College condemns attacks on Asian Americans

NORWALK – At its April 21 meeting, the Cerritos College Board of Trustees adopted a resolution condemning the recent surge in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.

The Board also adopted a resolution affirming its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cerritos College serves approximately 2,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students each semester.

Recent acts of violence shed light on the historic and pervasive problem of anti-Asian violence and discrimination in the United States. Between March 2020 and December 2020, Stop AAPI Hate received nearly 3,000 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate incidents across the country. Nearly 44% of all incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate have come from California, and no other state in the continental United States has a larger Asian population than California.

In its anti-Asian hate resolution, the Board called on all citizens and leaders to join in condemning racist attacks against Asian Americans, and to helping end racism through educating our communities on the history and culture of Asian Americans.

“The Cerritos College Board of Trustees will absolutely continue to express its denouncement of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment and harassment. As leaders and trusted professionals in our community, we have a responsibility to stand against systemic racism and acts of violence. Ours is the responsibility to forge a community strengthened by our diversity rather than weakened by fear and inequity. We must continue the hard work of addressing these issues in pursuit of a safe, thriving, and solicitous place to live and learn from each other,” said James Cody Birkey, president, Cerritos College Board of Trustees.