The Jackson School of International Studies Director, along with the Jackson School Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, are writing to acknowledge and condemn horrific racist attacks against members of the Asian American, Pacific Islander American (AAPI), and the Asian diaspora community.
These incidents, fueled by anti-Asian racist rhetoric concerning the pandemic, such as the former administration’s use of the term “China Virus,” are occurring nationally and locally. We stand in solidarity with, and offer support to, individuals and groups that are being subject to violence and hate crimes. This is founded on the Jackson’s School’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The Jackson School strives to eliminate individual acts of discrimination as well as dismantle systematic barriers and injustices that may be encoded in our institution’s and society’s policies, practices, traditions and procedures.
Bigotry and violence have negative psychological and physiological consequences for members of our community. Our Jackson School community plays an important role in educating ourselves about bias, supporting each other, and engaging in advocacy and reporting surrounding bias. We encourage you to remain aware of bigotry and racist violence affecting members of our community, and to provide a safe, understanding, and supportive environment for our AAPI and Asian diaspora community staff, students, and faculty.
We also must acknowledge the difficulties that these and other experiences create in the learning environment. We denounce acts such as these in any form, and continue to build on the work that the University of Washington and Jackson School have done in our commitment to advance and support diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will be working on next steps to bring attention and understanding to these issues. In the meantime, we offer some resources that you may wish to share with your students, friends, families, and colleagues.
The UW American Ethnic Studies Department has provided the following resources for victims of hate crimes, as well as educational material for learning how to support the AAPI communities:
Reports of hate crimes can be made here: stopaapihate.org, www.aapihatecrimes.org, and www.standagainsthatred.org.
Education on reporting hate crimes can be found at these links: COVID-19 Toolkit, Responding to Hate Crimes Community Action Guide, and Hate Incident Reporting website: Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Asian American Legal Defense Fund
Local orgs working in partnership w/Asian American + Pacific Islander Communities: Asian Counseling and Referral Service; King County Coalition Against Hate and Bias
Additional information and resources may be found here on the UW School of Social Work website: https://socialwork.uw.edu/news/tracking-and-understanding-anti-asian-racism-during-pandemic
As a reminder, individual level health and well-being support is available through UW for students (https://wellbeing.uw.edu/topic/mental-health/) and staff and faculty (https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/uw-carelink/).
Sincerely,
Leela Fernandes, Director of the Jackson School and Stanley D. Golub Endowed Chair and the Jackson School Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Staff and Faculty Representatives
