Department of English

Statement on the Murders of AAPI People in Atlanta

The English department stands in solidarity with our Asian and Asian American colleagues, students, staff here at Brandeis, and with communities more broadly in light of ongoing violence against these communities outlined in the “Stop AAPI Hate National Report” issued by the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center on March 19, 2021, just before the murders in Atlanta. We own and mourn the mass murder in Atlanta, and incidents since that time. 
The dead in Atlanta include

• Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33
• Paul Andre Michels, 54
• Xiaojie Tan, 49
• Daoyou Feng, 44
• Soon Chung Park, 74
• Hyun Jung Grant, 51
• Sun Cha Kim, 69
• Yong Ae Yue

We note that this is part of a broader pattern of violence against BIPOC communities, and we commit ourselves to making our curricula and programming more meaningful in the ways that they address these histories of violence in an ongoing way.

• The report can be found at https://templatelab.com/stop-aapi-hate-report/
• Stop AAPI Hate’s own website: Stop AAPI Hate 
• For more information about hate incidents against AAPI people, see this poll issued last year by the Pew Research Center:
• https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/07/01/many-black-and-asian-americans-say-they-have-experienced-discrimination-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak/
• In the light of these events, we direct the reader’s attention to some on-campus resources they may find useful:
• Statement from President Leibowitz: https://www.brandeis.edu/president/letters/2021-03-02-standing-together-with-the-asian-and-asian-american-community.html