Stop Asian Hate.
The HAA community unequivocally denounces anti-Asian hate in all its forms. In light of recent anti-Asian racism and violent attacks on the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, HAA reasserts its commitment to stand with students, staff, faculty, and all members of our communities who are at risk of being targeted, harassed, and brutalized because of their identity. We condemn the attackers who have carried out these acts of violence, which were motivated by white supremacist ideologies.
We recognize that racist attacks and violence are not new phenomena. They reflect a painful, sustained legacy of white supremacy and fear of the “other” within the United States, a nation founded on the forcible seizure of Indigenous land, and one that continually benefits from the knowledge, labor, and spirit of immigrant communities. As art historians, architectural historians, and museum and library professionals, we acknowledge the ways our discipline is and has been complicit in the dehumanization and fetishization of Asian people and culture.
Our Department has no tolerance for anti-Asian punchlines, discrimination, nor the harmful myth of “model minority.” We study and teach histories of colonialism and imperialism in order to uphold the humanity of those who have suffered violence and displacement, both past and present. As we continue the process of self-examination and the development of anti-racist pedagogies and research methodologies, we pledge to address implicit and explicit forms of anti-Asian racism. HAA supports Asian and AAPI students, colleagues, and friends across and beyond the Pitt community. Hatred has no place here.