CSUS statement on anti-Asian violence

The Centre for the Study of the United States stands with people of Asian descent in the United States, in Canada, and in Europe who are the objects of hate and violence. We stand with those who resist violence based in racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. We share a common humanity, a common sovereignty, a common right to be safe in our persons, our homes, and our communities. In particular, we join in mourning with the friends and families of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng. The women who were killed were targeted as sex workers. The Centre for the Study of the United States also stands against the sexualization of Asian women in North America and Europe. At the same time, we stand with sex workers here and elsewhere. Sex workers have the right to be safe in their persons and in their jobs and deserve the same protections and rights that other workers have or should have. What happened in Atlanta was a crime against Asian-Americans, a crime against women, and intended as an assault on sex workers. We have stood and will stand against the small-minded bigotry and hatred that inspires that violence.

Reading List: Traffic in Asian Women by Laura Hyun Yi Kang (Duke University Press)

Postcolonial Grief: The Afterlives of the Pacific Wars in the Americas by Jinah Kim (Duke University Press)

The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene by Celine Parreñas Shimizu (Duke University Press)