Statement Against Anti-Asian Violence
Statement Against Anti-Asian Violence
March 19, 2021
IUPUI is honored to be home to more than 1000 students and scholars from over 20 Asian countries. It thus has been extremely difficult to witness the escalating anti-Asian sentiment and violence directed toward Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Asians in the United States and elsewhere. Regrettably, discrimination toward Asians is not new, but it has been exacerbated during the pandemic, and this week’s tragic murders of six women of Asian descent in Atlanta brings this situation again to the forefront. While the motives of this violence are being investigated and debated, this tragedy clearly strikes at the intersections of race, gender, power, and class. Whether overt or not, it was violence toward a marginalized population and related to deep societal inequalities, and it occurred during heightened expression of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States.
The Office of International Affairs therefore reaffirms its commitment to making the world a better and more inclusive and just place. We stand firmly and in solidarity with everyone, everywhere, who fights against discrimination, prejudice, and social injustice. We solidly support all Asians and Asian Americans in the IUPUI community today and always. We stand tall with the sustained fight against institutionalized racism and violence against Black and Brown communities in the United States. We repudiate Islamophobia and all forms of xenophobia. We stand in unity with all who contribute to our diverse campus, including the thousands of individuals from over 140 countries, from China to Mexico, from Burma to Nigeria, and from India to Saudi Arabia, regardless of citizenship status.
As always, we ask the IUPUI community to be mindful of any discriminatory action or incident of racial bias. As Chancellor Paydar reaffirmed yesterday, IUPUI does not accept discrimination in any form, so please report any such occurrence here.
Racism is, and always has been, a global issue, and the Office of International Affairs will not ever waver in our commitment to our global and inclusive campus and community.
Global. Local. Better Together.
Respectfully,
Hilary E. Kahn, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs, IUPUI
Associate Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University
Associate Professor of Anthropology, IUPUI
IU Bicentennial Professor 2019-2021
3/19/21 - 11:55 am edit: Minor text update in the first paragraph.
