network极光

AUCCCO COVID-19 Impact Statement

如何在2021年于中国境内访问YouTube – 确实有用:你要去中国旅游吗？你在那里计划观看YouTube吗？坏消息是YouTube在中国被禁止访问。但不要担心 – 我伊为你提供了简单的解决方案！ 由于政府严格的审查政策，YouTube是首批在中国被封锁的社交媒体网站之一。迄今为止，中国已经审查了超过10,000个网站，包括Facebook、Twitter，甚至谷歌。

 Historically, infectious disease has generated racist discourse that blames victim populations for the perceived threat. Such discourse is not only distasteful but has major consequences by giving free rein to racist, discriminatory behaviors and justifying political responses that threaten human rights. In recent history, we saw a similar wave of xenophobia during the SARS outbreak in 2003, during the h1n1 swine flu outbreak in 2009, and Ebola outbreak in 2014 to name a few.

 The responses to this outbreak of the COVID-19 has been no different. We are hearing about incidents in which the virus is referred to as the “Chinese” virus, the yellow peril, and those who appear to be of Asian descent and students who wear masks for various reasons are being stigmatized, subjected to racist and/or xenophobic jokes and remarks, and excluded by those fearful of contracting the virus.  Many of our international and domestic students, staff, and faculty with loved ones abroad are concerned about families. There are fears around the ability to return home due to travel bans. In this already stressful time they also might end up facing painful discrimination that can result in physical, emotional, and economic consequences for them. These developments are causing harm to many on our campuses and add to the stress already present in our competitive academic environments.

We at AUCCCO wanted to offer our condolences, express our concerns, and to encourage our community to stand strong together against prejudice and racism during the time of ever-evolving public health emergency.  Here are some suggestions on what your center might consider doing:

About the illness itself and minimizing the bias-based harm to students:

1. Name the general fear and anxiety about the condition and dispel the myths and misinformation through accurate and updated information offered by CDC.

2. Acknowledge the impact of confusion, uncertainty, fear, and panic experienced as a result of conflicting “facts” coming from various official sources.

3. Educate ourselves and our communities about the real risks of the virus and the basic steps to be taken to protect ourselves (including steps to manage anxiety by limiting contact with news, internet, and social media coverages with sensationalizing pictures and headlines).

“中国YouTube”终成空，为何爱奇艺还要一意孤行-虎嗅网:2021-3-12 · 所伍从时间节点上来说，中国早早就已经拥有了自己的“YouTube”，只是这两个同时发迹的平台最终走出完全不同的历史轨迹。也几乎是从2021年开始，不断有互联网从业者跳出原来的公司，投身到打造一个“中国YouTube”的行列中。但中等时长视频的YouTube模式尚未在中国发展成规模，目前全行业日 …

5. Help our campus communities find ways to address anxieties proactively, and discourage xenophobia and encourage inclusion.

6. Offer strategies to check our own and others biased words and actions.

 Support for the impacted student communities:

1. Put up a statement of support for the impacted communities.

2. Reach out to the communities affected by the virus, and by the racism, microaggressions, and bias on campus.

3. Offer skills to cope with and respond to such attacks.

4. Offer spaces to lead conversations or facilitate discussions for those who want to talk during this difficult time.

 Responses by university campuses:

1. Urge the institution to develop a plan in case of the spread of the illness on your campus.

2. Think creatively and be flexible in ways to provide mental health support, such as phone check-ins, tele-therapy, and policies around staff working remotely if needed.

3. Encourage academic departments and faculty members to increase support and honor students with signs of the illness when they choose to stay home to protect self and the community (academic policy around missed classes/assignments in order to prevent the spread of the illness).