Michael Cheng, president of the Harvard undergraduate council, was the apparent victim of anti-Asian slurs at the campus late last month, in an incident that has been condemned by dozens of organizations and hundreds of members affiliated with the school.
“It just crosses a line in many ways,” said Cheng, who’s pursuing a joint concentration in history and mathematics and a concurrent fourth-year master’s degree in computer science. “I just have seen casual stereotypes about Asian Americans thrown about at the college.”
Racist notes were allegedly posted on the door of the undergraduate council president in February, along with the phrase, “Save the UC,” an allusion to Cheng’s controversial campaign to defund the undergraduate council.
Cheng, who said he was angry over the incident, said that he is willing to forgive the perpetrator if Cheng were to receive an apology.
“I don’t think you should have your whole life or career ruined because of something you did when you’re 20,” he said.
In response to the attack, the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Women’s Association, along with 23 other student organizations and 478 Harvard affiliated individuals, co-signed a statement condemning the attack as being “reminiscent of nativist language and directly tied to white supremacy.”
The statement also asked for recognition and support from the college administration.
On the morning of March 1, the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association, the Asian American Women’s Association, and the Task Force for Asian American Progressive Advocacy and Studies hosted a rally to demand the establishment of a degree-granting Ethnic Studies Department. The rally took place in front of University Hall, where the Faculty of Arts and Sciences would convene that afternoon for its monthly meeting. Currently, Harvard College offers an Ethnic Studies field in its History and Literature concentration and a secondary field in Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights. Harvard College is in the process of hiring faculty members who specialize in ethnic studies. The initiative was announced in 2019 but has since been subject to delays due to the pandemic.
In its statement, the Asian American Women’s Association characterized the establishment of an Ethnic Studies Department as “a key way to cement our message of anti-racism on campus” and “active evidence that Harvard does not tolerate racist behaviors that exclude individuals for their race or ethnicity.” Similarly, the Asian American Association pointed to ethnic studies as a method to “honor the histories and lives of the people of color who have lived, loved, and labored in this land.”
Cheng chose to recite the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson to emphasize his belief that there is hope even in the most challenging of times.
“This movement goes beyond the immediacy of what had happened this semester. This is not some over-exaggeration or overreaction,” said Angie Shin, president of the Asian American Women’s Association. “This has been building momentum for quite a long time, over many, many generations of students at the college, over many, many years.”
Cheng said the matter is about the “broader community” at Harvard, the Asian American students, and other ethnic minority students.
“I think to understand your history and legacy, whatever way you can, that is something that can bring a community together, that can promote healing,” said Cheng.
A police investigation into the incident is ongoing.
SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.
