We’d like to draw your attention to an excellent IDS piece that came out this week regarding discrimination toward our Asian and Asian-American students.

‘I’m sure I will experience this again’: IU students recount experiences of anti-Asian racism 

By Phyllis Cha

The "too long; didn't read" can be summarized as follows:

Even though Monroe County is considered more progressive than other areas of Indiana, it doesn't change the fact that little has been done to address racism and xenophobia toward Asian communities. Nationwide, violence and racism toward AAPI people has gone up 150% largely to the sensationalized COVID-19 news and presidency.

In February, IU student Ardahbek Amantur was faced with racist rhetoric and violence when he went to pick up Uber patrons. Another student, Jason Nquyen, faced microagression when simply picking up snacks at an IU C-store in March. Karen Cheng grew up being told that "Asian girls are hot", which while only a microagression/verbalized fetishism at best, didn't seem as though it could be dangerous otherwise. The recent and tragic Atlanta shootings proved that such sexualization could quickly escalate to physical violence.

These students don't see their experiences as outliers or one-offs, and as part of the IU community, we need to do better to look out for our students and learn how to be good allies.

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It bears repeating that the IU Asian Culture Center has a plethora of great resources to report hate crimes, fight racism and additional readings

Sign up for Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian and Xenophobic Harassment  taking place on Friday, April 16th from 3-4pm ET

Again, if you haven't already signed the petition to Governor Holcomb asking for him to speak out against Asian violence in Indiana, we encourage you to take a look.

Please feel free to reach out to us at easc@iu.edu or our blog with questions and comments, or if you are ever in need of assistance and don't know where to turn.