Call for Justice and Solidarity: Statement on the Atlanta Shootings and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism
March 24, 2021
Faculty members and graduate students in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech are disheartened by the recent Atlanta shooting. Most of the victims of the attack were Asian women. Sadly, reports of anti-APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) hate crimes and discrimination are not a new phenomenon in the United States. However, recently, racialized and gender-based hate crimes against APIDA people and their communities have risen during the past four years in the United States.
According to data released in March by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, 2020 hate crimes against Asian Americans spiked by nearly 150 percent, in the largest 16 U.S. cities, while overall hate crimes dropped by 7 percent. The increase coincides with the senseless politicization of a global public health crisis, COVID-19, and growing media platforms that perpetuate and popularize rhetoric suffused in white supremacy and colonialist ideology.
In a joint statement issued on March 4, 2021, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands and Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity Menah Pratt-Clarke wrote:
If our nation is to advance toward a more egalitarian and harmonious society, there can be no tolerance for such vile acts steeped in ignorance and racism. This rampant brutality reminds us that dismantling racial hate and effecting substantive change is difficult and requires sustained vigilance.
We in the Department of Human Development and Family Science vigorously condemn the targeted terrorism, extremist incitement, and discrimination against people of APIDA communities. As scholars and practitioners, we recognize the serious health implications of these acts for communities, children, adults, and families who experience repeated trauma, systemic racism and sexism, fear of harm and violence, and daily microaggressions. With this statement, we raise awareness of these impacts and are committed to addressing the systemic nature of their causes in our teaching, research, and outreach.
We stand in solidarity with the Asian American Student Union at Virginia Tech, the APIDA Caucus of Virginia Tech, President Sands, Vice President Pratt-Clarke, and others who voice their unequivocal condemnation of anti-Asian racism. The faculty pledges to support students, faculty, and staff in this department, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and across Virginia Tech campuses. Anti-Asian racism is not tolerated in our classes, nor will it be tolerated in communities that our department endeavors to build and serve.
We make this pledge knowing that we, individually and collectively, still have much work to do to infuse inclusion, diversity, and social justice aims into our own pedagogy, research, and engagement. We hereby affirm our commitment to Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community and Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) motto.
In peaceful solidarity,
April L. Few-Demo, Professor and Head, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Katherine Allen, Professor Emerita, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Joyce Arditti, Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Candy L. Beers, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Rosemary Blieszner, Alumni Distinguished Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, and Core Faculty Member, Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech
Isabel Bradburn, Research Director, Child Development Center for Learning and Research, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Koeun Choi, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Steph Cooke, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Diana Devine, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Megan Dolbin-MacNab, Associate Professor and Marriage and Family Therapy Program Director, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Tiara Fennell, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Erika L. Grafsky, Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Shivangi Gupta, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Caroline Hornburg, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Jeffrey B. Jackson, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Shawnice Johnson, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Benjamin Katz, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Jisun Kim, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Allie King, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Matthew F. Komelski, Advanced Instructor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Victoria Lael, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Instructor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Crystal Duncan Lane, Instructor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Casey M. McGregor, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Jessica Resor, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Caroline Sanner, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Deneisha Scott-Poe, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Manasi Shankar, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Cindy Smith, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Pamela B. Teaster, Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, and Director, Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech
Shuqi Yu, Doctoral Student, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Rose Wesche, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech
Resources
The Virginia Tech Women’s Resource Center provides trauma-informed support to individuals affected by gender-based violence.
Individuals wishing to support APIDA and other communities can visit resources compiled by the National Council on Family Relations.
Reports of bias-related incidents can be submitted to Virginia Tech’s Dean of Students, the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia, or Stop AAPI Hate, which does nationwide tracking of anti-Asian hate crimes. All three can also serve as resources.