Statements

Statement for Peace

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 22:32:08 +0000

Statement for Peace Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/30/2023 - 16:32

Because the Department of Ethnic Studies and our faculty, staff, and students find ourselves under attack for the statement we had previously shared on our website, we are removing the statement because we do not wish anyone in our community to feel unsafe. As scholars and academics, we remain committed to our research and teaching mission: /ethnicstudies/about-us/our-mission

We will continue to center and challenge the oppression of those who are marginalized, including scholars, students, and community members here in Colorado and around the world. We as a department are staunchly against antisemitism and Islamophobia in all forms. We condemn the rising incidents of harm and harassment toward Jewish, Muslim, and Arab, specifically Palestinian, peoples.

This removal should in no way be seen as a lack of commitment to our mission statement. We support the work on the ground to educate and empower all of us still learning the nuances of this unfolding situation by organizations Jewish Voices For Peace and If Not Now. Finally, we are aware that as scholars, many of whom identify as non-white, that our critiques of power are often under attack. We condemn the intersectional oppression and attacks that our community is facing for exercising our academic freedom.

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DES & WGST Statement on the Killing of Asian Women in Atlanta

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 19:47:11 +0000

DES & WGST Statement on the Killing of Asian Women in Atlanta Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/18/2021 - 13:47

Statement by the Department of Ethnic Studies and the Department of Women and Gender Studies on the Killing of Asian Women in Atlanta

March 18, 2021

The horrific killing of six Asian and Asian American women by a white man in Atlanta has yet again brought to light the violences of anti-Asian racism in this country. We extend our grief and outrage to their families and everyone who is hurting right now. We wish to remember their lives, their hopes, their struggles, and their dreams. We condemn this killing and the escalated violence against Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. since the beginning of COVID-19 (there have been at least 3800 reported incidents of violence directed at Asians and Asian Americans, primarily against women, from March 2020 to Feb 2021). We also condemn how these acts of violence are represented, framed and discussed by law enforcement, by elected officials at local, state and federal levels, and by the media. Although authorities deny that the massacre was racially motivated, we see it as tragically illuminating the longstanding pattern of the hypersexualization and exploitation of Asian and Asian American women in particular. Observing how the carceral state rushed to minimize this violence to the perceived mental health crisis or simply a “bad day” for the white killer, we take this moment to underscore that our fight against anti-Asian racism must be connected to the fight for Black lives. In this moment of renewed demand from some quarters for enhanced anti-hate crime laws, we caution that such demands continue to target Black, Indigenous, and brown communities, and emphasize the need for alternative solutions that do not expand the carceral state.

While Trump and Biden’s anti-China rhetoric is definitely a catalyst to the recent violences of the past year, we must remember much longer histories of racism that Asians and Asian Americans have faced and continue to face in the U.S. Anti-Asian racism spans over centuries in the U.S: from the exploitation of Chinese railroad workers, race riots targeting Asians (including the attack on Denver’s Chintatown in 1880 and the killing of one Chinese man), illegal occupation of the Philippines, anti-Asian immigration laws from the late nineteenth century till the 1960s (and into the present, including Trump’s Muslim Ban), incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, multiple and endless U.S. imperialist wars across Asia, to the ever increasing Islamophobic violence against Muslim communities since 9/11. All these processes continue to position Asians and Asian Americans as perpetual outsiders whose labor can always be exploited. Anti-Asian racism is not new. It is one of the pillars of white supremacy in this country, a country founded on the violences of colonization and dispossession of Indigenous peoples, and the enslavement of African and Black peoples.

As we remember the lives of the murdered Asian and Asian American women, we must remember how anti-Asian racism continues to reproduce itself primarily through racial-imperial heteropatriarchal violences on the bodies of Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander women, queer, and trans peoples. The first ever anti-immigration and xenophobic law was targeted against Chinese women in 1875 (Page Act). The act prohibited the entry of Chinese and other Asian women as they were seen as “prostitutes” and “immoral” women. Since then Asian women continue to be hypersexualized for consumption and exploitation by white men, as white men see Asian women bodies as simultaneous sites of desire, hatred, and dominance. We know the long history of sexual exploitation of Asian women by U.S soldiers across Asia, from Okinawa to Saigon to Subic Bay, and the portrayal of Asian and Asian American women in U.S. media as submissive, domestic, and sexual. We see these histories as fundamentally connected to the killing of the six Asian women in Atlanta.

As we stand against racism, we also reaffirm our stance against racial-imperial heteropatriarchy and misogyny, and call for solidarities to women who are sex workers, who are immigrants, who are undocumented, who are refugees, who work in massage parlors, who are precariously employed, who are poor, who do not speak English, and who are survivors of racial-sexual-imperial violences. Anti-racism struggles need to center the struggles of sex workers, support the decriminalization of sex work, and fight against global sex trade regimes, including the U.S. military, that continue to make the lives of sex workers disposable, exploitable, and unworthy.

We know Asians and Asian Americans are not monolithic and homogenous communities, and that different communities have varying experiences of racialization, colonization, and imperialism. Yet, we call for solidarities to all Asian and Asian American communities. While some Asians and Asian Americans are often seen through the trope of the “model minority”, we must understand how these tropes are racist and do not protect Asians against the rage of white supremacists.

Let us fight together to keep decolonial, abolitionist, and transformative visions at the center of all our collective struggles. We must forge intentional and relational coalitions between Asians, Pacific Islanders, Muslims, Arabs, Black, Indigenous, Chicanx, and Latinx communities, as well as those further on the margins and those who are undocumented, refugees, poor, with disabilities, women, queer, trans and gender nonconforming, and sex workers. We call on our communities to deepen our anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-imperial solidarities and coalitions in order to disrupt and dismantle white supremacy.

Poster by Monyee Chau. Seattle-based artist Monyee Chau re-popularized the slogan
"Yellow Peril supports Black Power" after creating this poster in the wake of George Floyd's death.

We stand in solidarity with this statement from Red Canary Song, a grassroots collective of Asian and Migrant sex workers organizing transnationally.

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DES Supports CNAIS Statement on Kennedy's "Trail of Tears" Remark

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 20:33:00 +0000

DES Supports CNAIS Statement on Kennedy's "Trail of Tears" Remark Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/04/2020 - 14:33

CNAIS (Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies) issued the following statement in response to CU President Kennedy’s recent remarks about “a trail of tears” in a Faculty Council meeting. The Department of Ethnic Studies stands with CNAIS and their statement.

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An Anti-Racist CU, CU Anti-Racism Creed, & Action Plan

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:03:41 +0000

An Anti-Racist CU, CU Anti-Racism Creed, & Action Plan Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/27/2020 - 18:03

Please join the Department of Ethnic Studies in adopting An Anti-Racist CU: Classroom Language & Practices from RadBIPoC Women & Femmes Collective, the CU Anti-Racism Creed, and A Plan of Action: Divesting from CU Campus Police for Investment in CU BIPOC.

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We Condemn Racist Police Violence

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 18:49:23 +0000

We Condemn Racist Police Violence Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/01/2020 - 12:49

The Departments of Ethnic Studies and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder condemn the police killing of Mr. George Floyd. This killing adds to a long list of over 1250 folks of African descent killed by police since 2005, not taking into account acts of police brutality resulting in grievous bodily harm and deaths while in police or sheriff's custody.

Mr. Floyd’s public murder adds to a spate of police killings of Black people in the past few months of the COVID 19 pandemic. Breonna Taylor was shot in her own bed at home in Louisville Kentucky. Ahmaud Arbery was hunted and killed while jogging in Georgia. Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was killed by officers in Florida. These police killings come at a time where the COVID 19 pandemic is causing much higher rates of death in Black, Latinx and tribal communities, especially the Navajo Nation. We urge our campus community to take note of racism as another public health emergency for Black, Latinx, Native and other communities of color. We also urge public attention to how these acts of violence are racialized and gendered, with Black people in every gender group being disproportionately vulnerable to police violence.

As departments whose work is informed by intersectional antiracist, feminist, queer, and transgender scholarship and activism, we condemn the ongoing criminalization of black people and the glorification of police violence against black people. We demand justice for the family of Mr. George Floyd and all families who have lost loved ones to racist police violence. We denounce the ongoing onslaught of violence against peaceful protesters in Colorado and across the United States and the world in the wake of this horrific murder. We call for an end to the increased militarization and funding of police forces and the prison industrial complex, and for states and counties to invest in better schools, job training and empowerment for marginalized communities.

We call on our students, faculty, and administration at the university to take a stand against the systemic violence and murders that have wrecked black people’s lives in this country since the colonizers first arrived. We also demand that our campus leaders call for the Boulder police department to account for the many instances of racial harassment by the Boulder police. Finally, we stand in full support of the student public petition co-authored by Ruth Woldenmichael and Olivia Gardner.

Please also see: 9news interview with Dr. Hillary Potter, associate professor of ethnic studies and associate dean for inclusive practice, College of Arts & Sciences, CU Boulder, discussing the history of violent demonstrations in Denver amid the George Floyd protests.

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Congratulations, Ethnic Studies Graduates!

Anonymous — Wed, 06 May 2020 23:29:36 +0000

Congratulations, Ethnic Studies Graduates! Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/06/2020 - 17:29

Dear Graduates,

We are honored to recognize you today, on Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho lands, the next generation of leaders, thinkers, poets, and builders. You have emerged like the wind refreshing us with new ways of thinking and seeing the world, offering new imaginaries and possibilities. You have built on the knowledge of your communities from back home and have dedicated time to study the ancestors, artists, activists, and the wisdom of peoples different than you. You have resisted the false claims of history, someone else’s manufactured history, beyond el encubrimiento (the cover up) to see other healing possibilities unfolding.

You now depart from our Ethnic Studies learning community at CU in a time of global crisis emanating from the natural world. But, remember this, Nature is also our teacher. Learning from Nature enhances our ability to learn from other things and see how interconnected we are. This is a key principle in our interdisciplinary degree, namely that knowledge comes in different forms and from many different places.

We, the community of Ethnic Studies Department, are so very proud of your accomplishments and with the integrity that you’ve demonstrated in arriving at this point in your life journey. It is a time to celebrate you, your family, and your community.

We recognize the fact that we can’t share these words of recognition for your accomplishments in person, but we aspire and hope that we’ll be able to hold a ceremony and celebration for you and your family in the coming winter. For now, we send you our heartfelt congratulations, felicidades, pongezi (Kiswahili, E. Africa), and — itsvyaliheliga (Cherokee, “we are happy for you all”)!

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DES Support: A Mental Health Guide for People of Color

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 20:45:01 +0000

DES Support: A Mental Health Guide for People of Color Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/06/2020 - 14:45

The Department of Ethnic Studies would like to share A Mental Health Guide for People of Color, brought to you by the Oberlin College Counseling Center, Health Promotion, and Multicultural Resource Center. Oberlin College has graciously let us share this information, and has encouraged others to share widely as well. We are all in this together! Thank you, Oberlin College.

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DES Statement about Anti-Asian Harassment and the COVID-19/Novel Coronavirus

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 21:42:10 +0000

DES Statement about Anti-Asian Harassment and the COVID-19/Novel Coronavirus Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/02/2020 - 14:42

The Centers for Disease Control recently announced that the COVID-19/novel coronavirus may spread in the United States. As people take precautions to stay healthy, the Ethnic Studies department wants to also acknowledge the rise of anti-Asian (especially anti-Chinese) harassment that many Asian Americans (particularly those who look East Asian) are experiencing. As a department dedicated to the study of race and racism, we want to be very clear that harassment of Asians due to fears of the coronavirus are not only unwarranted but sadly part of a longer history of stereotypes associating Asians, especially Chinese, with disease. As a department, we stand firm in rejecting anti-Asian bigotry in the guise of people expressing fear of COVID-19. We also urge people to find resources that will educate them about staying healthy, as well as why their prejudices/biases in assuming all Asians have the coronavirus are rooted in a history of Yellow Peril rhetoric, xenophobia, and anti-Asian racism. For more, please see this open-source syllabus on resources for addressing anti-Asian bias associated with the coronavirus. And please remember: frequent handwashing not anti-Asian stereotypes/harassment are your best means of staying healthy.

Don’t Ignore It:
CU Boulder policy prohibits discrimination and harassment based on protected-class identity. All members of the campus community should report any acts involving unfair treatment, abusive words or expressions, or intimidating behavior aimed at any member of the campus community based on an aspect of identity. For additional resources and reporting options go to colorado.edu/dontignoreit/.

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Department Statement on Recent Racist Remarks

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 13:48:07 +0000

Department Statement on Recent Racist Remarks Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/09/2019 - 07:48

We, the faculty and staff in the Department of Ethnic Studies, stand in direct condemnation of white supremacist hate speech and acts. Recent footage of racist hate speech directed at Black students studying at the Engineering Center on Sunday, October 6th, 2019 has compelled us to issue a statement of condemnation for the intolerable actions of the perpetrator and to express our support for those students who experienced this bigoted act of hate speech, and all those affected by this recent act of hate speech. We declare that this act is not just an isolated incident, but symptomatic of the pervasive nature of white supremacy in this country. As faculty and staff within a Department that was founded on struggles against racism, sexism, and colonialism, and who center anti-racist and decolonial thought, movements, and scholarship in our classes—we resolutely oppose any attempts by University officials to define this act as anything other than racist hate speech. We support the specific demands of the Black Student Alliance, as provided below. We in Ethnic Studies pride ourselves in working to create safe spaces for students, faculty, staff, and community members.

In Solidarity,

Faculty and staff of the Department of Ethnic Studies

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Department Statement on DACA

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 17:54:42 +0000

Department Statement on DACA Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/13/2017 - 11:54

We, the faculty and staff of the Department of Ethnic Studies, declare our resolute endorsement of DACA and our unconditional support for Dreamer students and everyone threatened by the current climate of white supremacy, transphobia, and xenophobia. We condemn the unwarranted criminalization of migrants, the poor, people of color, members and allies of the LGBTQI+ communities, and Indigenous peoples. We in the Department of Ethnic Studies remain unwavering in our commitment to provide a climate of safety and respect to all those who feel threatened and betrayed by the racist, sexist, and homophobic fear mongering and lies. We also know that the timing of this shortsighted and violent decision, delivered as it was on the heels of a new semester, has left many valued members of our campus community and their families and communities reeling. We stand with you. We support you.

The University has resources for DACA/Dreamer students. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement (ODECE) can also help with access to resources and support. Additionally, the Meyer Law Firm created this helpful document on how to protect yourself and family members if you have DACA status.

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