Yesterday was the Third Annual Hate Crimes Prevention Art Exhibit, presented by OCA-New York and coordinated by our great friend and Blaaag-writer Ryan Fukumori / Heiroku. A bad night and some bodily ailments left me unable to go at the last minute (sorry, Ryan!), and no word yet on whether or not fellow writer David went, but those of you who are in New York and heard about the art exhibit - Did you go? How was it? Was New York City Councilman (and Comptroller Candidate) John Liu fantastically vague and diplomatic as usual? Did our dear friend Taiyo do a good job of counteracting that by being provocative and saying too much (which, I think, is how it should be done)? What were students' art work like? Did it inspire any new thoughts or emotions in you?

The case of Vincent Chin, where two white men publicly brutally beat a Chinese American man to death in 1982 and only received 3 years probation each, is an open sore in Asian American history. While Asian American activists took the case to court, filing the first federal case of a hate crime against an Asian American, the killers were still acquitted of all charges (including committing a hate crime) by an all white jury in Cincinnati.

Most recently, two young white men beat to death Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant, while taunting him with racial slurs. The killers were also acquitted by an all white jury of all charges including third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. Although the Vincent Chin case has passed but is continually remembered by the Asian American community, Luis Ramirez's case is still active. This is where crossracial coalition and alliance work is crucial.

So far, this is the only petition/action I've found, but let's all please keep our eyes peeled for more actions to come. Petition

---------------------

No Justice for Vincent Then, No Justice for Luis Now

Editor’s Note: Last week, two of the young white men who allegedly killed Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Penn. were acquitted by an all white jury. The case mirrors the first federal hate crime prosecution involving an Asian American. Carmina Ocampo is a Skadden fellow and staff attorney at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) of Los Angeles. Immigration Matters regularly features the views of immigration advocates and experts.

Last July, Luis Ramirez, a Latino immigrant who worked in a factory, was brutally killed by a gang of drunken white teenagers motivated by their dislike of the growing Latino population in their small coalmining town of Shenandoah, Penn. Two of the young white men who killed Luis were recently acquitted by an all white jury of all serious charges including third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation.

The facts of this case sounded all too familiar to those of us lawyers who work on civil rights cases. They mirror the facts at the heart of the 1982 Vincent Chin hate crime case.

Luis Ramirez was taunted with racial slurs and beaten to death during an altercation with a group of drunken white teenagers....Luis’s murder occurred during a time of increasing anti-immigrant sentiment directed primarily towards Latino immigrants, exacerbated by the economic crisis. Vincent Chin’s murder took place during a climate of intense anti-Asian sentiment directed at the Japanese who were blamed for taking jobs away from American workers. Helen Zia, a well-known Asian American civil rights activist described the early 1980s as a dangerous time to look Asian. The same may be said for Latinos today.

In both Luis’s and Vincent’s cases, the killers argued that their actions should be excused because they were drunk, the victims were the aggressors, and they were merely exercising self-defense during a drunken brawl.

continue reading...

Boulder, Colorado -

Two Boulder middle-school students have been arrested on suspicion of harassment and a bias-motivated crime after police said they called a 12-year-old girl and threatened to rape and kill her because she’s Asian-American.

The 13-year-old boys — and a 10-year-old boy, whose arrest was pending — are suspected of calling the girl’s cell phone at 9 p.m. Monday and using explicit and violent language to describe raping her.

link to rest of article...

--------

Boulder also happens to be my hometown, which claims to be the most liberal place in Colorado but has consistently been in national people of color news for hate crimes including an incident where an Asian American student was held at knifepoint and forced to say "I love America" and another incident with a university publication article calling for a "war on Asians" and "hunt."

How is the "most liberal" town in Colorado the site of the majority of the state's high-profile hate crimes? political liberalism ≠ anti-racism

Although there has been no official report yet, on March 2nd, a Vietnamese-American student at UCSB was allegedly harassed by four members of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, who--without provocation--attacked Thanh and his friend while using various racial epithets such as "chink," "chinaman," and "gook." There is an ongoing investigation currently being conducted by the University of California Police Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Below is the article that has been circulating Facebook.

Early in the morning of March 2, 2009, Thanh Hong, a Vietnamese American student at the University of California at Santa Barbara , and his Asian American friend walked home through Isla Vista – the college town adjacent tothe UCSB campus. On their way home, Thanh and his friend passed in front of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house. Four men emerged from inside the fraternityhouse, approached Thanh and his friend, and began yelling racial epithets atthem including: “Chink,” “Chinamen,” and “Gook.”

THANH AND HIS FRIEND TRIED TO WALK AWAY. Before they could, however, one of the men -- without provocation -- punched Thanh’s friend in the face, and then attacked Thanh. The man from the fraternity house continued using racial slurs during the attack. Eventually, he stopped his attack and started laughing, providing Thanh and his friend an opportunity to escape. Thanh suffered a facial laceration requiring several stitches and his friend suffered a concussion resulting in partial memory loss.

The University of California Police Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office were called and opened an investigation into the case. The police questioned members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity who all denied any involvement. The fraternity also denied that any attack had taken place, even though the sidewalk in front of their house was stained with Thanh’s fresh blood. I still haven’t been able to ascertain where Thanh is originally from.

An ostentatiously large placard with a banner of the Community Principles Initiative was up on Low Plaza today...


Some questions: who created the CPI? Was it brought about by recent incidents of hate, or rather upsets with so-called community principles (i.e. Minutemen and "academic freedom")? Hate is still occurring on a near daily basis, and a sign of mainstream solidarity from those who can't see the problems is truly insufficient. I can't help but say that this statement from "the community" really cannot do much to change any kind of campus climate if it's unbacked by any meaningful kind of reform.

Our chair remarked that there were few other student of color groups at this board today. If any of us want real change, I think we can see why.

Among the signatures on the board, there were those from student governing boards, deans and public safety, student groups, fraternities/sororities; so along with our omnipresent chair, I signed the thing also... (And in retrospect, the regret I'm feeling for having lent support to something so ultimately inconsequential is pretty enormous.)

If you really want to see change on this campus, support the ad hoc coalition and see that these demands are met. Read about them here. They cover four areas of necessary change: Administrative Reform, Ethnic Studies, the Manhattanville Expansion, and the Core Curriculum. Take a real stand.

Here's some nice advice:



Also, check out this article on how sleep might yield unique cognitive abilities that don't appear when you're awake. Basically, don't follow Ben Manibag and snort coke to stay up and recite random vocabulary words.

Lastly, here's an article on another noose incident which took the front page of the Metro today. (Copycat effect? Hmm...)

(Thanks to Laura for the Gothamist article)

[Update 1:03pm: The student, his friends, and Dean Nair didn't show; I left early, but maybe the other present members (three of which are Blaaagers) can show some more insight.]

Looking at the racial hate crimes that have happened since, it's been a long time since anyone's heard about the confrontation between the NYPD and the SEAS student. Many concerned members of AAA have been scrambling to pull stuff together concerning everything else that's happened (and, quoting David, "administrative red tape is a pain in the ass"); consequently, little progress was made.

But maybe today will break the silence.

At 10am today, five members of AAA & AAA PC will be in Lerner to meet with the said student, his two friends, Columbia Public Safety, Dean Colombo, Dean Nair, and Dean Schollenberger to discuss the larger issue of racial bias within the NYPD, determine the next line of action, and hopefully take those steps so that we can improve the campus community.

The meeting is a closed event, but feel free to gather outside.

Dear member of the Columbia community,

I am saddened to report that one of the bathrooms in Lewisohn Hall was sullied with an anti-Semitic smear. It has been promptly removed and is now being investigated.

I want to make two points. When words are the offender, as in this incident, I am reluctant to draw attention to them and will exercise restraint in doing so going forward. I do not want to broadcast, in any way, the message they attempt to send or empower those behind them. Despite the irrational, destructive hatred that persists in our society and world, we do not accept this anywhere at this University. No one among us should feel marginalized or threatened by words of hatred. We are one community; and as one community, we will overcome these hateful acts and hold each other to the highest standards of respect for the dignity and diversity of every individual.

In response to questions students have raised, I also want to reassure you that we have utmost confidence in our Public Safety officials and in the NYPD. Not only do they have well established communications protocols in place when there is an immediate threat of harm; they distinguish crimes that threaten our physical safety from incidents like the one that occurred today.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

- We hear the meetings yesterday with PrezBo and the deans went strangely. Evidently, there is administration tension, added to the fact that PrezBo cannot do anything but spew the same old sh**. Just rumors.

- Today, October 11th, is also National Coming Out Day. Columbia Queer Alliance and Queer Awareness Month is hosting an event titled, "Coming Out Against Hate: One Columbia - United", a Q&A with administrators about the recent hate events on campus. The event will feature deans Austen Quigley and Chris Colombo, and will take place at noon in Roone Arledge Hall. Please attend and support your/our friends and allies.

- Also, tonight get dinner from 6:00 to 7:30pm in the newly inaugurated safe space: Earl Hall. Also a QuAM/CQA event, "United Against Hate" will focus on a broad range of hate-based attacks and bigotry at Columbia. Join the common meal and restore a feeling of community. (Might be the closest thing we come to one for a while... I don't know.)

- If you've been keeping up with the 114th St. police brutality incident on Sept 14th, stay tuned. We're meeting on Monday with administrators of multicultural affairs, student activities, and public safety. They seem to want to connect this to a larger trend with NYPD insensitivity, but we'll do our best to make them see the importance of this one case. We'll have more news soon, and are certainly not letting this go anytime soon. (Do we say this too much? Administrative red tape is a pain in the ass.)

After the BSO meeting, which was held in response to the hate crime scrawled on the bathroom walls of SIPA, I walked out of Lerner C555 with an unsettling feeling that something was not right. Why? It was not because there was a lack of constructive responses to the outrageous bigotry and it was not because there was a shortage of understanding from those present during the meeting. The reason: I realized how rare it is to see such passionate, cohesive, and immediate response to hate crimes committed against Asian American individuals. This lack of response more than often stems from individual's decision to remain silent and not from the lack of support that would be shown from fellow students of color.

This nothing response is by no means the way that all Asian American individuals react when they are marginalized and oppressed by racial slurs or racial profiling. However, silence seems to be a popular choice for many Asian American individuals who experience injustice. As a result, there is no change. And if there is change, it is on a micro-scale that often does not include multi-coalition and often is not even supported by fellow Asian Americans.

The real scary consequence of silence is not that Asian Americans continue to be called "chinks" or asked "do you speak English?", but rather that in the struggle between justice and injustice, justice loses. Although this may seem like an overstatement, it is not. If anything, this statement is an understatement Why? Because an act of injustice towards one Asian American is an act of injustice on all those who are marginalized by our society. Because simply "moving on" and "not making a big deal" out of racial profiling is the reason that it keeps happening. Because saying "chill out" to racial attacks on a bathroom stall is saying "chill out" to hatred. Because people are normalizing hate crimes. Because no one wants to live in a society pervasive of moral shabbiness.

Do not get me wrong. When I walked out of Lerner C555 that night, I was empowered by the fact that students, not just those specifically mentioned in the hate crime, came together to figure out what to do. Yet in the mist of this hope for change, I could not stop asking myself: Why don't we see 120 students gathered together to talk about acts of injustice towards Asian Americans? In fact, why don't we see this type of multi-coalition for all forms of injustice? A part of the reason for this is because we refuse to see that all hate is the same and affects everyone, regardless of whether you are personally attacked or not. The other part of the reason for this lack of mobilization towards change is because often times those victimized choose to do nothing and "to relax" (as commented by some student in the Spec).

Well, here is a reality check: A hate crime that is not blatantly attacking you, it is still your problem. It is every single person's problem because we all live in the same society. It is your problem, if you are living in a society where moral trash like hate crimes are things to relax about and to shut up about. In my book, all hate is hate. I don't want to live in hate.

Last night's emergency meeting (See Another Columbia Hate Crime) was, to say the least, intense.

At least four of The Blaaag's staff members (as well as members of AAA and AAA PC) were there; so we'll have something to say about that. Soon, very soon.

As for interesting comments... a Spec reader made this one:

Jebus Cristos.... it's a bunch of words written on a bathroom stall. Relax people. My guess is that you're giving this guy exactly what he wants... he tried to stir up a bees nest, and badabing, he did. Congratulations people.

Posted by: anonymous (not verified) | September 28th, 2007 @ 1:20pm

Thoughts on this later; we're too hotheaded right now.

As verified by the Spec, the following message was found on the wall in a SIPA bathroom:

[WARNING: The following contains racial slurs and profanity]

Attention
You pinko Commie Motherfuckers and Arab Towelheads:
America will wake up one day and Nuke Mecca, Medina, Tehran, Baghdad, Jakarta, and all the savages in Africa. You will all be fucked! America is for White Europeans!

***

The message is likely a backlash from Ahmadinejad's presence; while this is never to discredit the many students who peacefully protested on Monday, it is nevertheless important to know that there are indeed some people, like the individual who wrote this, who are brutally racist and would actually consider it fair game to slaughter millions of innocent people in the Middle East and Africa, or, alternatively, consider the deaths of millions of people to be an innocent joke.

I found myself in the midst of controversy last year after the infamous Minutemen Protest, and had a lot of racist and/or violent hate mail directed at me, including statements like these:

"You are a stupid fucking jerk. penis-boy. Typical Jap."
"Get that noose around your neck a little tigher dipshit, I'll be there to pull the lever and watch you hang asshole...Fuck off and die."
“Hey gook…It's time for White Americans to fight back. By any means necessary…See you on the battlefield, you slant-eyed fuckwit.”

Or, for those of you from the class of 2009 and older, recall the incident in Ruggles 2 years ago where swastikas and homophobic messages were found in somebody's suite. Dangerous minds walk among us.

That said, the Black Students Organization is having an emergency meeting tomorrow night (Sept. 27) at 9PM in Lerner C555 to address the matter. Let's hope this unites the community to stand up against horrible statements like this, lest someone get physically hurt by the people who think these things.