Chinese Students’ Association at Cal Poly SLO Zoombombed by Racists

The group encountered racist individuals during their weekly CSA Zoom meeting on Tuesday night, according to a statement posted on the CSA’s official Facebook group.

“Shocked, angry, and sad do not even come close to how we feel,” the statement reads. “We are sorry to our general members who had to endure these hateful words, especially when we are living in an era where xenophobia is still rampant in our society.”

Board member Thomas Tang was able to capture footage of the Zoombombers who yelled racial slurs such as “chinks” and “ching chong,” drew swastikas and set inappropriate videos as virtual backgrounds.

Board member Kristy Leung shared her thoughts on the incident on Instagram because she says it continues to “demoralize and degrade Asian Americans in the US.”

“I’m ashamed to live in a country where China is antagonized as a scapegoat to blame for the pandemic and Asian Americans are beaten on the streets,” she wrote.

Board member Elaine Cheng says she was aware of Zoombombings but never thought it would happen during her organization’s meetings. She claims the strangers, who somehow gained host status, also hurled racist, xenophobic, homophobic slurs at her group, including “Go back to where you came from” and “If you’re not racist, you’re a f****t.”

“As a Chinese American, I am afraid to speak my first language (Mandarin) in public in fear that I may be targeted for my race, yet I am fetishized to be someone’s ‘exotic, small, submissive’ oriental dream girl,” Cheng wrote in a post shared on her Twitter page. “I see physical hate crimes targeted towards those who look like me.”

Each board member had one unifying statement showing solidarity for other people of color following the brutal killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, whose lives were cut short due to hate crime.

“We must show unity for all because equal treatment is sadly not given when you are a person of color in this nation, but instead hard fought,” Tang said.

CSA also reminded other cultural groups to be more vigilant of their security when organizing Zoom meetings.

CSA is now working on how they can identify those who crashed their meeting.

“If anyone has any information, please let us know,” the group said. “Even if we do not identify them, know that we as a board condemn them for this behavior. We stand with our fellow students of color, and know that we are here to support you. This is the time for us as a community to unite. We will get through this together.”

Feature Image Screenshot via Cal Poly CSA