AAAS Statement Condemning the January 6th Insurrection and Affirming US Democracy

The United States is a nation founded on the ideals of democracy but also white supremacy. January 6, 2021 saw a group of largely white insurrectionists attempt to overthrow the US government and occupy the US Capitol in Washington, DC. These people were able to occupy the Capitol because white supremacy allows white people to move freely, rebel, and inhabit their bodies — and state spaces — in ways denied non-white people in the US. As an academic and professional organization, one borne out of social justice and the commitment to knowledge of, by, and about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, we condemn the attempted insurrection of the US government on January 6, 2021. We affirm the results of the November 2020 US Presidential election and recognize President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, whom we also note will be the nation’s first mixed-race Black and South Asian American woman Vice President. We are here to bear witness and record the social, cultural, and political forces that impact the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the US and to say unequivocally that we support US democracy and are committed, as a scholarly, intellectual, academic, and social justice organization, to condemn the white supremacy and intersectional oppression that undergird the extremists who attempted to overthrow the US government.

The Board of the Association for Asian American Studies