coe-staff: FW: ADPI & Allies Strategies Groups: Denouncement of Anti-Asian Discrimination & COVID-19

[Dianna Carrizales-Engelmann]

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,

In one of his early statements regarding the COVID outbreak, President Schill shared the following important sentiment:

Times like these can be stressful and cause anxiety, which is why I encourage each of you to be good to one another and to remember the UO is a welcoming and diverse community that values inclusivity, compassion, and global engagement. COVID-19 is very quickly showing the world that it does not recognize race, nationality, nor ethnicity, so please avoid stereotyping or stigmatizing any particular individuals or groups of people because of this public health emergency. Now is the time to offer kindness, empathy, and support to friends, colleagues, and classmates who may be directly or indirectly affected by the outbreak. (Email Communication, February 28th, 2020).

As we traverse even deeper into new, unknown parts of this territory in the weeks and months ahead this sentiment is worth remembering.

Consistent with this sentiment, we gladly join our allies in denouncing divisive rhetoric and the arbitrary creation of ethnic and racial division by sharing the statement below and attached:


Denouncement of Anti-Asian Discrimination & COVID-19

We, the University of Oregon Asian Desi Pacific Islander Strategies Group (ADPI SG), recognize that the University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Today, descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, and they continue to make important contributions in their communities, at UO, and across the land we now refer to as Oregon.

We write this statement in solidarity with our students and community members of Asian, Desi, and Pacific Islander backgrounds as the COVID-19 pandemic reveals the xenophobia and racism that is still pervasive throughout our communities and society. The University of Oregon Asian Desi Pacific Islander Strategies Group and allies denounce these increasing acts of discrimination and violence targeted against Asian and Asian American communities locally and nationally. We recognize that these incidents, implicit and explicit, take place both online and in-person. With shelter-in-place orders across the nation, a significant number of in-person incidents take place in essential stores and on public walkways.

Together, we call upon our greater community to stop the use of harmful language, including labels such as the “Chinese Virus” or the “Wuhan Virus,” when this global pandemic affects all of humanity. These labels and other microaggressions, along with blatant violence and actions of hate, do not stop or slow down this pandemic. They only contribute to the anti-Asian and anti-Asian American stigma.

More than ever, we call upon the University of Oregon and greater community to be vigilant against acts of discrimination and to be united in calling out incidents directed, not only to ADPI persons, but also towards other marginalized communities, such as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA communities.

We offer these suggestions for action:
-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 its interconnectedness of current anti-Asian racism with historical and current oppression in other marginalized communities.
-Report  incidents of hate and bias.
For UO students, faculty, and staff: https://dos.uoregon.edu/concern
Community members in Eugene may report to the Hate & Bias Report: https://www.eugene-or.gov/3643/Hate-and-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.

We come together in fighting these viral and racial threats by building solidarity together and working towards a more compassionate and inclusive community.

In solidarity,
ADPI (Asian Desi Pacific Islander) Strategies Group
adpisig at uoregon.edu<mailto:adpisig at uoregon.edu>
UO Division of Equity & Inclusion
Black Strategies Group
Native American Strategies Group,
Latinx Strategies Group
Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOAGIE) Strategies Group


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