03/18/2021
By Jacquie Moloney

The thoughts of the entire UMass Lowell community are with the families and friends of the victims shot and killed Tuesday night in Georgia. Delaina Ashley Yuan, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Yan, and Daoyou Feng are four among too many that have recently lost their lives senselessly to the rising tide of hate, racism and bigotry directed against Asians and Asian Americans in our country. We continue to hear daily of the countless reports across the country of Asian-identified people, especially elders, who have been targeted and victimized because of their race. Many, like Vicha Ratanapakdee, Juanito Falcon and Pak Ho, are not here with us today. 

These horrific events have unfortunately grown too familiar and are steeped in racially charged history and legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Internment camps of the 1940s, which interned more than 120,000 Japanese Americans. Now with the stoking of xenophobia, blame and racial divisiveness, Asian Americans across the country are increasingly subjected to intimidation, threats and violence. Whether through ignorance or blatant racism, violence against any person because of their identity is reprehensible and antithetical to what we stand for as a nation and as a community in higher education.

Noel Quintana uttered a heartbreaking statement after being slashed cheek to cheek with a boxcutter while he was on his way to work on a train in New York, “Nobody came, nobody helped.” Many of us, through our identity and our skin color, are afforded a set of privileges that our Asian American communities and our Black, Indigenous and people of color communities do not have. And we must endeavor to change this. We must do better to protect, to support someone in need, to speak up, and to step into the role of being active allies in this fight against racial hatred and violence.

Early in my career as director of the Indochinese Refugees Foundation I witnessed firsthand the struggles and the strength of members of the Southeast  Asian community as they relocated and rebuilt their lives in Lowell following violence and war in Southeast Asia. In Lowell and in communities across the country, Asians and Asian Americans are our neighbors, friends, students and colleagues. We are proud to be a federally designated Asian American Native American and Pacific Islander Serving Institution. We stand in solidarity with our Asian American communities. Now more than ever, we must ensure all members of our community know they are welcomed, respected, and valued exactly as they are.