What Alison Collins' Tweets Said as San Francisco School Board VP Removed
Members of the San Francisco Board of Education have approved a "no confidence" motion and voted to strip their vice president Alison Collins of her role after a number of anti-Asian tweets from 2016 were unearthed. The board also voted to remove Collins from all committees of the San Francisco Board of Education for the duration of the term.
The approved resolution added that Collins must "accept responsibility and atone for the trauma inflicted on the community" by her words, adding that her statements so-far have "fallen short of sincere recognition" of the harm she has caused.
Collins apologized after being heavily criticized for a string of tweets from five years ago in which she suggested Asian Americans had used "white supremacist thinking to assimilate and 'get ahead.'"
The tweets, which were sent two years before Collins was elected, also said that the Asian community needs to speak out more against racism against Black and Latino people, suggesting they would also be targeted by incoming president Donald Trump's immigration policies.
"Talk to many [Lowell High School] parents and you will hear praise of Tiger Moms and disparagement of Black/Brown 'culture,'" Collins tweeted in December 2016.
"I even see it in my FB timeline with former HS peers. Their TLs are full of White Asian ppl. No recognition Black Lives Matter exists.
"2 mixed-race/Black daughter [sic] heard boys teasing a Latino about 'Trump, Mexicans and the KKK.' The boys were Asian-American," Collins added. "She spoke up when none of the other staff did. The after school counselor was Asian.
"Where are the vocal Asians speaking up against Trump? Don't Asian Americans know they're on his list as well?"
"Do they think they won't be deported? profiled? beaten? Being a house [n-word] is still being a [n-word]. You're still considered 'the help.'"
The outrage over the tweets saw a joint statement from nearly two dozen San Francisco officials, including Mayor London Breed, State Assembly members David Chiu and Phil Ting and San Francisco Supervisors Connie Chan, calling for Collins to resign.
"We are outraged and sickened by the racist, anti-Asian statements tweeted by school board Vice President Alison Collins that recently came to light," the statement released on March 20 said.
"No matter the time, no matter the place, and no matter how long ago the tweets were written, there is no place for an elected leader in San Francisco who is creating and or/created hate statements and speeches."
Collins apologized for the tweets but insisted they were taken out of context.
"A number of tweets and social media posts I made in 2016 have recently been highlighted. They have been taken out of context, both of that specific moment and the nuance of the conversation that took place," Collins told the San Francisco Chronicle.
"I acknowledge that right now, in this moment my words taken out of context can be causing more pain for those who are already suffering. For the pain my words may have caused I am sorry, and I apologize unreservedly."
Collins has been contacted for further comment.
