Supporting Elon's AAPI Community On and Off Campus
People around the country have been standing in solidarity with the AAPI community. Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash.
On Thursday, March 24, over 100 members of the Elon community were a part of the online forum "Elon Conversation on Anti Asian Violence,” a space for advocacy, vulnerability, and healing following the murder of eight individuals in Atlanta, including six Asian women.
“This violence is layered,” says Kiah Glenn, assistant director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity, & Diversity Education, in an opening statement, emphasizing the role gender, class, and perception of sex workers played in the March 15 attacks.
A rise in racially motivated incidents targeting members of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community have been seen across the country, largely credited to former-President Trump’s rhetoric when referring to the coronavirus pandemic, says The Guardian. According to Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit organization that heads the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, 3795 hate incidents were reported from March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021. Of these incidents, women reported incidents 2.3 times more than men.
“This incident is part of the history… of how Asian American folks have been targeted in the country,” says Glenn.
Thida Kim ‘21, an international student from Cambodia, and Chloe Yoon ‘22, the recently elected student body vice president, served as the student organizers for the event and opened the forum by sharing their own experiences.
“Share your stories and make them loud,” Kim says. “We shall all be heard, and with your stories, we shall work together to ensure that the next waves of AAPI students will not feel like they need to run home to seek a safe space.”
Other students, faculty, and staff members share stories of their peers and professors refusing to correctly pronounce their name, being the target of racial slurs, and fear of microaggressions escalating to verbal and physical altercations.
“It happens here too,” says President Connie Book on hate toward the AAPI community at Elon. “I do believe that the power and way forward is in these stories,” President Book continues.
Outside of the sharing of stories, the forum aimed to discuss how non-AAPI members of the community can better support their peers and work toward stopping AAPI hate, emphasizing always standing together, not just coming together in moments of hurt.
“This is a movement, not a moment,” says Glenn.
Though the forum was created as a space to support Elon’s AAPI community, some students questioned why Elon had not released a statement condemning the actions that took place in Atlanta.
“I was upset at the fact that there were no active statements by the administration,” says Alyssa Miki Merritt. “I understand we were waiting to see how we felt, but it goes without saying how wrong everything was and it would have been nice to feel like I was seen without having actively speak on the discrimination I’ve experienced.”
EMPRESS, Elon’s Pan-Asian Women’s Club, released a statement on their Instagram page on March 19.
The statement reads: “We are horrified by the wave of violence against members of the Asian community, including the recent events in Atlanta and San Francisco as well as the thousands of hate crimes committed against Asian people since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a community and as an ally, we cannot sit by and watch members of the Asian community face such violence. We must call this out for what it is: Anti-Asian racism. We urge you to take action: speak up against these heinous acts. Share information. Do not tolerate this bigotry. Help keep everyone in the community safe. We need your support now more than ever.”
Two EMPRESS members share how the Elon community can support members of the AAPI community both on and off campus.
“Have conversations with those of us who are in the AAPI community. In my book, actions speak louder than words,” says Mei Soopper, another EMPRESS member who encourages students to become involved with Asian organizations on campus, like EMPRESS.
“Talk to us and address it [Asian hate] because we have been quiet for so long. Support us by being at our events and show us that you are cognizant of our struggles even though we are the ‘model minority,’” adds Merrit. “We’re tired from now being bombarded with questions now that people are realizing our struggle. Please give us a moment to breathe and breathe in solidarity with us.”
Students can get involved in supporting the AAPI community by celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month this April. The Center for Race, Equity, and Diversity Education will pay tribute to Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history through various events and programming, according to their website. Glenn also suggests AAPI Stand Against Hate as a resource for students.
Individuals across the country have demonstrated allyship and support for the the AAPI community. Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash.