We are high school students from Boston, Malden, and Quincy, members of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) Youth Center. We ask educators and superintendents to address the surge of anti-Asian racism that followed the COVID-19 outbreak. We are writing to urge you to take anti-racist action now in order to prepare for the new school year.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an enormous increase in the number of racial attacks against Asian Americans. Since the start of the pandemic in mid-May, Stop AAPI Hate has recorded about 1,900 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination across the U.S. On April 8th in Midland, Texas, a 2-year-old and 6-year-old were stabbed by a 19-year-old who thought they were Chinese and “spreading the disease.”

There have also been many examples of xenophobia online. A recent study analyzing almost one million tweets found that negative comments about Asians increased by about 70% between the months of November and March, and they increased by 167% the week after President Donald Trump referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” during a news conference. In June, President Trump continued to refer to COVID-19 as the “kung flu.” On April 15th, at Newton South High School, an AP Mandarin Zoom class was interrupted by a group of intruders with “vile, hate-filled images and speech.”

Racism toward Asian Americans has been prevalent in American history. From the Yellow Peril to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, from Japanese Internment Camps in 1942-1946 to Vincent Chin, none of this is new. The manifestation of the Model Minority myth, where Asians are deemed an exemplary minority, has caused great misinformation and prejudice.

We, as students of Boston Public Schools, Malden Public Schools, and Quincy Public Schools, are stared at while walking on the street and taking the train, and cannot go to the supermarket without fear of strangers harassing us. In school, we feel we are not equal to other students. Whether it be among our peers, with faculty members in-person or online, it is suffocating to know there are those who look at us cautiously and choose to ignore the rising issue of xenophobia in the U.S. Our mental health is deteriorating, and our grades will drop, impacting our futures in higher education. We feel unsafe returning to schools with unaddressed racism.

School is a place for learning, not a place for discrimination. Besides core curriculum and subjects, we, faculty and students together, should also be in the process of learning about human equality, empathy, solidarity, and kindness in humanity. We come from a place of good intentions and want to stand up for ourselves and those who are against the horrors springing up from COVID-19. COVID-19 knows no race or ethnicity. We are all in serious times and now, more than ever, we should be deeply connected to be there for each other.

We are formally asking Boston, Quincy, and Malden public school leaders, including superintendents, headmasters, principals, teachers, and other faculty, to stand in solidarity with communities of color by performing the following:

• Publicly speak up for anti-racism

  • Send out a district-wide email to the student and parent communities to not only to publicly condemn discrimination, but also to inform them of concrete procedures and guidelines the school will be using to address further incidents

  • Address the racism against Asian Americans on any school websites and social media for other members of our communities to see

• Teach Ethnic Studies and revise current curriculum materials so that it diversifies the American narrative to not only that of “white” history and perspective

• Hire more Black, Indigenous, and people of color so that school staff and faculty reflects the demographics of students

• Have guidance counselors hold healing circles and/or speaking sessions for all students who may feel unsafe or unwelcomed

• Prioritize anti-bias training by having schools host it once a month for staff/faculty

• Hire extra guidance counselors and mental/emotional health support staff (consider BIPOC representation) to decrease staff to student ratio

• Create a system for reporting incidents of racism such as Google Forms

• Commit to actively engaging and supporting families through listening sessions

At the end of the day, we want the people in our communities to feel safe and educated on the issues we face now. When something happens, we all need to take action. As a community, we need to be united, especially during a time like this. If the actions listed above are performed, there will be a notable positive impact on our communities. Schools within our districts have not addressed the overarching issue of anti-Asian American racism. We acted slowly with the virus, we cannot do the same with this.

While this letter addresses anti-Asian American racism, it is also essential that we address the unjust killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the continued violence against the Black community. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, and the ongoing Black Lives Matter Movement. This letter is full of our emotions -- our worries about life, our desire for justice, and our resistance to racism of all forms. Through this letter, we hope you can understand our ideas and lead our community and schools to the right path. When we are walking on the road, no one should worry about being attacked; when we go to school, everyone should have a safe environment to learn; when we are in our community, everyone is equal and there is no discrimination. The COVID-19 should make us more united!

Sincerely,

Sarah Xu, age 17, Boston

Mandy Sun, age 17, Boston 

J.C., age 15, Quincy

S.Y., age 16, Quincy

X.Z., age 17, Quincy 

Z.X., age 20, Malden

Please add your name here in support of the youth's letter.

We support the BCNC Youth appeal to educators and superintendents to address the surge of anti-Asian racism that followed the COVID-19 outbreak. We urge school leadership to take anti-racist action now in order to prepare for the new school year.

Update 9/29: Boston Globe — Coalition of students urge school leaders around Boston to address anti-Asian racism

Update 10/7: Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent and School Committee stand in solidarity with Asian Americans

Update 10/12 GBH News — In It Together host Arun Rath interviews BCNC youth Mandy