“Where there is love there is life.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Equity Challenge Week 5 Racism and Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
Threats of violence against Asian Americans is on the Rise
Many Asians have reported changing their daily routines because of threats of violence. 2023 has started with tragedies in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay as well as a stabbing at Indiana University just days ago. Read more about the history of violence against Asian Americans.
Definitions:
Model Minority Myth: According to Learning for Justice this myth characterizes Asian Americans as a polite, law-abiding group who have achieved a higher level of success than the general population through some combination of innate talent and pull-yourselves-up-by-your-bootstraps immigrant striving.
AAPI: Asian American and Pacific Islanders
APIA: Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (emphasizes inclusion of Pacific Islanders as Americans).
Take Action
Stop Asian Hate
- Encourage those who experience or witness acts of hate towards the Asian
American and Pacific Islander communities to report an incident through Stop Asian Hate. You’ll
also find safety tips on what to do if encountering or witnessing hate, and many other helpful resources.
Right To Be
- Take free bystander training from Right To Be, a non-profit who believes that everyone deserves the resources to respond to, prevent, and intervene in instances of harassment.
Videos
Racism and the Search for Belonging – (10:45)
- Asian Americans Share their Experiences with Racism: Truth Against Hate is a compilation of stories about racism, told to end racism.
American Concentration Camps- (5:06)
- After President Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066, Relocation Centers, also called Concentration Camps held Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes during WWII. Most of those held were American citizens. Listen to survivors or read more Densho.
Podcast
Asian Enough- series
- From the Los Angeles Times, “Asian Enough” is a podcast about being Asian American — the joys, the complications and everything in between.
The Demystafication of Dragon Lady- (46:23)
- Megan Markle talks with Margaret Cho and Lisa Ling about the archetypes that try to limit and define asian women.