HALT's Position Statement:

The Hawai’i Association of Language Teachers is extremely saddened by the hate crimes and the senseless acts of violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders around the nation, including the tragic shooting in Atlanta on March 16, 2021.  As a language organization whose mission includes embracing and promoting cultural diversity, we stand in solidarity to advocate for a world where intercultural competence and inclusion are the norm.  As language educators, we will continue to promote the teaching of tolerance and social justice in an effort to eradicate xenophobia, bias, and racism in our world.

HALT’s Statement on Justice, Equity, and Inclusion 

Embracing and promoting linguistic and cultural diversity is at the heart of our organization’s mission . We firmly believe in bringing all people together through the languages  we teach. For this reason, the Hawai‘i Association of Language Teachers strongly condemns the systemic racism, discrimination, brutality, injustice, and oppression against black, indigenous, LGBTQI+, and other marginalized  communities.  In the light of the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breona Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks  , we stand with all those who have been affected by violence and aggression perpetuated by such systems and affirm that Black lives matter.

HALT is committed to the ideals of justice, equity, and inclusion.  We encourage our members to reflect on the ways we can all contribute to such ideals in the classroom and beyond.  As educators, we have the unique opportunity to foster open dialogues, challenge systems of oppression, and create more inclusive learning environments.  As part of our commitment to these ideals, we will dedicate our 2020 Fall Symposium to ways in which we can include socially just and antiracist ideas in the language classroom .  ‘A ‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia.