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OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN ALLIANCE February 2004 The Asian American Alliance stands in solidarity with our fellow students of color and our allies in opposition to the recent racist events at Columbia. These events are symptomatic of a larger institutional problem that can only be remedied through dialogue and a mutual respect for all members of our community. As an organization representing Asian and Asian American students at Columbia and Barnard, we must respond to recent events. Racism is not an acceptable means of communication. Instead, it fosters animosity, disunity, and closes lines of communication. The bake sale sponsored by the Columbia College Conservative Club on February 5th trivializes the importance of affirmative action. Affirmative action benefits historically disadvantaged groups, inclusive of race and gender. Rather than creating dialogue, C4's bake sale only reaffirms incorrect societal assumptions that Asian Americans are one homogenous group, disregarding the distinct cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and historical experiences, which delineate the multitude of communities within the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) population. Although Asian Americans have mixed feelings on affirmative action, we as an organization support affirmative action in its goals while not forgetting that in its actual implementation, it is an imperfect policy. We stand in solidarity with other minority groups on campus and agree that the outcome of the affirmative action bake sale was not a constructive means to spark debate. Instead of holding an event that only sparks controversy, we need to spark real productive dialogue about the policy and its future without perpetuating misrepresentations and misunderstandings of its true nature and goals. We are appalled by the publication of the comic “Blacky Fun Whitey” in last week’s Fed. As fellow students of color who understand the histories of marginalization in the United States, we are outraged by the cartoon’s content and insensitivity to African-American heritage. Histories of all minority groups should not be treated with such disrespect; rather, these histories should be regarded as an integral part of the American experience. Likewise, we are disappointed by the Columbia University Marching Band’s Orgo Night last semester. The degradation of women, Jews, and racial minorities in the script and flyers, were unnecessary and lacked humor. Although CUMB and the cartoonist for The Fed intended to be satirical, satire is never an excusable medium for racism. Some may contend that these are merely three incidents on campus that have offended students, but there have been more. Earlier this semester, the owner of Koronet’s mockingly told a Chinese-American at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center to go back to school, that he doesn’t “speak-a no English” with an Asian inflection; a familiar ridicule to many Asian Americans. The Chinese-American patron demanded an apology, which came begrudgingly from the Koronet’s owner, as other patrons merely remained silent. In addition, many Asian Americans recently celebrated the Lunar New Year. Last month, a group of students paraded an overturned cardboard box with a bed sheet attached and lunged at stopped cars as they crossed Broadway, while another student banged on a pot, mocking and belittling traditional Chinese lion dance. Many more stories like these go untold or with little notice from the Columbia community. We are currently working with USCC, BSO, SOL, SPEaK, CUCSC, Native American Council, and the National Society of Black Engineers, Asian American Society of Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers to take concrete action in response to recent events on campus that affect marginalized communities at Columbia. We will make every effort to represent you in these coalition initiatives. We denounce the anonymous postings and letters attacking The Fed’s editorial board, as such attacks are not conducive to the promotion of open dialogue. We hope that you will continue to educate yourself and others about these incidents and about the greater issues at hand. Please email aaa@columbia.edu if you have any questions or comments about these issues, how they pertain to you, and how you would like us to take action. |