Greetings all!
It is an unfortunate fact that, like other moments of crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified injustices in our society. For the past year, African Americans and Latinx people have been experiencing severe health and economic effects due to the pandemic. The struggles of the indigenous Nations have also been largely ignored. Meanwhile, Asian American communities have been targeted for harassment and violent hate crimes; actions that were propelled by racist public discourse. These racially exacerbated injustices are the consequence of the United States of America’s deeply rooted history of intergenerational racial oppression and discrimination, which infiltrates all aspects of social life, such as education, economics, health, and criminal justice.
In the wake of the recent shootings in Atlanta, GA, which took the lives of eight people, including six Asian women, RESI takes a stand in solidarity with our Asian-American brothers and sisters, as we stand against any acts of racialized and sexualized violence. We center the voices of the Asian community and not of white supremacy, and we do not confuse an act of terror towards those of Asian-descent as someone having a “bad day”. As a part of our university and global community, we continue to push towards justice, clarity and solidarity in our pursuit of scholarship and action toward equity and a just world.
We support Texas A&M University’s commitment to “diversity, pluralism and the uniqueness of the individual within our state, nation and world”. Therefore, we firmly reject any form of discrimination, hate discourse or action, including harassment, on the basis of “race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, disability, age, and sexual orientation”. RESI stands with the marginalized, the underserved, and the international communities.
As such, the inequities and discriminations that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated require a collective and collaborative response. It is only in solidarity that all members of the local, national, and international communities will overcome these challenges and, therefore, succeed.
The RESI Team
Please join RESI on April 30 at 5:30-7 p.m. for our virtual discussion with Dr. Hye-Kyung Kang of Seattle University titled "Erasure and Exclusion: White supremacy, coloniality and ant-Asian racism," focusing on anti-Asian racism and it's roots, followed by a dialogue about the roots of racism in the United States. Register for this virtual conversation
Please join the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute and the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center for a panel discussion with scholars and activists about the impact disasters like Winter Storm Uri (February 2021) have on communities of color and how to build equity and continued resilience. Date: Friday, April 23rd, 2021 Time: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. *This is a virtual panel* Please register here
