OPEN LETTER CONDEMNING ANTI-ASIAN RACISM To Presidents of Canadian Universities:
It is with profound sadness and pain that we witnessed the horrific killings of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16, 2021. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent, and this violence was clearly fueled by anti-Asian hate and misogyny. As professors of Chinese descent working in various educational and research institutions across Canada, we are shocked and outraged by the shootings.
Wemournalongsidethefamiliesandlovedonesofthosewholosttheirlives,andwestandinsolidarity with each and every one who has to face the threat of racist violence in everydaylife.
ThistragedycomesamidsharplyescalatingdiscriminationandviolenceagainstpeopleofAsiandescent. According to the Vancouver Police Department, anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 717 per cent from 2019 to 2020. The Chinese Canadian National Council (Toronto)has documented over 1,000 reported incidents of anti-Asian racist attacks since the beginning of the pandemic. It is also vitally important to recognize the deep history of racism towards Asian communities. Historically, Asians in Canada were subjected to legislated state racism such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Japanese Canadian Internment, accompanied by widespread societal harassment andexclusion.
AsmembersoftheCanadianacademiccommunity,weareproudofthesignificantcontributionsmade byscholarsofAsiandescenttoCanada’seducationandscientificandtechnologicaladvancements.Yet theriskofAsiansbeingblamed,suspected,andattackedsimplybecauseoftheirlooksandethnicorigin has been mounting. We are deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of faculty, staff, and students of Asian heritage at universities and colleges and in Canadian society at large. Moreover, we arealsoconcernedaboutthedamagetothereputationandimageofCanadaasasafeandwelcoming place in theworld.
Silence is complicity! In this critical time when everyone in the world is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic,equity,support,andsolidarityarecrucialforallofus.Weareresolvedtostandupforvictims ofracismandhate.Weurgeourinstitutionsandcolleaguestojoinusincondemningandfightinganti- Asianracism.
加拿大华人教授学会 Canadian Academy of Chinese Professors (CACP)
加拿大华人教授协会Canadian Association of Chinese Professors (CACP)
(加拿大华人教授学会和加拿大华人教授协会都是由华裔学者组成的没有政治派别的独立协会) (Both Canadian Academy of Chinese Professors and Canadian Association of Chinese Professors are independent associations of scholars of Chinese descent and have no political affiliations.)