Saturday March 27 @ NOON
at the Peace Quad on BU Campus
Sponsored by the Binghamton Pan-Asian Leaders Council
In recent months we’ve seen a horrific rise in hate crimes against Asians and Asian-Americans across the country. From the Cantonese grandmother burned in New York to the Thai man murdered in California, these acts of violence and hatred have stirred fear and anger in our communities. We fear for the wellbeing of our family members, we fear checking the news lest we see yet another attack, we fear getting the phone call that someone we know has become the latest victim.
Months ago, then-President Donald Trump publicly referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu” despite protests from interviewers that these racially-charged labels will incite hateful sentiment towards Asians in the U.S. Trump chose to ignore them; he either did not share the same insight or desired this outcome. For the people who knew better, these worries became reality. Over the past few months, there has been a 150% increase in the amount of anti-Asian American hate crimes across American cities, even up to 1200% more in specific areas. This wave of xenophobia and racism towards Asians is unprecedented in our generation.
Binghamton is not free from this plight. From zoom bombings to acts of racist vandalism, members of our campus have, too, been victims of prejudice. President Harvey Stenger’s statement on February 27, “A message about racial incidents,” leaves much to be desired. There is no mention of the nature of the “several racist incidents” to be anti-Asian or anti-Black or otherwise. No plan was laid out to address these acts and hold perpetrators accountable. The administration has covered up many racist and xenophobic incidents that have happened at Binghamton and has not shown that the perpetrators were held accountable. We are enraged and disgusted by this behavior. If President Stenger and the administration stand by their claims to “condemn racist and offensive acts of any kind” and “support the victims of racist acts,” then they must do more.
Nortee Panpinyo, President of Binghamton University’s Asian Student Union, has formed the Binghamton Pan-Asian Leaders Council (BPALC), a coalition representing all Asian students and organizations on campus as well as Asians in the Binghamton area. BPALC aims to combat the rise of anti-Asian sentiments and demand better responses and actions from the university administration. The first step is happening at the end of this month; BPALC will lead a rally on March 27th on campus calling for action from university administration. We call for the university to explicitly address the recent national hate crimes against Asians, to be transparent regarding the nature of racist incidents on campus, and to hold accountable those who have perpetrated racist acts against the student body at Binghamton. We call for justice for the victims and just punishment of the perpetrators.
While we ask the administration to do better, we must also ask the same for ourselves. Hate crimes towards Asians are historically underreported. We are taught to stay quiet and not cause trouble. But now, there are more than enough examples of the consequences of not speaking up. We ask you to sign this petition to show your support and, if you are residing in Binghamton, we ask you to join us in our rally on March 27th. There will be a virtual town hall leading up to the rally on the 26th and we hope to see you there.
We will post updates as the rally date comes closer, so be on the lookout! For now please re-share the graphics circulating for the rally using the hashtag:
#BingStopAsianHate
Thank you for your time and please check out these resources for more information and places to donate:
https://www.aaldef.org/about/
https://www.ocanational.org/racial-equity-and-inclusion
https://www.napaba.org/page/HateCrimeResources
https://www.standagainsthatred.org/
https://stopaapihate.org/
https://givebutter.com/enoughisenough
https://asianpacificfund.org/make-an-impact/covid19-recovery-fund/