For Immediate Release
Friday, May 15, 2020
CONTACT:
Molly Higgins
Co-Chair, Media and Publicity Committee
Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
communications@apalaweb.org
An appalling article was posted in Against the Grain earlier this week. It has been retracted, but APALA and CALA joined forces to call out the racism and xenophobia that was in the pages of a professional publication. Our joint letter to the editor is below and will be posted to our website and other channels shortly.
We also encourage folks to continue to sign our APALA Pledge to combat xenophobia and racism and circulate the APALA statement against xenophobia and racism: http://www.apalaweb.org/coronavirus-response/
To the Editors of Against the Grain:
We are writing on behalf of our national library associations to state that we were disgusted to read the recent article in V32#2 by Mark Y. Herring, Dean of Library Services at the Dacus Library of Winthrop University. COVID-19 has spread far beyond China, yet, Asian and Asian Pacific Americans–and Chinese and Chinese Americans in particular–have become scapegoats for the disease and are being blamed for its dissemination and the countless deaths. The comments expressed in this article are deeply offensive and perpetuate harmful stereotypes of Chinese people as disease carriers who eat wild and unsanitary animals. This is especially dangerous since we do not know what officially started/caused the disease.
In addition, the article was blatantly racist and xenophobic during a time in our country when discrimination, racism, and hate crimes against Asians and Asian Pacific Americans are on the rise. People of all races and ethnicities–including Asian and Asian Pacific Americans–are dying and to trivialize the disease by calling it by racist names like the “Wuhan virus” and “Kung Flu” is the epitome of ignorance and white supremacy in our profession.
This is a time for our library profession to come together, practice empathy, and care for each other. The article in your publication did the opposite–spreading hate, racism, and xenophobia. We are tired of being “the other,” the “perpetual foreigner,” and being targeted. We will not stand for it in our community, in our profession, or in your pages. It is unacceptable.
Take responsibility as a professional publication. Hold the author accountable. And more than anything, be accountable to your Asian and Asian Pacific American colleagues, students, families and communities. We note that you retracted the article, but have yet to see a public apology or acknowledgment of the harm you have caused. You can and should do much better than printing highly questionable views during a worldwide crisis that affects all of us, especially as an important source of information for library workers and publishers. Equity, diversity and inclusion are fundamental values of our profession and our national library association–perhaps you need to familiarize yourself with these core concepts before you continue with this publication.
Sincerely,
Alanna Aiko MoorePresidentAsian Pacific American Librarians Association
Fu Zhuo President Chinese American Librarians Association
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