The Asian Pacific American Coalition condemns bus company Suburban Express for these blatantly anti-Asian “promotions” released via massmail today.
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Equating the benefits of “allowing fuzzy slippers” and “refundable tickets” with the ability to board a bus with “passengers that look like you” (which apparently just means “not-Asian”) is frankly dehumanizing and disgusting to our Asian classmates and friends.

We first want to correct some assumptions Suburban Express has made:

1. Not all students that look Asian are Asian-international. To assume that Asian American students are international is perpetuation of the “forever foreigner” stereotype that Asian Americans can never be truly American, despite being American born and raised, or becoming a naturalized citizen. That’s racist.
2. Not all students that look Asian are Chinese. To assume so is also racist.

We state these facts only as a clarification for incorrect assumptions people often make, and not as validation for any of Suburban Express’s other statements.

When Suburban Express says that riding with them allows a rider to sit with “students that look like you,” based on the demographics of the university, we can only assume that the “you” references the largest university demographic, white students (43.44%, according to https://oiir.illinois.edu/about/demographics, with African American students at 5.2% and Latinx students at 9.3%). Spaces like this, where white students are given the option to avoid people that “don’t look like them” speaks to a much, much larger problem of racism and white supremacy in this nation.

Furthermore, the Asian Pacific American Coalition also does not accept their racist non-apology.

The ACTUAL mission of the University is as follows: “The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is charged by our state to enhance the lives of citizens in Illinois, across the nation and around the world through our leadership in learning, discovery, engagement and economic development.” Unlike their supposed mission - which, frankly, is not a statement that Suburban Express has any business asserting - education does not only come in the form of learning in the classroom, but also exposure to other languages, cultures, lifestyles, modes of thinking, and experiences. Having the ability to network with and learn from students from other countries is a privilege. To limit our social understanding to those in Illinois limits our students’ education.

If you were planning on riding Suburban Express and were as disgusted by these emails as we were, may we kindly direct you to these alternative means of transportation:
Peoria Charter Coach - https://peoriacharter.com/
Greyhound Bus- https://www.greyhound.com/
Metra - https://metrarail.com/

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Established in 1993, the Asian Pacific American Coalition was founded on the principles of giving Asian American students a voice in the face of adversary. Since then, we have accomplished much and expanded our vision to include Asian international organizations.