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Update: Tuesday, 12:07 am
Those who passed by West Ramp Lounge today probably saw AAA & PC members gathered around a table, intently discussing our next line of action.
After some details were ironed out, The Blaaag Editors saw the need to correct a few things written earlier in this post:
- As we discovered (and an anonymous reader so helpfully pointed out), the aaa_pc listserv spans a much larger group of readers than was originally known to us. Thus, the comment that "there are things that slip out of cracks" is not correct; those things were sent out to a huge group of people and so there were no "cracks" to slip out of.
(For some reason, David burst into hysterics after reading that line.) - In regards to “immediate action” – David issued a public apology to those who received the e-mail disclosing the name of the student involved in this incident (which undoubtedly added to the spread of rumors). We are also drafting a public statement to be posted in the next issue of The Spectator.
- To anyone who knows who the involved student is –he wishes to keep his privacy (as told by a liaison – NOT by the student himself). Admittedly, it’s the least that we can give him right now.
- Needless to say, things have become a little less convoluted. However, AAA and The Blaaag are still not ready to disclose any more information until greater lines of action have been taken. (We are looking to get the administration in on this.)
As usual – when we learn more (and are allowed to tell), we’ll let you know.
---Anonymous said...
how about investigating by asking the guy involved instead of hearsay? and it might be prudent to not send emails about the incident without contacting the guy first (especially with his personal information), either. have some common sense, please.
September 17, 2007 12:12 AM
- David said...
The point of this post wasn't to spread around versions of a rumored story, but to point out the racism in the comments on a blog post.
In regards to prudence, this is an issue of haste on our part that we are working out this very moment...September 17, 2007 3:03 AM
- Marilla said...
Dear Anonymous:
Whoever it was that disclosed this personal information to you about the student involved, we sincerely apologize. As private as we try to keep our listserv e-mails, there are things that slip out of cracks (or are just outright told to the masses).
Please be aware that AAA has been doing as much as it can to get to the bottom of this issue. It does not in any shape or form mean that we are holding back from taking action. If you think we are slacking - be advised that there are some members of the board who have been communicating back and forth nonstop and contacing outside sources to find eye witnesses.
Dear Readers:
There has been some expressed dissatisfaction from members of the campus community towards our lack of immediate action. It seems like we are "holding back". Here is a quote from another member trying to make clear the reasons of our so-called immobility (not counting the frantic e-mails and phone calls that have gone back and forth, inside/outside of AAA):
In terms of AAA not reacting appropriately, given that the Spec article was just published this morning and AAA had not contacted any direct eye witnesses, regardless of what was eventually published in the Spec this morning, any action last night would have been extremely foolish. (Note the comment on The Blaaag about releasing his name in email without his consent, which is unfounded as his name was only mentioned in the email to aaa@columbia.edu which is a PRIVATE email alias, but nevertheless shows the sensitivity of this information and how any more pre-emptive action by AAA could have been poorly received).
When things are a little less convoluted, AAA and The Blaaag staff will update you. We promise. The matter of the Spec article's quoting reliability is being investigated; we have considered contacting the involved student for his side of the story; and there might be a public statement involved.
Tags: Columbia, organization, racism
the email was actually sent to both aaa@columbia.edu and aaa_pc@columbia.edu, which reaches a wider audience and not as private...
hey aaa_pc,
i don't want to impose too much as an alum (or admit that i still keep up with CU news...), but I just wanted to respectfully offer my two cents. and they're probably concerns that have been/ will be voiced anyway by PC members, so i'm sorry if they're redundant!
anyway, first off, i wanted to say that i've got mad respect for your activism. i know that y'all are going to put a lot of energy and spearhead a lot of effective organizing around this incident. especially 'cause, sad as it is, fucked up racist incidents are amazing opportunities to mobilize and politicize people who have been otherwise apathetic. hah, i guess crazy racist shit has that effect of disrupting the blissful enchantment made possible by multiculturalism, colorblindness, the privileges of the model minority, etc. but this also reminds me of Virginia Tech--an inappropriate parallel, perhaps, but there are potential similarities in the way that the APA community responded. during the backlash against Korean Americans after V-Tech, it seemed like a lot of APA's were shocked and outraged for the first time at the realization that we, too, can be criminalized, dehumanized as a community for the actions of an individual. even though African Americans and Latinos, esp. men, face this profiling everyday to the fatal effects of police brutality. i'm sure that people will be asking for support and solidarity from other groups during this campaign, so i hope and know that y'all will do it with broader goals of social justice in mind. that is, that this isn't just a movement toward ensuring that asian americans get the same treatment and privileges as white people, but that people and communities face violence because they are people of color, women, trans, queer, immigrants.. and that the violence against apa's won't end unless we recognize the connections to the injustices faced by other communities that seem discrete and separate from our own--take the action around the Jena 6 as a salient example. and bringing up these bigger issues and politicizing people and building collective movements in a lasting way is crazy difficult, but i think we've always got to be conscious about how we can are constantly constructing and shifting the meaning of asian american through our activism--so that we're not just proving to white people that we won't be silent, but to other marginalized and oppressed communities that we'll take an opportunity to learn more and build more.
Anyway, i hope this didn't in any way come off as preachy or didactic. i think i could have done a much better job personally at building more connections and coalitions. but i guess that's the role of a grandparent, to expect of the offspring what she couldn't accomplish. which, by the way, you've already done. y'all are amazing, and i look forward to seeing the change you continue to create.
much love and respect,
may