To the Editors of The Crimson:

Anti-Asian sentiment has always existed in America. Legislation like the Alien Land Acts, the Exclusion Acts and the internment during World War II are examples of past government-sponsored injustices toward Asians and Asian Americans.

The racism and discrimination they faced during this time in American history has been repeatedly neglected by history books and are all but forgotten today.

Unfortunately, racial insensitivity and injury are not just restricted to the past. These wounds are being reopened today, both subtly and violently. In fact, recent events point toward a rise in anti-Asian sentiment in American. Articles on anti-Asian incidents appear daily in all the major American news publications. Here are only a few examples:

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings told workers in his home state of South Carolina to "draw a mushroom cloud and put underneath it: 'Made in American by lazy and illiterate Americans and tested in Japan'" (Boston Globe, March 4).

A recent report by the federal Civil Rights Commission "debunks the notion that Asian Americans are treated fairly in this country" (The New York Times, February 28).

Radio talk-show host Cliff Kincaid twice called Connie Chung, the prominent Asian-American television reporter and anchor, "Connie Chink" while on the air, and he claimed that is "common slang and 'perfectly acceptable language."

An auto dealership displayed a sign out front saying "No Japs."

Mary Yuhfil, a respected Asian American journalist, was referred to as a "yellow cur" and a "slant-eyed bitch" by Jimmy Breslin, a colleague.

A Japanese car was smashed to pieces by Americans with sledgehammers during a "Japanese bashing" day.

Several years ago, Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American mistaken for a Japanese citizen, was beaten to death with a baseball bat by fellow workers in Detroit.

The Harvard campus itself is not immune to such anti-Asian incidents. In the past couple of weeks, the words "fuck you, chink" have appeared on the Lamont Library poetry board.

This outrage comes during a time when the Harvard community is experiencing a series of prank phone calls insulting Asian Americans. The Crimson reported (March 7) that the phrase "fuck you, Korean bitch" was repeatedly used during these phone calls. The severity of such harassment has warranted a police investigation.

As the leaders of the Asian American Association (AAA), we feel that the press on this campus has not made a sincere attempt to inform the public of significant issues affecting not only Asian-Americans, but also the Harvard community as a whole.

An example is the 14th annual East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU) conference, hosted by the Harvard-Radcliffe AAA. This three-day conference, which took place from February 28 through March 1, drew over 550 students from 50 colleges nationwide.