Occidental College’s Inadequate Response to Anti-Asian Hate Speech on Campus

LOS ANGELES – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) is gravely concerned by Occidental College’s woefully inadequate response to a student’s anti-Asian hate speech. This student sent text messages to another classmate in late 2020 that read: “all [A]sian people need to die,” “out of all the people on the planet[,] Asian people seem to piss me off the most,” and “they are responsible for the pandemic so they need to die for that too.” Although college officials were alerted in October or November 2021, they did not take action until the text messages were posted to social media on February 2, 2022. The next day, Occidental College President Harry J. Elam Jr. told the campus community that February 2 was the first time he saw the text messages and that private free speech laws prevented the college from disciplining the student. 

Occidental College has minimized racial equity, abandoned students’ safety, and advanced the racist position that Asian immigrants threaten this nation because their bodies carry a fatal, infectious disease. “When leaders allow anti-Asian rhetoric to go unaddressed and let silence overshadow just action, it can result in larger violations of civil and human rights,” said Ann Burroughs, President and CEO.  “By speaking out against hate, we hope to raise the visibility of race, democracy, and inclusion of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the United States.” 

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