SR 19-05 - Resolution Condemning the Increase in Hate Crimes Related to COVID-19

WHEREAS, since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that the naming of diseases can have serious negative social, economic and safety related consequences, and

WHEREAS, since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has “called on scientists, national authorities and the media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases to minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people” (WHO - Best Practices for Naming New Human Infectious Diseases, May 8, 2015), and

WHEREAS, we acknowledge and condemn both the current and the historic use of novel diseases in fomenting xenophobia and as a basis for discriminating against and excluding persons by nationality, ethnicity, race, and/or religion, and

WHEREAS, in condemning the association of COVID-19 with China or Asia, we recall the long history of racist exclusionary laws, language, and treatment directed at Chinese Americans specifically and Asian Americans generally, and

WHEREAS, we acknowledge the history of discrimination against people from Asia in general, and specifically China, including:
the 1870 Naturalization Act that barred Chinese from gaining US citizenship,
the 1875 Page Act that banned Chinese women from coming to the US,
the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act whose racism is apparent by its very name,
the 1892 Geary Act that required Chinese residents to carry “papers” or face deportation,
the 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone Act that prevented all immigration from East Asian countries,
the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act which expanded the 1917 to include immigration from other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere perceived as threatening the US’s ethnic homogeneity,
the 1942 Executive Order 9066 that authorized the internment of Japanese Americans including those who were born here,
the 1944 decision by the US Supreme Court in Korematsu vs. U.S. that upheld the constitutionality of the Japanese internment and was only overturned in 2018, and

WHEREAS, We, acknowledge that the United States has a long and shameful history of exploiting the labor of Chinese and Asian Americans while denying them their full humanity, and

WHEREAS, we acknowledge and condemn, the ongoing misperception of people of Asian descent as “alien” and not fully American,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Academic Senate of California State University Channel Islands expresses its unified opposition to rhetoric that associates COVID-19 with nationality, race or country, and

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, That the Academic Senate of California State University Channel Islands stands in solidarity with the Asian American Community in urging all Americans to refrain from stigmatizing language, and negative associations that foment hate and hinder public health response, and

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that this resolution be distributed to the President of CSU Channel Islands, CSU Chancellor, CSU Board of Trustees, Academic Senate of the CSU, CSU Campus Senate Chairs, California Faculty Association (CFA) Statewide President, CFA CSU Channel Islands Chapter President, California State Student Association, and the ASI President of CSU Channel Islands.