On the surge of hate crimes against Asian, Asian-Americans and Pacific-Islanders (AAPI), we want to share updated data and resources with our community. 

According to Stop AAPI Hate’s March 2021 national report, 3,795 incidents of discrimination against AAPIs were reported from March 19 to February 28, 2021 via the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center. Below are a few highlights. Visit the Stop AAPI Hate National Report or the full national report and other reports. 

• Verbal harassment (68.1%) and shunning (20.5%) (i.e., the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans) make up the two largest proportions of the total incidents reported. 

• Physical assault (11.1%) comprises the third largest category of the total incidents. Civil rights violations — e.g., workplace discrimination, refusal of service, and being barred from transportation — account for 8.5% of the total incidents.

• Chinese are the largest ethnic group (42.2%) that report experiencing hate, followed by Koreans (14.8%), Vietnamese (8.5%), and Filipinos (7.9%).

• Women report hate incidents 2.3 times more than men.

• Businesses are the primary site of discrimination (35.4%), followed by public streets (25.3%), and public parks (9.8%). Online incidents account for 10.8% of the total incidents.

Below is a list of action items and resources to address the current racism pandemic against AAPI. 

1. Report Hate Crimes against Asian Americans

https://stopaapihate.org/ (12 languages)

https://www.standagainsthatred.org/report (5 languages)

Local and other reporting sites: https://movementhub.org/get-help/ 

2. Assistance with legal and social services through the Stop Hate hotline:

(Asian Americans Advancing Justice partnered with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and their Stop Hate project)

 1-844-9-NO-HATE

3. Know your rights

(1) Legal rights to be treated fairly and without discrimination: Federal and State laws and government sites to file a complaint (organized by states)

https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Stop_AAPI_Hate_Public_Accommodation_Law_Survey_200920.pdf 

(2) Your rights if you are stopped by police, immigration agents, or the FBI (Resource provided by American Civil Liberties Union). 

https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/know-your-rights-discrimination-against-immigrants-and-muslims?redirect=feature/know-your-rights-immigration#immigration

4. Bystander Intervention training (against harassment) 

https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/events 

5. Self-defense and Personal safety training

https://www.impactbayarea.org/online_classes

6. Civic Engagement: Collective justice and shared liberation

https://movementhub.org/make-change/

7. Culture Surge: an artists and culture makers’ coalition for justice, care and connection. 

https://www.culturesurge.com/about-us 

8. Other action ideas: Host a panel discussion, lead a community safety audit, create a survey for research, create Mud Stencils, hold a Chalk Walk, create a Guerrilla-Style Video about Street Harassment, organize a Protest or March, initiate legislative advocacy, host workshops, host a film screening, host Fund raising

https://www.ihollaback.org/holla-how-tos/ 

9. Donate

STOP AAPI Hate:  https://stopaapihate.org/actnow/  

Asian Americans Advancing Justice: https://advancingjustice-aajc.org 

AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://movementhub.org/donate/ 

Hollaback https://www.ihollaback.org/ 

American Civil Liberties Union https://www.aclu.org/ 

10. Share additional resources with others

In solidarity and support, 

The AAAFSC board: Tamara Bhalla, Fan Yang, Soonhee Lee, Aditya Desai, Shuyan Sun

Dear AAAFSC colleagues,

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) recently announced that international students cannot take a full online course load and remain in the U.S.  This creates a dilemma which "will force colleges and universities into an impossible choice— to reopen prematurely or risk losing invaluable international students and their contributions—and unnecessarily endanger both the physical and mental well-being of all students and faculty." (American Psychological Association [APA]; News release on 7/8/2020). 

According to the Institute of International Education (2019), 1,095,299 international students were in the U.S. in 2018/2019.  According to UMBC International Education Services, we had about 900 actively enrolled international students last semester.  The board of the Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Council want to express our support for international students and colleagues and to share a list of action items with our members. This list is adapted from a statementwritten by the international section of APA CounselingPsychology (dated 6/27/2020).  Hyperlinks to relevant sources are embedded.  Please check out the resources.

1.       Add your signature to petitions/open letter

a. Petition the White House: Allow F-1 students to stay in the US through the fall semester if instruction is online due to the pandemic

b. Connecting our world: Urge Congress to support international students & scholars and protect OPT

c.Change.org: Let international students stay

d. Open Letter Against the Student Ban by faculty at universities and colleges across the U.S.

2. Contact your lawmakersto support immigration reformincluding House Bill 1044 and Senate Bill 386.

3. Build your awareness about the racist history of the U.S. immigration systemand the different visa categories that may apply to your students and colleagues.

4. Advocate for our international students and colleagues by (a) recognizing and checking-in with them about the impact of recent proclamations and regulations on our international student community; (b) reaching out to our  institution’s international offices and Human Resources offices  for resources or a training related to how this proclamation and regulations affect our students and staff; (c) calling out xenophobia; (d) establishing emergency financial and/or legal assistance to support those whose legal statuses were displaced by the current proclamation.

5. Donateto organizations such as Justice Action Center, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Innovation Law Lab that  filed a federal lawsuit related to the April 2020 Proclamation.

UMBC International Education Services (IES) is hosting a Town Hall meeting for students, faculty and staff on Friday, July 10 at 4pm EST to discuss the situation, share what we know so far, and answer questions as best we can.

Click here to join the IES Virtual Town Hall

https://t.e2ma.net/click/7nodxe/jdozdbc/7va4uz

Please share questions you would like to have addressed at the Town Hall here (make sure you are signed in to your myUMBC account to access the form):

https://forms.gle/mfFLPq1EAV8YTQMS7

In solidarity,

The AAAFSC board members

Tamara Bhalla, Jiaqi Gong, Fan Yang, Shuyan Sun, Aditya Desai, & Soonhee Lee

Dear AAAFSC members,

The Division of Student Affairs offers a mini conference on "Cultivating Skills While Disrupting Racial Injustice" today (6/25) and tomorrow (6/26).

Please check out the program descriptions below and join any program that fits your needs.

Thanks!

Soonhee

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Cultivating Skills While Disrupting Racial Injustice: A mini-conference on inclusion and community building

Registration: https://umbc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4YJas7mXvT027yZ

Where Do We Go From Here? Cultivating Skills for Inclusion and Community Building While Disrupting Racial Injustice

Join the Division of Student Affairs on Thursday, June 25 and Friday, June 26 at 3:30 p.m., for ongoing dialogue and skill building toward inclusive excellence and disrupting racial injustice on our campus and beyond.

This mini-conference is open to faculty and staff. By selecting to participate, you will engage with colleagues on important topics and leave with an action plan to navigate the days ahead. While you will only be able to attend two sessions over the course of two days, each session will be recorded and will repeat in the fall semester. 

Session 1 - June 25, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Difficult Dialogues: Tools for Holding the Necessary Conversations with Your Family and Friends- This workshop will introduce and provide an opportunity to practice dialogue skills to help navigate difficult dialogues around race and other identities with family and friends. Participants will leave with skills around calling out, calling in, and apologizing.

Intended audience: Open to all UMBC staff and faculty

Facilitators:

Carlos Turcios, Coordinator, Campus Life's Mosaic, Interfaith and Pride Center

Ciara Christian, Graduate Assistant, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Session 2 - June 25, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. 

Understanding Your Agency: What You Can Do From Where You Are - A conversation about personal action, agency, influence, and power. This session will explore how you can use your personal power to impact the world around you. In addition to exploring resources and action steps, this session will take a close look at ways to get involved at UMBC and in Baltimore and Baltimore County. 

Intended Audience: Open to all UMBC staff and faculty

Facilitators: 

David Hoffman, Director, Center for Democracy and Civic Life

Eric Ford, Director, Choice Program

Romy Hübler, Assistant Director, Center for Democracy and Civic Life 

Session 3 - June 26, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Healing and Restoration: Shared Processing and Community Building- A restorative conversation to process not only race and racism, but also the impacts of the global pandemic, anti-Asian rhetoric, and resilience. Participants will explore ways to rebuild and restore community while remaining in a virtual world. 

Intended audience: Open to all UMBC staff and faculty

Facilitators: 

Davonya Hall, Associate Director, Student Conduct and Community Standards

Mikhel Kushner, Title IX Coordinator, Office of Equity and Inclusion

Session 4 - June 26, 3:30 p.m.  – 5 p.m.

Understanding Your Whiteness: Exploring Active Allyship and Solidarity - A conversation about whiteness and how privilege and allyship can be activated on a daily basis. In addition to understanding privilege, this session will include a conversation around challenging "white tears" and channeling guilt into action. 

Intended audience: UMBC staff and faculty who identify as white

Facilitators: 

Alayna Berkowitz, Assistant Director of Outreach and Mental Health Promotion, Counseling Center

B. Ever Hannah, Training Coordinator, Office of Equity and Inclusion

Session 5 - June 26, 3:30 p.m.  – 5 p.m.

Tools for Navigating the Anger and Pain in the Daily Life of Systemic Racism- From anti-Blackness to anti-Asian discrimination, a conversation focused on processing the anger, pain, fear, and frustration that comes with facing daily aspects of systemic racism and interpersonal discrimination. Participants will leave with tools and skills to help them navigate and mitigate impacts of racial trauma. 

Intended audience: UMBC staff and faculty who identify as folks of color

Facilitators:

Soonhee Lee, Assistant Director/Training Director, Counseling Center

Whitney Hobson, Staff Psychologist/Multicultural Coordinator, Counseling Center

Dear AAAFSC colleagues,

With the national dialogue on systemic racism uprising, we are reaching out to bring your attention to a meaningful movement on our campus.  Below is an email from Doha Chibani, LCSW-C who is forming a task force to compile anti-racist action plans which will be shared with the Office of Equity and Inclusion. This substantive and collective approach will help address structural racism effectively and enhance equitable experiences for people of color.  We can start our solidarity right here where we work. 

Please review the email below and consider responding to this Call to Action.

The AAAFSC board members

Tamara Bhalla, Fan Yang, Aditya Desai, Jiaqi Gong, Soonhee Lee

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Subject: Call to Action