Resolution to Condemn Anti-Asian Racism and Violence

Resolution Number: RS21-419

April, 2021

Whereas:

RATIONALE: The shootings in Atlanta on March 16, 2021 was one example of the many attacks on Asian American communities and reflects the escalation of anti-Asian violence in the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six out of the eight people killed were Asian American women, and this act of violence is based on anti-Asian hate and misogyny. Since March 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate Report shows 3,795+ reported incidents of anti-Asian hate with 70% being reported by Asian American women. Although San Francisco State University (SF State) is situated in a diverse community, we are not immune to the effects of Anti-Asian violence. The purpose of this resolution is to acknowledge the significant rise in Anti-Asian Violence and respond to the needs of our Asian American students, staff, faculty and administrators. This resolution further supports our wider university efforts towards an anti-racist university.

Whereas:

The violence against Asian Americans is rooted in white supremacy and racism stemming from historic and long-standing stereotypes that paint Asian American as “illegal” perpetual foreigners, model minorities, spreaders of illness and disease, and as exoticized sexual objects. Effectually, historic ebbs and flows of anti-Asian racism and violence in the United States has harmed Asian Americans and Asian immigrants for generations; and

Whereas:

These prejudicial and discriminatory attitudes often put Asian Americans in opposition with other communities of color. We reject these divide-and-conquer tactics and instead call for community, allyship, co-conspiratorship, education, dialogue, and solidarity; and

Whereas:

SF State should be a place where all students, staff, faculty, and administrators have the right to learn, teach, study, and work in an anti-oppressive environment that actively dismantles white supremacy, systemic racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, caste-ism, xenophobia, discrimination, intolerance and all forms of violence; and

Whereas:

SF State is a designated Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and is federally funded by the Department of Education to improve and expand our capacity to serve our 25.4% Asian American and Pacific Islander undergraduate and graduate student population; and

Whereas:

SF State is home to the oldest and largest Asian American Studies Department in the nation which includes the work from our colleague Dr. Russell Jeung with Stop AAPI Hate; now, therefore, be it

Resolved:

The Academic Senate urges the entire University to acknowledge and denounce racism, xenophobia, anti-Asian sentiment and violence and urge the documentation and investigation of all reported incidents; and be it further

Resolved:

That SF State creates opportunities for students, staff, faculty and administrators to engage in ongoing critical reflections, conversations, and intentional efforts in addressing racial, social, and economic injustices and inequities, especially related to Asian American communities, thereby further humanizing our Asian American students, faculty, staff members, and administrative colleagues; and be it further

Resolved:

That SF State release the freeze on hiring of tenure track faculty positions, particularly because the AAS Department will lose more than four full time positions as a result of retiring faculty. These diminished resources challenge the ongoing pursuit of critical reflections, conversations, and intentional efforts for students, staff, faculty and administrators in addressing racial, social, and economic injustices and inequities, especially as related to Asian American communities; and be it further

Resolved:

That the Academic Senate supports the University in the disaggregation of data within the Asian American community to reveal inequities that are not fully reflected in aggregated data. More detailed and transparent data that highlights this diversity can better guide the creation of inclusive and equitable services, policies, and curriculum; and be it further

Resolved:

That the Academic Senate objects to any characterization of Asian Americans as “overrepresented” in academia or at SFSU and asks that the CSU remove Asian Americans from the category “non-Underrepresented Minority” (non-URM); and be it further

Resolved:

That the Academic Senate and the University create a community response by engaging in advocacy and collaborative efforts to protect and support Asian American students, employees, communities and victims of discrimination, and violence and to curb hate acts related to COVID-19 for other groups, including, but not limited to, Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Arab, Palestinian, Muslim, Jewish, Interfaith and LGBTQIA communities, older individuals, and people or individuals with disabilities, and commits to working with our students, campus organizations, departments, student services, administration, and to organize and present anti-racism training and education efforts; and be it further

Resolved:

That SF State divest from University Police Department and reallocate funding to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as student basic needs, student support services, self-defense programs for campus constituents (faculty, staff and students), institutionalize the support replacement positions; and be it further

Resolved:

That SF State address the cultural taxation which is a “unique burden in order to fit into and survive within the political and cultural paradigm of American higher education and is not usually rewarded by the institution on whose behalf the service is performed”; ,and be it further

Resolved:

That SF State survey all SF State websites for public images (visual and other) that support white supremacy or reinforce stereotypes, reinforce white supremacy and position Asians as model minorities, while erasing or tokenizing the presence of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other members of communities of color; plan to intentionally counteract these stereotypes with future image-making; and be it further

Resolved:

That the University provide immediate additional funding to hire more mental health professionals in Counseling and Psychological Services that specialize in trauma related to: systemic racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, caste-ism, xenophobia, discrimination, intolerance and violence; and be it further

Resolved:

That this resolution be distributed to President Mahoney and the President’s Cabinet, Provost Summit, AVP of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, Dean of the College of Health and Social Sciences, Dean of Graduate Studies, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, Dean of the College of Liberal and Creative Arts, Dean of the Graduate College of Education, Dean of the Lam Family College of Business, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, Dean of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning, Dean of Graduate Students, AVP for Division of Equity and Community Inclusion, the Board of Directors of the Associated Students, and the Academic Senate CSU.

Resolved:

NOTE Resource: 1. Canton, C. (2013) The “cultural taxation” of faculty of color in the Academy. CFA Magazine, Fall 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.calfac.org/magazine-article/cultural-taxation-faculty-color-academy