence have continued to affect the experiences of Asians. To help address this, my colleagues with The LAGRANT Foundation and I are participating in the #StopAsianHate and #StopAPPIHate campaigns. The latter hashtag represents a U.S. coalition addressing anti-Asian discrimination amid the pandemic that has received nearly 3,800 accounts of anti-Asian hate.

At the SOJC, we stand with our Asian, Desi, and Pacific Islander students and community members against discrimination, racism, and hate. The UO’s Asian Desi Pacific Islander (ADPI) Strategies Group offers the following suggestions for action in its Denouncement of Anti-Asian Discrimination and COVID-19:

• Correct any person who mislabels the virus and pandemic and ask them to use the term COVID-19 or coronavirus.
• Educate those in our networks about the historical and structural factors of racism and xenophobia and the interconnectedness of current anti-Asian racism with the historical and current oppression faced by other marginalized communities.
• Report incidents of hate and bias. UO students, faculty, and staff can use the Report a Concern web form through the Dean of Students or report the incident to the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance using this web form. Community members in Eugene may contact the Hate & Bias Report.
• Recognize that experiencing anti-Asian xenophobia and racism can negatively affect the recipient’s physical and mental health. Don’t minimize the effects or make it a joke.
• Resist attempts to divide Asian American communities from other communities who face racism and discrimination.

As professional communicators, journalists, and media experts, we must strive to be accurate and ethical to reduce the harm of those whose stories we share. As a community, we owe our fellow members peace and the security to be who they are without fear of race-based threats.

Many of us recognize the events of last year as part of a continued movement for racial equity and the dismantling of injustice. This movement didn’t end because 2020 is over. We must remain vigilant against racial threats by standing in solidarity with our ADPI community and other targeted populations, including the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA communities.

To make a real and ongoing difference, we must work together and resist falling into complacency. It is our responsibility to uphold an inclusive community at the SOJC and the UO, online and in-person, and across the world.

Sincerely,
Juan-Carlos Molleda, Ph.D.
Edwin L. Artzt Dean and Professor