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An Open Letter to U-M Administration by APIA FacultyEditor's Note: This letter was submitted to Asian-American Village for publication by one of authors, along with notice of related blog, "Reaction to Hate Crime at the University of Michigan", where similar letters and posts appear on behalf of Latino/a and Native American faculty, other Michigan programs and committees concerned with diversity and student life, and more. The blog link appears at the end of the article.
To: Mary Sue Coleman, President
We, the core cluster of faculty in Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies, work earnestly in our teaching and research to increase interracial understanding and tolerance throughout the UM community. One of our responsibilities is to educate students and colleagues alike to the deep historical record of anti-Asian racism and violence throughout American history. An incident like the one reported on the front page of Wednesday's Michigan Daily (Sept. 21, 2005), involving two male university students assaulting a couple of Asian heritage by shouting racial slurs, throwing eggs, and urinating on the couple, is unequivocally outrageous. The incivility of this assault is incomprehensible. We are also deeply troubled by the remarks of two leaders of Asian student organizations interviewed in the story. Both spoke openly about experiencing racially-motivated bias themselves, and admitted that this kind of incident was not surprising to them. It is profoundly disturbing that students of color continue to endure racial bias and harassment on this campus, and we underscore the likelihood that such racial bias and intimidation is significantly underreported. Incidents like the racially-motivated intimidation reported in today’s Michigan Daily--also reported in the Ann Arbor News and the Detroit Free Press several days ago--cannot be tolerated or condoned by university officials or public authorities. Moreover, it is unfortunate that a public incident such as this has once again unmasked more pervasive ethnic and racial discrimination that remains underdocumented. We call on the university leadership to honor its commitment to valuing diversity, by taking a public stand against racially-motivated bias and attacks, and to marshal the necessary resources to ensure that the wider university community can collaborate collectively to end such race-based bias and intimidation. We further call on university officials and public authorities to apply the full extent of civil and university codes in sanctioning the students who perpetrated the acts.
Phillip D. Akutsu
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