Addressing Anti-Asian Scapegoating

The spread of COVID-19 has contributed to an escalation of race-based scapegoating throughout the U.S.

Our own college district in February 2020 asked district employees to ward against racial prejudice and discrimination, in a letter to district employees from Chancellor Judy Miner, 28 February 2020:

I join Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County’s health officer, in urging us all to resist discrimination and prejudice. Although the outbreak began in mainland China, people of Asian descent are not more likely to have the virus, Dr. Cody reports... It is important for all of us to stay informed about this situation so we can take care of ourselves and others. Updated information from the Santa Clara County health department is available ...

In May 2020, the district Board of Trustees denounced xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment in a :

...the Board of Trustees of the Foothill-°®¶¹´«Ã½ Community College District Board of Trustees denounces xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment; joins local districts, cities, counties, and states across the country in affirming its commitment to the safety and well-being of Asian Americans and in combating hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and affirms its commitment to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students.

On 11 February 2021, following a wave of attacks on elderly Asian Americans in big cities in the U.S., °®¶¹´«Ã½ College President Lloyd Holmes assured the campus community in a letter to students and employees:

°®¶¹´«Ã½ College condemns these acts of violence against our community members. And we must not only condemn, but take action as part of the equity work in which the college has long been engaged. 

°®¶¹´«Ã½ has also created a series of short videos, CAN/DID, discussing anti-Asian discrimination and violence:

Resources for Confronting Racism

The following are some resources for learning about anti-Asian acts of aggression and violence, and addressing race-based scapegoating individually and collectively.

Questioning "How-To" Anti-Racism

  • Elizabeth Hanna Rubio, Journal of Anthropology of North America, 10 March 2021, p. 1-16 - a scholarly research article that questions anti-racist "how-to" literature (podcast of speaking about this)

Report, Intervene, Volunteer

  • : You can report incidents of aggression, racial profiling, and violence here in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. The Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council created this reporting center.
  • : resources for reporting, documenting, and intervening in anti-Asian acts of aggression and violence. Created by Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
  • : Created by HollaBack! Sign up for a .
  • : a volunteer service to provide accompaniment for Asian Americans concerned about their public safety in Oakland
  • : a volunteer service to provide accompaniment for Asian Americans concerned about their public safety in San Jose

Data Reports on Anti-Asian Aggression

  • , Jennifer Lee and Karthick Ramakrishnan, AAPI Data, April 5, 2021.
  •  (March 19 - August 5, 2020)
  • (October 11, 2020)
  • (October 21, 2020)
  • More reports from

News Sources and Op-Eds

2021:

  • "," Saili S. Kilkarni, Op-Ed, Ms. Magazine, April 24, 2021.
  • "," Emily Lawsin and Scott Kurashige, Op-Ed, The Michigan Daily, April 15, 2021
  • "," Weiyi Cai, Audra D. S. Burch and Jugal K. Patel, New York Times, 
  • "," May Jeong, Op-Ed, New York Times, March 19, 2021
  • "," Shaila Dewan, New York Times, March 18, 2021 - news article on the history of intertwined racism and sexism targeting Asian American women 
  • "," Christa Grant, Gretchel Hathaway and D Ekow King, Op-Ed, Insight into Diversity, March 18, 2021
  • "," Anne Cheng, Op-Ed, New York Times, February 21, 2012
  • "," , Daily Kos, February 16, 2021 - news article on the formation of a volunteer chaperone service and pan-racial solidarity in response to attacks on elderly Asian Americans in Oakland
  • "," hosted by Mina Kim, February 16, 2021, Forum, KQED - 55-minute radio program on Bay Area anti-Asian attacks and the unique racialized position of Asian Americans whose racial trauma is regularly deemed insignificant or invalid
  • ","  Lisa Fernandez, February 10, 2021, Fox KTVU2 - news article on Asian American and Black communities working together after series of anti-Asian attacks in Oakland
  • "," Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, February 9, 2021 - newsarticle on wave of attacks on elderly Asians in some big city Chinatowns 
  • "," MSNBC American Voices, Feb. 7, 2021 - 9-minute video interviewing actors and activist about anti-Asian attacks and lack of media coverage
  • , Nobel Peace Prize nominee, February 6, 2021 - 30-second video naming elderly victims of anti-Asian violence and urging media coverage 
  • "," The White House, January 26, 2021 - text of executive order signed by President Joe Biden

2020:

  • "," John Cho, Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2020
  • "," PBS NewsHour, April 1, 2020 - 6-minute video presenting information of spread of anti-Asian attacks and interview with Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action of San Francisco.
  • National Public Radio's Code Switch, 4 March 2020 - article on prevalence of anti-Asian hostility and attacks across the U.S. and in other countries, and 25-minute podcast with historian Prof. Erika Lee on the prevalence of anti-Asian scapegoating today and in U.S. history
  • "," Sherry Wang. Op-Ed, San Fancisco Chronicle, 12 February 2020 - personal strategies for handling micro-aggression, verbal assaults, and hostility
  • "" New York Times, 23 March 2020 - news article describing widespread nature of anti-Asian hate and harassment and President's use of anti-Asian scapegoating language

Stories of Solidarity and Anti-Asian Aggression

  • "," Jerusalem Demsas and Rachel Ramirez, Vox, 
  • - a website featuring histories of struggle and stories of solidarity, joy, and power in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; a project of the National Asian American Leaders Table on COVID-19 Racism’s Solidarity Working Group. 
  • - °®¶¹´«Ã½ students in summer 2020 ASAM 10 class (Contemporary Asian American Communities) in partnership with the APALI (Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute)
  • - photo narrative of 10 Asian Americans by photographer Haruka Sakaguchi, Time Magazine, June 25, 2020.

Historical Context for Anti-Asian Scapegoating

  • "," 41-minute interview by the Othering & Belonging Institute of UC Berkeley with professors  (Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, and Comparative Ethnic Studies),  (Law), and  (Bioethics), April 29, 2020
  • ",’" Adrian De Leon, April 8, 2020 - article written by a scholar for a general r adership
  • "," Prof. Erika Lee, Town Hall Seattle, December 10, 2019 - an extended recorded lecture, 1.5 hours, on the history of xenophobia in the U.S.
  • ," Robert A. Stribley, Medium, April 12, 2019 - a 9-minute blog post on the history of blaming newcomers for spreading illnesses in the U.S.
  • "," Howard Markel and Alexandra Minna Stern, December 2002 - scholarly article in journal on population health and health policy
  • "," Joan B. Trauner - a historical essay from California History Magazine, 1978.

Racial Disparities with Pandemic

  • "," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated December 10, 2020.
  • "," Brian Cheung, Yahoo Finance, 
  • "," Scott Horsely, NPR Morning Edition, October 1, 2020.
  • "," John Eligon, Audra D. S. Burch, Dionne Searcey and Richard A. Oppel Jr., New York Times, April 7, 2020.
  • "," Associated Press, New York Times, April 8, 2020.
  • "" - official statement by advocacy alliance for racial equity and justice

Re-Thinking and Challenging the Carceral State

  • "," Time to Say Goodbye podcast, April 6, 2021 (1 hr 10 min).
  • "," lecture sponsored by Asian American Writers' Workshop, March 29, 2021 (2 hrs)
  • "," Jennifer Lee and Tiffany Huang. Brookings Institution. 

Resources for Teaching about Coronavirus Racism

  • "" Elizabeth Hanna Rubio, Society for Cultural Anthropology, Oct. 19, 2021 - essay on federal deportation of Vietnamese Americans
  • "," Jennifer Ho, professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and president of the ,  April 8, 2020 - a web site and slide deck for teaching about anti-Asian racism
  •  Jason Oliver Chang (twitter ), Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut - a shared document of resources
  • ," Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed, April 2, 2020 - article spotlighting what academics are doing inside and outside the classroom
  • "," Vivian Louie, New York Daily News, May 19, 2020 - op-ed
  • "," Wayne Au, Rethinking Schools - essay and resources for teaching secondary school/college students

Webinars, Events, Podcasts (Recorded)

  • May 13, 2021: . Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice. Moderator: Thai-Huy Nguyen, Policy Researcher at RAND Corporation. Panelists: Arlene Daus-Magbual, Director of Asian American & Pacific Islander Student Services, San Francisco University; Marcia Liu, Licensed Counseling Psychologist and Mental Health Coordinator for the Hunter College AANAPISI Project; Timothy Fong, Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, California State University, Sacramento.
  • April 6, 2021: °®¶¹´«Ã½-sponsored panel discussion moderated by Chesa Caparas, faculty coordinator for the Jean Miller Resource Room. Panelists: Robert Handa, °®¶¹´«Ã½ alum,  and host of , Mae Lee, Chair, Asian American and Asian Studies, Jim Nguyen, Instructor, Political Science.
  • March 22, 2021: . Five Thirty Eight. ABC News. Interviews with political scientist professors Jane Junn (USC) and Karthick Ramakrishnan (UC Reiverside).
  • March 18, 2021: . House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
  • February 17, 2021: Part of retrospective series, Not Your Model Minority: The Art and Activism of Renee Tajima-Pena, co-sponsored by °®¶¹´«Ã½'s Asian American and Asian Studies and San Jose State University's Film and Theatre Department. .
  • February 13, 2021: . Multiracial, interfaith healing event in Oakland, CA, 3-5 PM. .
  • October 7, 2020: Wednesday, at 3 PM PDT/12 PM HST/6 PM EST. A Zócalo/Daniel K. Inouye Institute.
  • October 6, 2020: . Tuesday, October 6, 7-8:15 PM. San Jose Nikkei Resisters.
  • September 29, 2020:  Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Moderator: Alexandra Lord, PhD, National Museum of American History. Panelists: Theodore Gonzalves, PhD, National Museum of American History, Erika Lee, PhD, University of Minnesota, Natalia Molina, PhD, University of Southern California.
  • April - August 2020: "." Eight-part webinar series by Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness. 
  • July 7, 2020:  Webinar by Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, featuring Prof. Jason Oliver Chang (University of Connecticut), Michelle Nutter (Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General), Fred Pinguel (Filipino Advocates for Justice), Prof. Noreen Rodriguez (Iowa State University), and Yan Yii (Teacher of 5th Grade, MA)
  • June 1, 2020:  Webinar by PEN America, with panelists: Professor Jennifer Ho (University of Colorado, Boulder, and President, Association of Asian American Studies), Professor Floyd Cheung (English Language and Literature and American Studies, Smith College), Professor Pawan Dhingra (American Studies, Amherst College), Professor Kathleen Yep (Asian American Studies, Pitzer College), (Moderator) Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf (Director of Literary Programs and World Voices Festival Associate Director, PEN America).
  • May 6, 2020:  Webinar by Asian American Bar Association of NY. Featuring Joe Gim, Deputy Bureau Chief, Nassau County District Attorney’s Office; Sheryl Koretz, Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Jia Lynn Yang, Deputy National Editor, The New York Times; John Yang, Executive Director, Asian American Advancing Justice (AAJC); and Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation. Karen R. King, Counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and a Vice Chair on the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, moderated the panel.
  • April 24, 2020: Webcast by Asia Society, featuring Prof. Russell Jeung of SFSU.

Community Organizations

See our list of some San Francisco Bay Area community organizations. 

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