As members of Indigo: The Asian and Asian American Faculty Alliance, we publicly and explicitly denounce the historical and structural systems of racism and state-sanctioned violence against Black people.  We pledge our solidarity with all who demand justice for the senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the many others who have been victims of racist violence by state and non-state actors.  We must continue to recognize our complicity, as Asian Americans, in everyday forms of anti-Black racism. The fact that an Asian police officer was involved in Mr. Floyd’s death is evidence of this complicity. We must also recognize that police violence persists in our own neighborhoods. We demand justice for Sha’Teina Grady El in Washtenaw County, and must not forget the police killing of Aura Rosser by the Ann Arbor Police Department in 2015.

As Asian Americans, we have been the beneficiaries of the long struggle led by Black Americans against systemic racism in American society. Yet, we have not done enough collectively to question our cultural norms or to dismantle the structures that perpetuate violence against and maintain inequality for Black Americans and other communities of color. 

We resolve to reject our complacency and renew the fight for social justice for our fellow people of color.  As faculty members and educators, it is our profound responsibility to do so.