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Harvard Undergraduate Council Action Items For AAPI List

The Harvard student government circulated a list of action items to take in support of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. One item compared a Harvard professor who wrote skeptically about legal claims against Japan to a killer in Atlanta.

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318 views

Harvard Undergraduate Council Action Items For AAPI List

The Harvard student government circulated a list of action items to take in support of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. One item compared a Harvard professor who wrote skeptically about legal claims against Japan to a killer in Atlanta.

Uploaded by

The College Fix
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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On Tuesday, March 16th, 8 victims—Soon Chung Park, Sun Cha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Hyun Jung

Kim, Xiaoxie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michaels, and Delaina Ashely Yuan—were shot
and killed in Atlanta as part of a killing spree that we can only describe as a hate crime against
Asian women. As we mourn these victims, we also keep in mind the many others targeted in the
recent increase of hate crimes directed towards the AAPI community, which have also
predominantly targeted women. We strongly condemn these acts of violence, as well as the
related hate crimes taking different forms in our society today. We, the undersigned individuals
and organizations, believe we need to call out these and other forms of racism, misogyny,
violence, and their intersections, and will also do our parts to prevent these from happening
in the first place. As a result, we are sharing the following action items for members of the
community:

This petition, which calls on J. Mark Ramseyer, University President Lawrence S. Bacow, Law
School Dean John F. Manning, and the International Review of Law and Economics to apologize
and issue formal statements on Ramseyer’s article in said journal about women and girls forced
into sexual slavery during World War II (also referred to euphemistically as “comfort women”),
and in which he argues that these victims, as young as 12 years old, could and did consent to sex
and prostitution, completely undermining the testimonials of these victims, who say that they
were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. While we appreciate the solidarity expressed
from President Bacow and the other members of the administration in the emails they sent out
addressing the Atlanta shootings, we believe these words are insufficient when unsubstantiated
by the University’s actions. It has been over a month since Harvard students released official
statements and petitions calling the University to respond to Professor Ramseyer’s actions, but
our school has remained silent, except to support his claims as “academic freedom.” As students,
we hold the utmost respect for academic freedom, and we believe in the importance of “Veritas”'
to lead us to new frontiers of discovery. We ask, however, if spreading falsehoods—the claims
that enslavement is voluntary and that children can consent to sex—is covered under that rule.
Claims and inactions like these directly contradict Veritas. They fuel discrimination and bigotry,
the basis of which President Bacow has disavowed in his recent address to our community. And
yet, the University has not yet spoken out against this paper, which reveals a harrowing misogyny
against Asian women and girls, and furthers the racialized misogyny which oversexualizes and
dehumanizes Asian femininity. As such, it is difficult for us to separate the atrocity of last
Wednesday’s events with the atrocity of his claims in this article, as they perpetuate harmful
ideas that played a key role in the March 16th shooting. There is still time for the involved parties
to do the right thing: we urge that they do so, instead of allowing for the perpetuation of harm to
AAPI women and girls.

This statement advocating for Harvard to seek non-carceral means to prevent violence against
AAPIs—after the shooting, President Bacow encouraged people who have experienced racist
attacks to contact the Harvard University Police Department, and gave no other means of aid to
victims. This perpetuates the use of band-aid solutions for hate crimes and racial violence,
instead of addressing the causes of these problems. Additionally, this email ignores the threat of
violence many students, particularly students of color and immigrants, face with the police, and
continues to justify the existence of HUPD within our community, despite their long record of
themselves being perpetrators of racism and misogyny. More relevant to the Atlanta shooting,
policemen have long abused their positions of power over sex workers, especially sex workers of
color, migrant sex workers, and trans or gender nonconforming sex workers. In several extended
occurrences, undercover policemen have forced “outrageous” and “unconstitutional” sexual
misconduct onto sex workers under the guise of intent to arrest. President Bacow’s statements
advocating that students contact them was not only out of touch with the reality that AAPI and
other students face, it was extremely hurtful to suggest that this was the only means through
which our community can reckon with racial violence, and that HUPD is a source of healing for
this issue rather than a perpetuator of the very things, including white supremacy, which
President Bacow denounced. Instead, we advocate for investment in alternative, non-carceral
measures that can better keep us safe in our communities, and solidarity among the different
groups and individuals who white supremacy, and policing, perpetuate harm against.

This fundraiser, led by members of the Harvard AAPI community and which benefits nearly a
dozen AAPI community groups. In light of the recent shooting and the series of anti-AAPI hate
crimes over the course of the pandemic, this fundraiser seeks to support eleven AAPI community
groups working on multiple intersecting issues. The list of supported groups includes national
organizations NAKASEC and National Asian Pacific American Women’s Fund; Boston Area
organizations Asian American Resource Workshop, Saheli, AsAm Women’s Political Initiative,
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Asian Community Development Center, Chinese
Progressive Association Boston, and Cambodian Mutual Aid; and Atlanta Area organizations
Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta - AAAJ ATL and Center for Pan Asian Community
Services. It is important to donate to and spread the word about community-oriented means of
helping the AAPI community, so we urge those who can to contribute.

To conclude, we must not ignore neither the racially charged implications nor the misogynistic
overtones in this tragedy, especially not now, especially not at Harvard. To do so would mean
becoming bystanders and speaking silence in the face of incredible injustice. As such, we, the
undersigned, have engaged with the aforementioned materials, and pledge to do our part in
sharing this information.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN AS AN ORGANIZATION

CLICK HERE TO SIGN AS AN INDIVIDUAL


Organizational signatures
Organization Affiliation

The Undergraduate Council College

Individual signatures
Name Affiliation

Brooke Lee Livingston College

Jane Oh College

Owen Sughrue College

Huong T Le College

Caroline Ko College

Christina Xiao College

Abigail Mejia College

Julia Kennish College

Alyx Britton College

Setu Mehta College

Madeline Kidd College

Minjue Wu College

Belen Cerda Luna College

Sarika Chawla College

Eris Mihelic College

Will Boggs College

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