日志
普渡教授Scott Kurashige
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Asian Americans far from alone in demanding change. PNW AAUP chapter condemns the Keon administration’s “top-down, non-inclusive approach to university governance” and longstanding “insensitivity to diverse cultures within the PNW community.”
These glaring absences suggest systemic deficiencies in the hiring, promotion, and review process for faculty and staff at PNW, as well as the routine exclusion of Asian American history, culture, and politics from PNW’s scholarly activity.
A search of course catalog fails to turn up a single class with “Asian American” in the title, and only one that mentions “Asian American” in description. Search of PNW’s website turns up only one (now departed) faculty member with research interests focused on Asian Americans.
Under Keon’s 11-year tenure as chancellor at PNW & prior branches, he has failed to demonstrate institutional values reflecting inclusion of Asian Americans in the university’s core academic mission. Students have been deprived of learning the full picture of US society.
Ultimately, the call for Keon to resign should not rest solely on the comments he made on stage. What deserves greater scrutiny is Keon’s statement, “I assure you I did not intend to be hurtful and my comments do not reflect my personal or our institutional values.”
If Purdue accepts Keon’s vague assurances that he’s learned his lesson and will do better, it will communicate the wrong lesson: that there are little to no consequences at Purdue for institutional racism, neglect of professional responsibilities, and cultural incompetence.
Hollywood has denied the humanity of Asians on screen, frequently deploying white actors in “yellowface” spewing made-up “Asian” dialogue, usually slant-eyed villains provoking hatred or buck-toothed caricatures inviting derision
That is why it was awful but not surprising to see dignitaries on stage laughing along with Keon. White members of the PNW community seemed comfortable being in on the joke rather than the target of it.
For Asian Americans—first in the auditorium and now as part of a global media audience—the cost of these cheap laughs was a painful reminder of the racist, xenophobic taunts we experienced at the hands of bullies and bigots in childhood.
We have seen uninterrupted bullying and bigotry lead to overt violence and other acts of bias. Nearly 11,500 hate incidents were reported to Stop AAPI Hate between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022.
Subtle and tangible forms of harassment continue in spaces and institutions where Asian Americans are treated as if we don’t belong or will only be tolerated to the degree we bend over backwards to make those in power feel comfortable.
Keon’s contention that his mocking “Asian” comments were made “off-the-cuff” does nothing to diminish the egregiousness of his conduct. Rather, it implies he has never felt the need to resist or overcome the impulse to caricature Asians for the enjoyment of his peers.
Such a toxic dynamic is one obvious outcome of Keon appointing a Senior Leadership Team that is all white and his hiring a chancellor’s office staff that is predominantly white with zero Asian Americans.
