tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/asian-americans-16018/articlesAsian Americans – The Conversation2024-03-13T12:38:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2248922024-03-13T12:38:53Z2024-03-13T12:38:53ZWhat the numbers say about diversity on corporate boards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581302/original/file-20240312-28-1hong4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=956%2C204%2C8157%2C5260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Corporate diversity efforts have resulted in more women and minorities sitting on boards. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/bright-clean-modern-style-conference-room-royalty-free-image/1667099947?phrase=corporate++board+directors&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Through the decades, corporate boards have been mostly white and mostly male. </p>
<p>That started changing in the early 1970s. Fueled by the historic gains of the Civil Rights Movement that broke down racial and gender barriers, a variety of social groups such as the <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/promising-students-benefit-commitment-developing-170000223.html">National Black MBA Association</a> and the <a href="https://now.org/">National Organization for Women</a> pressured corporations to build diversity programs into their management structures. </p>
<p>Over the years, a dramatic change has occurred. My latest research on the corporate boards of the top 50 companies from 2011 to 2023 shows that the percentage of whites dropped to 73.6%, the percentage of men dropped to 65.3% and, rather remarkably, the percentage of white men dropped below 50%, to 49.5%. </p>
<p>My research included reviewing the published names of the members of the boards of directors of the top 50 companies on the 2011 and 2023 Fortune 500 lists, as well as information on company websites about each of these hundreds of directors. I coded for gender, ethnicity and educational background. </p>
<p>Though the patterns differ for each of these demographic groups, the percentages of white women, Asian, Hispanic and Black Americans increased by different amounts as the percentage of white men decreased.</p>
<h2>White female directors</h2>
<p>The percentage of white females serving on boards at the top-50 companies increased from 16.8% in 2011 to 24.1% in 2023. All of these white women had undergraduate degrees, and almost two-thirds had advanced degrees, including in business, law and medicine. Many of them were <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/06/05/fortune-500-companies-2023-women-10-percent/">current or former CEOs</a> of Fortune 500 companies.</p>
<p>Notably, and related to the increase in white female directors, between 2000 and 2020 there was <a href="https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/diversity_update_2020.html#fnr20">a dramatic increase</a> in the number of white female CEOs.</p>
<p>There were almost as many white female directors in 2023 as there were Blacks, Asian Americans and Latinos combined. In terms of sheer numbers, white men have been replaced by white women more than by any other single group.</p>
<h2>Asian American directors</h2>
<p>The changes can be seen clearly in a comparison between the makeup of the top-50 company boards <a href="https://whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/diversity/unexpected_increase_in_diversity.html">between 2011 and 2023</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="rQ4Ho" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rQ4Ho/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>During that time period, the percentage of Asian Americans more than tripled, from 1.8% to 6.1%. The percentages more than doubled for Asian American men, and increased almost ninefold for Asian American females. </p>
<p>Strikingly, 17 of the 20 Asian American men who were directors in 2023 were of Indian heritage – and most but not all were born in India. Only six of the 15 Asian American women were of Indian heritage, and seven were of Chinese background.</p>
<p>Asian Americans make up about 7% of the population, so they are now only slightly underrepresented on the top Fortune boards.</p>
<h2>Black and Hispanic directors</h2>
<p>Black Americans also showed a sizable increase, from 9.4% in 2011 to 15.1% in 2023. They, too, showed a bigger jump for women, from 1.9% to 5.9%, than for men, from 7.4% to 9.2%.</p>
<p>Black people made up about 13.6% of the population in 2023, so they were slightly overrepresented on these Fortune boards. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/race-in-the-workplace-the-frontline-experience">McKinsey & Company</a>, a management consulting firm, conducted a study of 53 corporations, most of which were Fortune 500 companies. The study, released in 2022, found that there were far fewer Black men and women in the pipeline leading to the CEO office than on the boards. That pipeline includes jobs such as managers, vice presidents and others on leadership teams.</p>
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<img alt="A Black woman is speaking as she sits in a chair on stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581313/original/file-20240312-26-kv4ftg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Michelle Jordan, AT&T chief diversity officer, talks about equity and inclusion during a 2023 conference in Atlanta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/michelle-jordan-chief-diversity-officer-at-t-speaks-onstage-news-photo/1779377976?adppopup=true">Paras Griffin/WireImage</a></span>
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<p>This suggests that these companies are trying to appear diverse through the makeup of their boards, even as they haven’t diversified the executive ranks.</p>
<p>Hispanic Americans showed only a slight increase in representation on the boards, from 4.7% in 2011 to 5.2% in 2023, with women almost doubling their representation, from 1.1% to 2.1%, and men decreasing from 3.6% to 3.1%. </p>
<p>Hispanic Americans make up about 19% of the U.S. population. As a group, they were very much underrepresented on corporate boards.</p>
<p>Many of those in all of the groups I looked at had attended elite colleges and universities, either as undergraduates or for postgraduate work. Recent evidence showing that Hispanic men and women have been <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/private-universities-havent-increased-diversity/?emci=6e70acb4-83d5-ee11-85f9-002248223794&emdi=425387aa-41d6-ee11-85f9-002248223794&ceid=456745%5D">vastly underrepresented at elite colleges</a> over the past two decades suggests that few are making it through the pipeline from these schools to Fortune 500 boards.</p>
<h2>Recent attacks on diversity</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-2003-supreme-court-decision-upholding-affirmative-action-planted-the-seeds-of-its-overturning-as-justices-then-and-now-thought-racism-an-easily-solved-problem-208807">the 2023 Supreme Court decision</a> against affirmative action in higher education – and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/diversity-equity-dei-companies-blum-2040b173">subsequent lawsuits</a> against the practices that some corporations have used to address inequality – the civil rights gains in higher education and on corporate boards are in jeopardy of being reversed by conservative resistance. </p>
<p>In fact, many big companies have been “backing away from efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in their ranks,” according to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/01/woke-capitalism-esg-dei-climate-investment/">Washington Post corporate culture reporter</a>.</p>
<p>The pattern that I have found in board composition between the 1990s and 2023 is consistent with data from 2013 to 2023 that was published by <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/sp-500-new-director-and-diversity-snapshot">Spencer Stuart</a>, an executive search firm. It found that in 2013, only 39% of newly appointed directors were women and underrepresented minorities.</p>
<p>In the next decade, the percentage of new diversity appointments to boards increased dramatically, from the 39% in 2013, to 60% in 2018, to 86% in 2021, and then tapered off to 82% in 2022 and 75% in 2023.</p>
<p>Based on my findings and those of other researchers, it is likely that the ups and downs of diversity on corporate boards will serve as an indicator of the success – or failure – of ongoing efforts to increase inclusion in all walks of American life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richie Zweigenhaft does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since the 1970s, corporate boards have included more women and minorities. But those gains are likely to change after a US Supreme Court ruling and increased conservative resistance.Richie Zweigenhaft, Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Guilford CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100302023-08-14T12:22:31Z2023-08-14T12:22:31ZDiscrimination took a heavy toll on Asian American students during the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541293/original/file-20230804-15-4umspr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C112%2C5691%2C3716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One study has found that only 20% of Asian college students diagnosed with a mental health disorder receive treatment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-people-seriously-sketching-royalty-free-image/1015155046?phrase=asian+college+students&adppopup=true">Ishii Koji/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Experiencing discrimination <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.016">significantly harmed the well-being of Asian and Asian American college students</a> in the U.S. during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>That’s the key finding of our study, which compared over 6,000 survey responses from Asian and Asian American students who took the <a href="https://www.acha.org/ncha">National College Health Assessment</a> – an annual survey of student health behaviors – in the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2020. Our study focused only on Asians and Asian Americans. Others have found that both <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306594">Asian and Native American ethnic groups</a> experienced the highest rates of COVID-19-related discrimination.</p>
<p>We found that Asian and Asian American students experienced high levels of stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic. By fall 2020, 9% had a loved one who had died from COVID-19, 7% reported experiencing discriminatory behavior because of the pandemic, and 61% had pandemic-related financial stress. Compared with 2019, Asian students in 2020 reported significantly more insomnia and psychological distress. </p>
<p>We then determined what factors most accounted for students’ poor mental health. We also tested whether the impact of these factors changed with the stressors of the pandemic. </p>
<p>In 2019, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.016">11 factors were significant predictors of suicidality</a> – that is, thoughts of suicide and attempts – in Asian students. Some of these factors are variables mental health professionals know to screen for: diagnosed depression, loneliness, and higher alcohol and drug use. But we found other significant predictors of suicidality – food insecurity, hours of screen time and experiencing discrimination – that are not often assessed in health settings. We also found variables that protected mental health. These included sleeping well, exercising and spending time with loved ones. </p>
<p>In 2020, only three factors were significant predictors of suicide – depression, loneliness and discrimination. The impact that experiencing discrimination had on suicidality also almost doubled, and there were no longer any significant protective factors. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>We wanted to understand the experiences of Asian and Asian American students for two reasons. First, Asian college students are the racial group with the greatest unmet mental health need. Only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.04.014">20% of Asian college students diagnosed with a mental health disorder receive treatment</a>, compared with 40% of students overall. </p>
<p>Second, in 2020 there was a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221107056">sharp increase</a> in anti-Asian hate incidents. For example, the nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans, saw a jump in reported incidents from about 3,800 annually before the pandemic <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stop-AAPI-Hate-Report-National-210506.pdf">to over 6,600</a> after the first year of the pandemic. </p>
<p>These incidents came at a time when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-defamation-league-study-donald-trump-anti-asian-hate-speech-2021-3">former President Trump</a> was associating COVID-19 with Asians by calling it “the China virus” or “kung flu.” </p>
<p>From 2016 to 2020, suicide was the <a href="https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/mental-health/asian-american-mental-health/#:%7E:text=Statistics%20from%20the%20CDC%20show,Asian%20Americans%20aged%2020%E2%80%9324.">leading cause of death</a> among Asian adolescents. To reduce deaths from suicide, researchers must first understand what individual factors increase or decrease its likelihood. </p>
<p>Our research shows that experiencing loneliness and discrimination significantly harmed Asian students’ mental health. This finding is true in typical years, such as 2019, but especially in times of acute social turmoil. </p>
<p>These findings provide insight on how universities and health care providers can better support students’ mental health by addressing the psychological impact of experiencing racism. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Now that researchers better understand what predicts psychological distress in Asian American students, the next steps are to apply this information. Future research is needed to understand better how therapy that supports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000442">healing from racial discrimination</a> could support students’ mental health. </p>
<p>Research should also evaluate how treatments aimed at improving sleep quality could support Asian students’ <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8651630/">mental health</a>. These interventions could improve mental health especially in times of social turmoil.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210030/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roxanne Prichard receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.</span></em></p>An increase in anti-Asian hate incidents during the pandemic contributed to a rise in depression among Asian and Asian American college students, a study found.Roxanne Prichard, Professor of Psychology, University of St. ThomasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2096472023-08-03T12:22:53Z2023-08-03T12:22:53ZEnding affirmative action does nothing to end discrimination against Asian Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540851/original/file-20230802-26048-4myl04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=476%2C325%2C4568%2C3033&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Participants at Harvard marching at a rally protesting the Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action on July 1, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participants-march-and-chant-slogans-at-a-rally-protesting-news-photo/1426846815?adppopup=true"> Ziyu Julian Zhu/Xinhua via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In two cases challenging the use of race in college admissions, the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">U.S. Supreme Court ruled</a> that the educational benefit of racial diversity is no longer what it once called a “compelling interest.” </p>
<p>These decisions effectively end race-conscious college admissions. In my view, as a legal <a href="https://jerrykang.net">scholar of implicit bias and critical race studies</a>, they do not end discrimination against Asian Americans, which was the advertised goal of the lawsuits. </p>
<p>The cases against Harvard and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were both brought by <a href="https://studentsforfairadmissions.org/">Students For Fair Admission</a>, an organization created by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/us/edward-blum-affirmative-action-race.html">Ed Blum</a>, a California businessman who has successfully challenged many affirmative action and voting rights laws.</p>
<p>In the lawsuits, Blum strategically featured the plight of Asian Americans. </p>
<p>But before he could initiate the lawsuits, he needed people with the standing to sue.</p>
<p>“I needed Asian plaintiffs,” Blum <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBvo-05JRg">told a group</a> gathered by the Houston Chinese Alliance in 2015.</p>
<p>Why did Blum need Asian Americans? It’s my belief he felt the need because Asian Americans can be depicted as especially sympathetic victims and model minorities cruelly harmed by affirmative action.</p>
<p>It’s not surprising, then, to hear <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-01/shyong-supreme-court-affirmative-action-what-have-we-won">some Asian Americans celebrating</a> the Supreme Court’s decision as striking down discrimination against them.</p>
<p>That’s not what actually happened. </p>
<h2>Discrimination against Asian Americans</h2>
<p>Are Asian Americans discriminated against in college admissions? That’s a hard question to answer, for two reasons. </p>
<p>First, in order to know what counts as discrimination, a baseline is needed for comparison. In other words, you must ask, “As compared to whom?” </p>
<p>For race discrimination, the natural comparison is with white people because historically that race has received the best treatment. This is why important civil rights statutes, passed after the Civil War, explicitly guarantee the same <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1981">contracting</a> and <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1982">property rights</a> “as is enjoyed by white citizens.” </p>
<p>Second, in order to uncover subtle discrimination, analysts often need statistical techniques. Both sides in the litigation <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/11/13/admissions-data/">used multiple regression</a>, which selects a specific set of predictor variables – such as test scores, grade-point averages and race – and then calculates how much each variable affects the admissions decision controlling for all the others. </p>
<p>The two sides bickered over which variables should be included in the model. Harvard sought to include far more variables. In contrast, Students For Fair Admission wanted fewer. </p>
<p>It turned out that including more variables, such as personal ratings and legacy status, made race less important to the admissions decision. </p>
<p>That’s partly because personal ratings and legacy status are themselves correlated with race, and adding overlapping variables into the model blurs each variable’s unique impact. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five men and four women are wearing black robes as they pose for a portrait." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Supreme Court, from left, front row: Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan; and from left, back row: Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-states-supreme-court-associate-justice-sonia-news-photo/1431388794?phrase=us%20supreme%20clarence%20thomas&adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In the end, the trial court sided with Harvard’s model, which meant that, in a comparison between an Asian and white applicant with identical test scores, GPAs, personal ratings, legacy status and so forth, the applicant’s race did not matter in the regression. </p>
<p>Thus, the court found no discrimination. </p>
<p>This finding was affirmed on appeal by the <a href="http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/19-2005P-01A.pdf">1st Circuit Court of Appeals</a>, and the Supreme Court did not overturn that finding. </p>
<p>In my view, it’s simply erroneous to think that the Supreme Court struck down discrimination against Asian Americans since none was ever found.</p>
<h2>Ending affirmative action</h2>
<p>Although the lawsuits emphasized the problem of discrimination against Asian Americans, their real target was the use of race in affirmative action programs that benefit underrepresented racial minorities. </p>
<p>Over the past 45 years, the court had <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-2003-supreme-court-decision-upholding-affirmative-action-planted-the-seeds-of-its-overturning-as-justices-then-and-now-thought-racism-an-easily-solved-problem-208807">cobbled together a compromise</a> on affirmative action in higher education.</p>
<p>On the one hand, explicit race-conscious decision-making <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1994/93-1841">must satisfy strict scrutiny</a> under the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv">equal protection clause</a>, with a requirement that it further a “compelling interest” through “narrowly tailored” means. <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12391">Strict scrutiny</a> is the most rigorous form of judicial review used to determine the constitutionality of certain laws.</p>
<p>On the other hand, in the rarefied domain of higher education, diversity would count as a “compelling interest.” </p>
<p>This diversity rationale was introduced by Justice Lewis Powell in his concurring opinion in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/regents_of_the_university_of_california_v_bakke_(1978)#:%7E:text=Primary%20tabs-,Regents%20of%20the%20University%20of%20California%20v.,Civil%20Rights%20Act%20of%201964">Regents of the University of California v. Bakke</a> in 1978. </p>
<p>In his analysis, Powell rejected the justification for affirmative action as a way to remedy centuries of past societal discrimination. He considered that justification “an amorphous concept of injury that may be ageless in its reach into the past.” </p>
<p>Instead, Powell settled on the concept of diversity. </p>
<p>Although no other justice joined Powell’s opinion, it broke the tie and decided the case. It’s this understanding of diversity-as-a-compelling-interest that eventually garnered majority support in <a href="https://casetext.com/case/grutter-v-bollinger-et-al">Grutter v. Bollinger</a> and <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/11-345">Fisher v. University of Texas</a> that allowed the use of race in college admissions to continue. </p>
<p>In 2023’s Students For Fair Admission cases, the Supreme Court tore up this delicate truce that enabled race to be used as a factor in college admissions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man dressed in a dark business suit is walking on marbled stairs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540870/original/file-20230802-23-4tickl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A longtime opponent of affirmative action, Edward Blum, walks on the steps of the Supreme Court building in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/edward-blum-a-long-time-opponent-of-affirmative-action-in-news-photo/1437982045">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)GettyImages</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts explained that the educational benefits of diversity were too unmeasurable to be compelling.</p>
<p>Whether the benefit was framed as training future leaders, better educating students through diversity or preparing engaged and productive citizens, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">Roberts wrote</a> that these interests were “not sufficiently coherent for purposes of strict scrutiny.”</p>
<p>Robert’s opinion effectively ended affirmative action in higher education. </p>
<h2>Does nothing to stop discrimination against Asian Americans</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action was a happy result for <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2023-06-29/republican-presidential-hopefuls-celebrate-supreme-court-ruling-on-affirmative-action">some conservative politicians</a> and horrifying for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/key-civil-rights-groups-blast-supreme-court-sharply-curtailing-affirma-rcna91829">civil rights advocates</a>. </p>
<p>What’s important is to avoid confusion about the reasons why.</p>
<p>It’s my belief that the end of affirmative action does nothing to end discrimination against Asian Americans as compared to whites. </p>
<p>The reason why Asian Americans are treated worse than whites in college admissions is because <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12633/legacy-and-athlete-preferences-at-harvard">huge preferences are given to legacy applicants</a>, who are disproportionately white. </p>
<p>Another reason is that huge <a href="https://www.uclalawreview.org/race-and-privilege-misunderstood-athletics-and-selective-college-admissions-in-and-beyond-the-supreme-court-affirmative-action-cases/">preferences are given to athletes</a> in sports that include tennis, lacrosse and fencing. These athletes are also disproportionately white. </p>
<p>Finally, Asian Americans likely <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/new-study-exposes-racial-preferences-americans-n413371">suffer some discrimination</a> in personal ratings because of implicit biases. </p>
<p>Recommendations and interviews are highly subjective, based on gut-level enthusiasm and reactions. That means they are vulnerable to implicit biases that frame Asians as mathematically competent but cold, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32911985/">foreign</a> and <a href="https://jerrykang.net/research/2010-are-ideal-litigators-white/">unlikable</a>. </p>
<p>If Students For Fair Admission’s true objective were to end discrimination against Asian Americans vis-a-vis whites, it would have asked the court to end legacy and athlete preferences and build procedural guardrails against implicit bias. It did not.</p>
<h2>Zero-sum game</h2>
<p>Of course, the point could be made – as the chief justice did – that “college admissions is a zero-sum game.”</p>
<p>“A benefit provided to some applicants but not to others necessarily advantages the former group at the expense of the latter,” <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23864004-students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college">Roberts wrote</a>. </p>
<p>Under this logic, by ending affirmative action, Asian Americans as a group receive some small benefit in admissions chances. But remember that whites receive the exact same benefit. And legacy status, athletic experience and implicit biases will continue to favor whites over Asian Americans. </p>
<p>Finally, is this tiny benefit worth the cost of decreasing the number of Black, Latinx, Native American and underrepresented Asian and Pacific Islander students at elite colleges and universities? </p>
<p>In my view, the answer is no, but that question merits a hard conversation about the policies and principles underlying a racially just society. </p>
<p>I believe that Americans deserve to have that conversation without being misled into thinking that keeping affirmative action is the same thing as tolerating anti-Asian discrimination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jerry Kang lectures on topics including race and implicit bias to various audiences, including judges, government agencies, and firms on a pro bono and paid basis. </span></em></p>In their lawsuits against affirmative action, Students For Fair Admission claimed to want to protect Asian Americans. A law professor explains why the Supreme Court ruling doesn’t achieve that goal.Jerry Kang, Distinguished Professor of Law and (by courtesy) Asian American Studies; Founding Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (2015-20), University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065612023-08-01T12:26:31Z2023-08-01T12:26:31ZFrom Chinatowns to ethnoburbs and beyond, where Chinese people settle reflects changing wealth levels and political climates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539837/original/file-20230727-25-lyreav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">San Francisco has the oldest and largest Chinatown in the U.S.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NewChinatown/1d94fd84eccd46e7bf0deccf90b93f77">Eric Risberg/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The origins, demographics and settlement patterns of the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/courier/2021-4/overseas-chinese-long-history">approximately 60 million people</a> worldwide who make up the Chinese diaspora, including immigrants and their descendants, are becoming increasingly diverse. Illustrating this diversity are two mass shootings during the 2023 Lunar New Year in California’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/monterey-park-a-pioneering-asian-american-suburb-shaken-by-the-tragedy-of-a-mass-shooting-198373">Monterey Park</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152389441/half-moon-bay-shooting-motive-repair-bill">Half Moon Bay</a>, communities that include Chinese immigrants ranging from middle- to upper-middle-class residents to farmworkers.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YX2aPagAAAAJ&hl=en">are researchers</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UijrqwIAAAAJ&hl=en">who study</a> international migration. One of us <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098984871">coined the term “ethnoburb</a>” to describe suburban communities that have mixed racial and socioeconomic groups.</p>
<p>Ethnoburbs defy the traditional assumption that Chinese immigrants arrive poor and have to settle in urban Chinatowns before earning enough money to move to the suburbs. Instead, educated and wealthy Chinese immigrants arriving in the past few decades have settled in upper middle- to upper-class neighborhoods. Meanwhile, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soy061">Chinese immigrants working low-wage jobs</a> have increasingly settled in rural areas and cities that aren’t considered gateways to the U.S. And <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16nzfbd">Chinese restaurateurs</a> are scattered across urban and rural areas in many countries. </p>
<p>The evolution of these communities involves a two-way integration process, with newer and older generations of immigrants, as well as long-term non-Chinese residents, adjusting to one another. Shifting Chinese immigrant settlement patterns reflect the changing profile of Chinese immigrants and the effects of globalization and geopolitics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XvBVj4qov_I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">About half of the victims of the January 2023 Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay shootings in California were Chinese.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Changing Chinatowns</h2>
<p>Large-scale emigration out of China’s Guangdong province <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/china-development-transformed-migration">started in the 19th century</a>, propelled by poverty and oppression at home and promising opportunities abroad, such as the gold rush in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., and railroad construction in North America.</p>
<p>Chinatowns – inner-city, compact Chinese residential and commercial quarters – represent the prototypical <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/227240">ethnic enclave</a>, a geographic area with high concentrations of a particular ethnic group. The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinatown/resourceguide/index.html">first Chinatown in the U.S.</a> emerged in San Francisco in 1848 as a gateway and transnational hub for Chinese immigrants.</p>
<p>When the initial gold rush and railroad construction jobs ran dry and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-forgotten-history-of-the-purging-of-chinese-from-america">anti-Chinese racism</a> became rampant, Chinatowns soon became refuges for Chinese immigrants to shield themselves from the harsh reality of legal exclusion and racist violence. A number of Chinatowns were displaced in the name of <a href="https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/ethnoburb-the-new-ethnic-community-in-urban-america/">urban development</a> or <a href="https://laist.com/news/la-history/destruction-las-original-chinatown-led-to-one-we-have-today">because of violence</a>.</p>
<p>From the 19th to mid-20th centuries, racist legislation like the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/White-Australia-Policy">White Australia Policy</a> and the Chinese Exclusion Acts <a href="https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/evenement-event/exclusion-chinois-chinese">in Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act#">the U.S.</a> severely curbed Chinese immigration, causing Chinatowns to dwindle or disappear altogether.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="View of Chinese storefronts, with a large apartment building in the background and cars in the foreground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539832/original/file-20230727-79144-2y87qu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While some Chinatowns have become tourist attractions, others, like that of Washington, D.C., have experienced gentrification and shrinking Chinese communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wei Li</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since the repeal of those policies, the fate of Chinatowns in different locations has varied dramatically. Some, such as those in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/new-york-chinatown-and-little-italy-historic-district.htm">New York</a> and <a href="http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/history/">San Francisco</a>, became prime tourist attractions and gateways for new immigrants working low-wage jobs. Most have experienced gentrification and international investment from Asia. </p>
<p>This has led to shrinking Chinese communities and business districts in cities like <a href="https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspectives-on-history/december-2017/the-rise-and-fall-of-dcs-chinatown">Washington, D.C.</a>, while other Chinatowns, like those in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-04/chinatown-history-versus-modernity-odyssey/102356524">Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-chinatown-is-much-more-of-a-modern-bridge-to-asia-than-a-historic-enclave-94482">Sydney</a> in Australia, have expanded into thriving neighborhoods. Some intentionally developed Chinatowns, like the one <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/chinatown-las-vegas">Las Vegas</a> opened in 1995, are commercial plazas with mostly restaurants and shops.</p>
<h2>Emergence of ethnoburbs</h2>
<p>Another type of immigrant community has been emerging since the 1960s as a result of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6b1">changing immigration policies</a>: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098984871">ethnoburbs</a>. These are suburban settlements with multiethnic residential and business areas, where a single ethnic group may not necessarily constitute a majority.</p>
<p>To attract highly skilled and well-educated immigrants, a number of countries instituted point systems that evaluate an applicant’s education, professional experience and language proficiency, among other qualifications. Meanwhile, economic growth in their countries of origin allowed wealthy immigrants to settle directly in the suburbs rather than urban Chinatowns.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098984871">shifting geographic center</a> of Chinese settlement in Los Angeles County showcases the development of an ethnoburb. The first half of the 20th century witnessed slow southward movement away from downtown, largely due to Chinese residents’ moving out of Chinatown. Then, during the second half of the century, the center moved steadily eastward as large numbers of new Chinese immigrants directly settled in the suburban San Gabriel Valley, signifying the emergence of an ethnoburb.</p>
<p>Because of the diverse local industries and demographics of immigrants around the world, each ethnoburb evolves in different ways. For example, ethnoburbs in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6b1">Silicon Valley</a> emerged with high-tech industries attracting skilled and affluent Asian Americans who are highly politically involved. And unlike the predominantly Chinese ethnoburb in San Gabriel Valley, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-the-super-diverse-ethnoburbs-90926">Sydney’s “super-diverse ethnoburb”</a> is characterized by multiple different ethnic groups from various countries of origin. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cNRYdW_hr5s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">San Gabriel Valley, a cluster of ethnoburbs in Los Angeles County, is known for its broad array of Chinese cuisine.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ethnoburbs are different from Chinatowns</h2>
<p>Ethnoburbs coexist with Chinatowns in many countries, but they <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/cybergeo.1018">differ from ethnic enclaves</a> not only in their location but also in terms of their ethnic concentration and class differences. Residents in ethnoburbs are more racially and socioeconomically diverse, suggesting greater potential for racial tensions and class conflicts than traditional ethnic enclaves. For example, the growing presence of wealthy Asians in Arcadia, California, fueled <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-arcadia-immigration-architecture-20140511-story.html">increasing housing prices and a McMansion boom</a> that concerned local residents. </p>
<p>However, unlike the self-contained communities in ethnic enclaves, residents in ethnoburbs are more likely to interact with other groups, which makes it easier for them to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6b1">forge economic ties and build political alliances</a>. For instance, Asian Americans in Silicon Valley have established business councils and parent associations made up of different Asian ethnicities and exhibit higher political awareness and engagement.</p>
<p>Many ethnoburbs have supplanted Chinatowns as the commercial and cultural centers of contemporary Chinese diasporas.</p>
<p>Obviously, not all Chinese people live in Chinatowns or ethnoburbs. Many live in other locations, and they’re not always surrounded by other Chinese people. Geographers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1099-1220(199812)4:4%3C281::aid-ijpg108%3E3.0.co;2-o">coined the term “heterolocalism”</a> to describe immigrants and minorities who live in areas with less ethnic diversity but are still able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0038022920956737">retain their cultural identity</a>.</p>
<h2>Geopolitics and integration</h2>
<p>Changing political climates may also lead to shifting trends in immigration. </p>
<p>Recent decades have seen increasing <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-339-percent-nationwide-last-year-repo-rcna14282">anti-Asian hate</a> amid rising geopolitical tensions with the People’s Republic of China, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The long-term effects of these trends on Chinese diasporas are unclear. But many are already experiencing the backlash and face racial violence.</p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="https://www.committee100.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/C100-Lee-Li-White-Paper-FINAL-FINAL-10.28.pdf">Chinese scientists</a> are facing racial profiling, Chinese business owners have had their <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/smashed-windows-racist-graffiti-vandals-target-asian-americans-amid-coronavirus-n1180556">properties vandalized</a> and many Chinese Americans have been <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/2022/07/20/year-2-report/">violently attacked</a>. States have <a href="https://www.quorum.us/spreadsheet/external/KscrjHCRzvqUdRtMcgpX/">passed or proposed laws</a> that bar or restrict citizens of China from purchasing properties. These laws resemble 20th-century <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/86722/with-new-alien-land-laws-asian-immigrants-are-once-again-targeted-by-real-estate-bans/">U.S. Alien Land Laws</a> that prohibited Asian immigrants from owning land. Anti-Chinese violence is also happening in other places like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100232">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide">Europe</a>.</p>
<p>We hope that ethnoburbs will not become, like historical Chinatowns, the only refuge for Chinese immigrants to live. Learning from history’s mistakes is key to building a fair and just society for all, the Chinese diaspora included.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wei Li receives funding from US National Science Foundation, Canadian Government, Fulbright. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yining Tan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Chinatowns once served as gateways for early Chinese immigrants. But the suburbs are the center of cultural and commercial life for new immigrants and later generations.Wei Li, Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State UniversityYining Tan, Assistant Professor of Practice, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2052752023-06-26T12:20:54Z2023-06-26T12:20:54ZAsian folktales offer moral lessons that help reduce racial prejudice in children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533260/original/file-20230621-24-qn6kml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=326%2C65%2C5894%2C4072&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A teacher tells a story to a group of students.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/diversity-elementary-school-students-who-sit-on-the-royalty-free-image/1320972631?phrase=asian+reading+children+classroom&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a Cambodian children’s folktale, one man is afraid of lawyers and another is afraid of filth. As the story goes, both are constantly bombarded by their fears despite their efforts to avoid them. </p>
<p>The moral of the tale is revealing and contains a powerful anti-racism message: What you hate becomes your fate.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.uml.edu/education/faculty-staff/faculty/kim-minjeong.aspx">educational linguist</a> and <a href="https://www.uml.edu/fahss/psychology/faculty/mccabe-allyssa.aspx">a psychologist</a> who specialize in children’s literacy development, we know that reading such folktales about people from different ethnic groups <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.14.5.447">reduces prejudice</a> in young children.</p>
<p>By age 4, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12788">children learn stereotypes</a> against certain groups of people, and by age 7, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.535906">children of color internalize stereotypes</a>. Research suggests that <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-10122-011">reading stories about a person’s own culture</a> has many benefits, including literacy achievement. </p>
<p>But according to <a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-by-and-or-about-poc-2018/">2020 Cooperative Children’s Book Center statistics</a>, one barrier to providing culturally sustaining texts to young children is the remarkable lack of availability of such texts. </p>
<p>For example, 29% of <a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-by-and-or-about-poc-2018/">children’s books</a> are about animals and 41% about white children. Only 9% address experiences of children of Asian descent.</p>
<p>Because of this dearth of culturally sustaining texts, we decided to produce our own children’s book specifically focused on children of Asian descent. </p>
<p>We teach in Lowell, Massachusetts, a city that has one of the largest Southeast Asian communities in the U.S. and has a number of different <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/lowellcitymassachusetts">Southeast Asian American groups</a>. The Cambodian American community in Lowell, for instance, is the second largest in the U.S. and the third largest in the world outside of Cambodia. </p>
<h2>A significant step in combating anti-Asian hate</h2>
<p>Racism against Asians and Asian Americans is not new in America.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act#:%7E:text=It%20was%20the%20first%20significant,immigrating%20to%20the%20United%20States">Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shameful-stories-of-environmental-injustices-at-japanese-american-incarceration-camps-during-wwii-174011">incarceration of Japanese Americans</a> during World War II demonstrate the long history of abuse that continues today. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.csusb.edu/hate-and-extremism-center/data-reports/original-reports-hate-and-terrorism-center-staff">Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism</a>, hate crimes against Asians in the U.S. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-339-percent-nationwide-last-year-repo-rcna14282">increased by 339%</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211005598">number of studies</a> reveal that such racism has severe negative impacts on many aspects of psychological and physical well-being for victims of prejudice of all ages.</p>
<p>Illustrated by art students from our university, our multilingual children’s book is called “<a href="https://umlseada.omeka.net/items/show/1241">A Long Long Time Ago in Southeast Asia</a>” and focuses on the Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian and Burmese communities. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An image of the cover of a book that includes illustrations of a white elephant and a rabbit among others." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533259/original/file-20230621-10551-gub3gb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The book cover of a collection of Asian folktales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">minjeong kim and Allyssa McCabe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In March 2018, we held a workshop to introduce this book to 25 Lowell public school elementary school teachers. During that session, we learned that teachers needed a broader understanding of the cultural contexts that shape Asian folktales for them to teach them effectively in their classrooms. </p>
<p>To that end, we also produced a scholarly collection of research articles, which we published in 2022, called “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666912883/Perspectives-on-East-and-Southeast-Asian-Folktales">Perspectives on East and Southeast Asian Folktales</a>.”</p>
<h2>Moral lessons</h2>
<p>In our research, we found several functions of folktales to be useful to fight against racism, especially when such tales are read to children regularly. Many Asian countries, such as Korea and Vietnam, use folktales as part of an ethics education that is part of their core curricula.</p>
<p>First, folktales often contain explicit moral lessons on honesty, wisdom, good deeds and perseverance.</p>
<p>For example, “A Big Pot of Gold,” one of the Vietnamese folktales in our book, is about a poor but honest couple who decided not to take a pot of gold they accidentally found. </p>
<p>When a thief overheard the couple, he decided to steal the pot. But instead of gold, he got a pot full of snakes. When the thief returned the pot to the couple, it was again full of gold. </p>
<p>The story ends with community members explaining the moral lesson: If you are a good person, you will have good outcomes. </p>
<p>A second important function of Asian folktales is that they challenge stereotypes against Asians by using Asian protagonists who display culturally valued traits and exemplary behavioral norms. </p>
<p>Stereotypes associated with Asians as being quiet and passive are countered by individuals who act bravely to resolve problems.</p>
<p>A third function of Asian folktales is the use of social justice themes such as helping the poor and the weak. </p>
<p>In “The Big Pot of Gold,” for instance, the honest couple used the gold to help other poor people.</p>
<p>Using multicultural books to teach children about other cultures is not new. </p>
<p>When folktales are taught alongside other multicultural books, a wide spectrum of Asian American experiences gets represented and allows children of all races to read about people of different cultures. </p>
<p>That in itself is effective in reducing racism for future generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Minjeong Kim has received funding from Creative Economy Grant of University of Massachusetts to conduct research cited in this article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allyssa McCabe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children’s books that feature Asian protagonists are rare. Two scholars decided to offer their own in their attempt to reduce racial prejudice.Minjeong Kim, Associate professor, UMass LowellAllyssa McCabe, Professor of Psychology, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2047212023-05-25T15:10:22Z2023-05-25T15:10:22ZListen: A 5th generation New Yorker traces her family history and finds the roots of anti-Asian violence – and Asian resistance<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/de138b12-ba9e-4e14-9a19-46cdefce0299?dark=true"></iframe>
<p>In this episode of <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/a-5th-generation-new-yorker-reveals-tales-of-asian-resistance-since-the-19th-century"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, author and CUNY professor Ava Chin, a 5th generation Chinese New Yorker, discusses her new book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563929/mott-street-by-ava-chin/"><em>Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming</em></a>. </p>
<p>The book artfully explores themes of exclusion as it relates to all Chinese Americans, plus personally for Chin with her father, a “crown prince” of Chinatown that she didn’t meet until adulthood. Chin reveals personal family stories against the backdrop of the U.S. eugenics movement and draws a connecting line between <a href="http://aapidata.com/blog/year-after-atlanta/">the current rise in violence against Asians in North America</a> and anti-immigration laws more than 100 years old. </p>
<p>Chin also showcases the resilience, love lives and dreams of Chinese immigrants as well as their resistance to the attitudes and laws of the era.</p>
<p>In our conversation, Chin said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This story goes back to a period in time, in the era of reconstruction, when the young country was asking itself, who is an American and who is not…And the decisions that they made back then in the 19th century set us on a course as a nation towards viewing all Asians as being foreign and suspicious. And so the great aim of this book is to shed light on Asian American stories and place Asian Americans into our proper space into the larger American story.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="(Alfred A. Hart Photographs, 1862-1869, Stanford University Libraries)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528034/original/file-20230524-17-dehexd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chinese railroad workers were often left off the official story. Here, they construct a section of the First Transcontinental Railroad on the Humboldt Plains of Nevada. Archival research by Gordon Chang.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=913&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528157/original/file-20230525-17-si8tvn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1147&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ava Chin’s ‘Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674260351"><em>The Chinese Must Go: Violence, exclusion and the making of the Alien in America</em></a> by Beth Lew-Williams </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29278"><em>The Chinese and the Iron Road: Building the Transcontinental Railroad</em></a> by Gordon Chang and Shelley Fisher Fishkin</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2022/05/18/confronting-the-invisibility-of-anti-asian-racism/">Confronting the invisibility of anti-Asian racism</a> by Jennifer Lee</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100232">Anti-Chinese stigma in the Greater Toronto Area during COVID-19: Aiming the spotlight towards community capacity</a> - <em>Social Sciences & Humanities Open</em> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/asian-american-anti-racism/"><em>“Multiple Things Can Be True”: Understanding the Roots of Anti-Asian Violence</em></a> - <em>The Nation</em></p>
<h2>From the archives, in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/year-of-the-tiger-an-opportunity-for-bold-changes-in-combatting-anti-asian-racism-174385">Year of the Tiger: An opportunity for bold changes in combatting anti-Asian racism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Author Ava Chin, a 5th generation New Yorker, traces the roots of today’s high rates of anti-Asian violence back to 19th century U.S. labour and immigration laws.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2054422023-05-17T12:20:35Z2023-05-17T12:20:35ZFrom Indiana Jones to Netflix’s Beef – how ‘collectors’ of cultural artefacts have gone from heroic figures to villainous thieves<p><em>Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Beef.</em></p>
<p>Created by Korean director Lee Sung Jin and starring a predominantly Asian cast, Netflix drama Beef has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/netflixs-beef-nailed-korean-american-evangelical-experience-rcna79353">won plaudits</a> for its gritty yet humorous portrayal of Asian American life.</p>
<p>The show explores racism and cultural appropriation through protagonist Amy Lau’s (Ali Wong) relationship with Jordan Forster (Maria Bello), the mega-rich white businesswoman who purchases her plant business. In one striking scene, Jordan shows off her collection of “exotic” crowns.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AFPIMHBzGDs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Netflix’s Beef (2023).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not only does Jordan wear her favourite – one from the <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Chimu_Civilization/">Chimú kingdom</a> of ancient Peru – but she bemoans the fact she no longer has the matching earrings. These, she explains with an eye roll, had to be returned to the Peruvian government, implying they were originally stolen. Selfishness and bigotry lurk beneath Jordan’s facade of cosmopolitanism.</p>
<p>But Jordan’s collecting goes beyond priceless artefacts – she collects Asian women too. She tries to use the business deal to get close to Amy, turning her into another beautiful, foreign object in her collection.</p>
<p>Jordan’s other intimate relationship – with Naomi (Ashley Park), who she treats as an accessory as well as an assistant – emphasises her fetishistic interest in Asian women. This dynamic symbolises white western exploitation of ethnic minorities.</p>
<p>It also speaks to sociologist <a href="https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/baudrillard.collecting.pdf">Jean Baudrillard’s</a> claim that “there is something of the harem” about collecting historic artefacts. Beef shows the troubling link between collecting and sexual control.</p>
<h2>The history of collecting</h2>
<p>The second half of the 19th century was the “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=P_wcLQ-hKOYC&pg=PA67&dq=paul+goetsch+uncanny+collectors&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUn--dreX-AhVYMcAKHTDUCe0Q6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=paul%20goetsch%20uncanny%20collectors&f=false">age of collecting</a>”. Technological revolutions, international trade and imperialism brought masses of new things to Britain and the west, which were subsequently classified, studied and cherished.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of Austen Henry Layard with full white beard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525450/original/file-20230510-18623-pw3473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=987&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sir Austen Henry Layard: Politician, Diplomat and Archaeologist (1890).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-austen-henry-layard-18171894-politician-diplomat-and-archaeologist-27795">Government Art Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brits went abroad actively seeking treasures from ancient civilisations. Those that were successful became national heroes. <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/From_Archaeology_to_Spectacle_in_Victori.html?id=e6M9j_HoQIoC&redir_esc=y">Austen Henry Layard’s</a> plunder from Assyria, for example, was proudly displayed in the British Museum and inspired triumphant novels and plays.</p>
<p>As Britain’s empire expanded and collections deepened, novels dealt with the potentially grim consequences of collectors’ “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=P_wcLQ-hKOYC&pg=PA67&dq=paul+goetsch+uncanny+collectors&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUn--dreX-AhVYMcAKHTDUCe0Q6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=paul%20goetsch%20uncanny%20collectors&f=false">unruly passions</a>”. These “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt24hgbf">imperial gothic</a>” stories told of western plunder leading to haunted relics, which wreaked havoc on Brits both at home and in the empire.</p>
<p>In one of the first, Wilkie Collins’ <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/155/155-h/155-h.htm">The Moonstone</a> (1868), a precious Indian gem looted by an English army officer brings catastrophe to those that own it. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/H-Rider-Haggard">H. Rider Haggard</a> churned out numerous tales of Egyptian mummies seeking revenge against the daring archaeologists who had disturbed them.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo of Henry Haggard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525453/original/file-20230510-17-cnx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">H. Rider Haggard (c. 1905).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2002710453/">George Grantham Bain collection/Library of Congress.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While casting doubt over Britain’s possession of colonial objects, these stories were not a straightforward condemnation of empire. Often, the plucky Brits get off scot-free.</p>
<p>In Haggard’s short story <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6073/pg6073-images.html#link2H_4_0001">Smith and the Pharaohs</a> (1912-1913), for example, resurrected pharaohs contemplate murdering an archaeologist for tomb violation. They let him go, however, as he is conveniently recognised as the reincarnation of an ancient sculptor, and he safely returns to England with spoils in his pocket.</p>
<p>Written at the high point of imperialism – and in the case of Haggard, by someone who had worked in an <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/11049/">official colonial capacity</a> – these tales reflect the imperialistic attitudes of the time. Loot was morally questionable, but the empire itself was not. </p>
<h2>From Indiana Jones to Black Panther</h2>
<p>The imperial gothic genre found new life in late 20th-century Hollywood. Set in India in the 1930s, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (1984) depicts British colonial authorities as hapless and America as the hero. India is portrayed as a place of poverty, superstition and dark forces.</p>
<p>Jones is accused of looting by the prime minister of the Maharajah of Pankot, but this is quickly brushed over. It is the prime minister’s complicity in taking a sacred stone that causes actual destruction.</p>
<p>Jones’s role in getting the stone back for the innocent Indian civilians reflects the post-second world war and cold war climate for <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=lOnaDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT82&dq=indiana+jones+loot+temple+of+doom&ots=AHZs9z2e89&sig=p252ujnpcPg358IE-pyI4XnAGOc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=indiana%20jones%20loot%20temple%20of%20doom&f=false">American humanitarian heroes</a>. And it is a similar story in <a href="https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC43folder/Mummy.html">The Mummy</a> (1999), where villainy is shared between American treasure hunters and the sinister Arabs and mummies. The heroes are a team of Americans and Brits who shoot their way to safety. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHgzkQM2Sg">2017 reboot</a> of the franchise stars Tom Cruise as an Indiana Jones wannabe – a lovable US army rogue who sells Iraqi loot.</p>
<p>However, Beef and other contemporary projects, such as Marvel’s <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/museum-worlds/9/1/armw090103.xml">Black Panther</a> (2018), have punctured this dominant narrative of western saviours of foreign cultures. The museum heist scene in Black Panther showed a descendant from the fictional African country Wakanda rescuing looted treasures from a British museum, in a <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/black-panther-museum-heist-restitution-1233278">thinly-veiled critique</a> of the British Museum’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/benin-bronzes-what-is-the-significance-of-their-repatriation-to-nigeria-171444">Benin bronzes</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tc2iC7iMc_g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Black Panther scene set within the fictional ‘Museum of Great Britain’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As long as objects have been plundered, countries have called for their repatriation. Yet western popular culture has muted these voices, sometimes expressing anxiety over colonial plunder but ultimately reaffirming British and American supremacy.</p>
<p>Of course, the story is told differently in other contexts. The Chinese film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120538/">The Opium War</a> (1999), for instance, shows the brutal <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30810596">sacking of the Chinese Summer Palace</a> in 1860. But it is only since ethnic minorities have gained a foothold in mainstream English language media that western audiences have finally been confronted with unequivocal condemnations of their countries’ past offences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis Ryder does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through collector Jordan’s fetishistic interest in Asian women, Beef shows the troubling link between collecting artefacts and sexual control.Lewis Ryder, Lecturer in Modern History, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2033212023-04-20T17:13:28Z2023-04-20T17:13:28ZWill the brilliance of Netflix’s ‘Beef’ be lost in the shadow of a sexual assault controversy? — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521458/original/file-20230418-14-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C14%2C1287%2C723&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 'Beef,' two L.A. strangers (played by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong) end up in an escalating feud after a road rage incident. The identity of the characters is both incidental and central to the story, blasting through stereotypes. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Andrew Cooper/Netflix)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/bf0a3fa5-4f7f-4629-a28b-252eb0e38ae1?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em>Beef</em> premiered on Netflix this month to <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/beef-finale-ending-explained-danny-amy-therapy-analysis.html">rave reviews</a> and quickly became the <a href="https://top10.netflix.com/united-states/tv">top watched</a> series on the platform in the U.S. In Canada, it took the No. 2 spot.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1167959412/beef-review-ali-wong-steven-yeun"><em>Beef</em> is a dark comedy series</a> created by Lee Sung Jin. It follows two L.A. strangers, courageously played by Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, who get into a road rage incident — and end up in an escalating feud.</p>
<p>The show is a beautiful meditation on life and survival and highlights universal issues of alienation and loneliness as well as class and race and gender. Critics have praised <em>Beef</em> for its performances and also for its revolutionary representation of Asian Americans. The identity of the characters is both incidental and central to the story, blasting through stereotypes. </p>
<p>But over the weekend, a Twitter storm erupted after a podcast episode featuring supporting actor David Choe resurfaced. In the 2014 podcast, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/david-choe-rape-controversy-netflix-beef-1235390907/">Choe vividly relays a sexual assault story where he is the perpetrator</a>. Choe has apologized since and has also said the story was made up. </p>
<p>The David Choe Foundation has filed a copyright infringement claim to <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/beef-star-david-choe-rape-joke-podcast-clips-removed-twitter-1235585677/">get the podcast taken offline</a>. There has been no response from the producers of <em>Beef</em>.</p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/will-the-brilliance-of-beef-be-lost-in-the-shadow-of-a-sexual-assault-controversy">This week on <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we explore the advances <em>Beef</em> has made in television. As the controversy continues to swirl, we also explore the limits of those advancements and ask whether the brilliance of <em>Beef</em> will be overshadowed by Choe’s controversial history. </p>
<p>Joining us to discuss this is Michelle Cho, an assistant professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, specializing in Korean film, media and popular culture. Also with us is Bianca Mabute-Louie, a PhD student in Sociology at Rice University in Houston with a background in Asian American studies and racial justice work.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Beef provides] “a really compelling portrayal of Asian American women’s experience of female rage and the nuances of living in a world, in a society that expects a certain type of docility and a placid surface.”
— Michelle Cho, assistant professor of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto</p>
</blockquote>
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<h2>Read more in <em>The Conversation</em></h2>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-music-and-film-a-new-korean-wave-is-challenging-asian-stereotypes-158757">In music and film, a new Korean wave is challenging Asian stereotypes</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women</a>
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<h2>More info</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/beef-netflix-asian-american-media-17902085.php">We’re in Asian America’s peak media moment. But ‘Beef’ has poisoned the well by Soleil Ho</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beef-netflix-asian-american-rage_n_642ed194e4b0859acb92d4c3">Finally, A Show About Angry Asians by Ian Kumamoto</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/what-to-watch/ct-ent-david-choe-rape-story-beef-20230417-rfzbycqzzfdhtktunuaromcyc4-story.html">Made up rape story or not, David Choe’s remarks were public long before ‘Beef.’ Our silence on them is deafening by Nina Metz</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/17/beef-tv-review-netflix">Comic High Jinks and Repressed Despair in Netflix’s ‘Beef’ by Inkoo Kang</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52845775"><em>Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning</em> by Cathy Park Hong</a></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.angryasianman.com/2023/04/they-call-us-bruce-193-they-call-us-beef.html">They Call Us Bruce podcast with Jeff Yang and Phil Yu (on ‘Beef’)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.reelasian.com/">Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival</a></p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Unedited transcript</h2>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/will-the-brilliance-of-beef-be-lost-in-the-shadow-of-a-sexual-assault-controversy/transcript">Transcript for S5 EP 4, ‘Beef’</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AFPIMHBzGDs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The brilliance of the new Netflix TV show, ‘Beef,’ which looks at loneliness and urban life, is threatened by the controversial history of one of its supporting actors, David Choe.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983732023-01-24T18:40:32Z2023-01-24T18:40:32ZMonterey Park: A pioneering Asian American suburb shaken by the tragedy of a mass shooting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506119/original/file-20230124-19-5f1ehp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7309%2C4883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A community in mourning.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mourner-attends-a-candlelight-vigil-for-victims-of-a-mass-news-photo/1459049683?phrase=Monterey%20Park&adppopup=true">Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For Americans of Asian descent, Monterey Park – a town near Los Angeles, located in the San Gabriel Valley – is a cultural center. </p>
<p>It embodies <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520345850/resisting-change-in-suburbia">the modern Asian American experience</a>; that is, a place where Asians in America can access and practice a diverse array of traditions and cultural pursuits in an environment where they are the norm, as opposed to marginal.</p>
<p>The tragic <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-22/la-me-monterey-park-mass-shooting">mass shooting of Jan. 21, 2023</a>, in which 11 people were killed by a gunman who later took his own life, has put an unwanted spotlight on a site held near and dear to the Asian diaspora in the U.S. As an <a href="https://www.usfca.edu/faculty/james-zarsadiaz">Asian American scholar who has written about the importance</a> of communities like Monterey Park, I know the trauma felt there will ripple across all of Asian America.</p>
<h2>Asian America’s ‘town square’</h2>
<p>Monterey Park is the <a href="https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/ethnoburb-the-new-ethnic-community-in-urban-america/">original Asian “ethnoburb”</a> – that is, a suburb featuring a large, palpable concentration of immigrants or refugees and their kin. Businesses and community spaces in the town often reflect the cultural sensibilities and needs of these populations.</p>
<p>In the case of Monterey Park, Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and, later, Mainland China and Vietnam have shaped the suburb’s landscapes and lifestyles for decades.</p>
<p>Like other inner-ring <a href="https://calisphere.org/exhibitions/40/california-and-the-postwar-suburban-home/">suburbs of postwar Los Angeles</a>, Monterey Park offered modest, affordable homes. It appealed to white mainly middle-class buyers who wanted to be near, but not in, the city.</p>
<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, a handful of Latino and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-19-ga-1788-story.html">Japanese American families</a> settled in the predominantly white community, making Monterey Park a relatively diverse suburb for the era. That diversity would only grow in the late 1970s when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/20/us/frederic-hsieh-is-dead-at-54-made-asian-american-suburb.html">Frederic Hsieh</a> – a Chinese investor – purchased property in Monterey Park and dubbed it the future “Chinese Beverly Hills.” </p>
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<img alt="A man in dark pants and a light blazer sits on a car in front of a building with 'Mandarin Realty Co. Inc' written on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506121/original/file-20230124-20-wyj60f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Real estate broker Fred Hsieh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FredHsieh/f9f6f4f194bc4b28b9baa876ec6936b8/photo?Query=Monterey%20Park&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=428&currentItemNo=5">AP Photo/Wally Fong</a></span>
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<p>Hsieh believed its location was ideal for like-minded immigrants in search of the suburban good life. And his transnational effort in making Monterey Park a magnet for Chinese families worked. During the 1980s, settlers from Hong Kong and Taiwan bought homes. Within a decade, Chinese restaurants, shops, language schools, and community organizations dotted Monterey Park’s hills and boulevards. </p>
<h2>Building a community</h2>
<p>While Asian Americans found a handful of sympathetic allies across racial lines in their efforts to turn Monterey Park into a vibrant immigrant community, they also <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2013-aug-03-la-me-english-signs-20130804-story.html">encountered critics</a> who claimed they did not “Americanize” enough. Naysayers condemned Chinese-language business signage or Asian-owned properties that transgressed Monterey Park’s aesthetic norms.</p>
<p>Over time, dissatisfied white <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-12-ga-991-story.html">suburbanites left Monterey Park</a>. Those who stayed built multiracial coalitions for the sake of moving forward. Today, <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/montereyparkcitycalifornia/PST045222">Monterey Park is two-thirds Asian</a>, with Chinese residents comprising the majority.</p>
<p>With the passage of time and the rapid growth of Asian settlers, Monterey Park became known as the “first suburban Chinatown.” With its overtly Asian strip malls and plazas, Monterey Park’s novelty is its difference – showcasing the diaspora all day, every day, in the most “typical” of American landscapes: the suburbs.</p>
<h2>Ripples of grief</h2>
<p>And now, Monterey Park must contend with what is also an all-too-familiar part of the American landscape: <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gun-violence-7990">gun violence</a>.</p>
<p>Residents in Monterey Park – and in neighboring ethnoburbs like Alhambra, San Gabriel and Rosemead – have been left shaken. But the news and images from the mass shooting will haunt all Asian Americans because of the location’s familiarity. Monterey Park’s Lunar New Year celebrations were not unlike gatherings throughout the country: house parties with families and friends dressed to the nines, restaurants open long hours to serve the community, and dance halls packed with multigenerational revelers. Those tender moments were ruined in just minutes.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-23/jealousy-possible-motives-in-monterey-park-shooting">motives of the perpetrator</a> are under investigation, the tragedy in America’s “first suburban Chinatown” revealed that there is still much to do in keeping our communities safe. Moreover, for countless Asian Americans, grief has become all too familiar as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-339-percent-nationwide-last-year-repo-rcna14282">anti-Asian hate crimes have risen</a> across the nation – sparking initial concern that the shooting might have been race-related.</p>
<p>Time will tell how Monterey Park recovers, but at least the community there can take comfort in knowing that millions of Asian Americans will be alongside their journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198373/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Zarsadiaz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Once seen as the Chinese Beverly Hills, Monterey Park is now seen as Asian America’s ‘town square’ – the impact of a mass shooting there will ripple across the country.James Zarsadiaz, Associate Professor of History, University of San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921582022-10-20T13:13:32Z2022-10-20T13:13:32ZNot all Asian Americans vote Democratic – and the political leanings of different Asian ethnic groups vary<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490189/original/file-20221017-17-tn4i1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C84%2C5615%2C3648&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asian American voter turnout increases when an Asian American is on the ballot. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/voters-registering-voting-in-the-november-united-royalty-free-image/589584900?phrase=asian%20american%20voters&adppopup=true">fstop123/Collection E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Asian Americans voted in <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">record numbers</a> in the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, as well as in the 2018 midterm elections. </p>
<p>They are also the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/09/asian-americans-are-the-fastest-growing-racial-or-ethnic-group-in-the-u-s/">fastest-growing racial group</a> in the country, with the population increasing by 81% between 2000 and 2019.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ganguly-sumit.html">political scientists</a> <a href="http://www.stevenwwebster.com/">who have written about electoral politics</a> in America and abroad, we argue that the Asian American vote could have important ramifications for the 2022 midterms. That said, this group has historically not voted in lockstep but has shown a diversity of political preferences. </p>
<h2>Asian Americans and the Democratic Party</h2>
<p>Recent years have seen Asian Americans emerge as a Democratic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/democrats-asian-american-voters.html">voting bloc</a>. This affinity for the Democratic Party manifests in public opinion polls, as well. In fact, the recent <a href="https://apiavote.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-Asian-American-Voter-Survey-Report.pdf">Asian American Voter Survey</a> found that 56% of Asian Americans have either a “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” view of President Joe Biden. By contrast, only 29% of Asian Americans had similar views of former President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>One potential reason for Asian Americans’ preference for the Democratic Party has to do with the demographics of Democratic candidates. Of the 20 Asian Americans <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Data/By-Congress/">currently</a> serving in Congress, all but three are Democrats. </p>
<p>Political scientists have found evidence of Asian Americans’ desire for descriptive representation – a desire to see one’s race, ethnicity, gender or some other identity reflected in their member of Congress. In her <a href="https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KDGUS6">recent analysis</a> of state legislative elections, scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x15EqWQAAAAJ&hl=en">Sara Sadhwani</a> found that Asian American voter turnout increases when an Asian American is on the ballot, and Asian Americans make up a large proportion of the electorate. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Asian Americans may also be largely Democratic because of their policy preferences. A <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017c-27d8-dddc-a77e-27db16040000">recent poll</a> from Morning Consult, a public opinion outlet, found that only 23% of Asian Americans identified as ideologically conservative.</p>
<h2>Not a monolith</h2>
<p>Though Asian Americans are characterized by a general lean toward the Democratic Party, it would be misleading to refer to them as if they were a monolithic group. Indeed, despite a shared set of political views among these voters, there are also notable – and important – differences based upon Asian Americans’ particular ethnic identities.</p>
<p>This claim has a long history in political science scholarship. As scholar <a href="https://pol.illinois.edu/directory/profile/wendycho">Wendy Cho</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498815">argued</a> nearly three decades ago, “the monolithic Asian group is heterogeneous in several respects” when it comes to voting patterns. Accordingly, her work emphasizes that a failure to examine the unique groups that compose the Asian American community can lead to misleading conclusions.</p>
<p>Consequently, breaking up these groups on the basis of ethnicity provides an extremely complex account of the likely voting preferences of Asian Americans. </p>
<p>For example, a recent comprehensive <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">national survey</a> revealed that only 25% of all Asian Americans intend to vote for a Republican as opposed to 54% for a Democrat. </p>
<p>However, broken down along ethnic lines, a more complex set of preferences emerges. As many as 37% of Vietnamese Americans are inclined to vote Republican while only 16% of Indian Americans have similar leanings. These statistics, it can be surmised, would provide a portrait of even greater complexity if they were broken down along <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023121996852">sociodemographic lines</a> such as gender and educational attainment. </p>
<p>Though a plurality of Asian Americans identifies with the Democratic Party, there is substantial variation along ethnic lines. When <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">broken down</a> in terms of ethnicity, the highest levels of support for the Democratic Party come from Indians (56%) and Japanese (57%); Vietnamese (23%) and Chinese (42%) Americans register the lowest levels of support for the Democratic Party. </p>
<p>With elections being decided by small swings from one party to the other, Asian American voters could play a key role in determining who obtains political power. The heterogeneous preferences of this group, often falling along ethnic lines, provide ample opportunities for both political parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sumit Ganguly receives funding from the US Department of Defense.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Webster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the fastest-growing racial group in the US, Asian Americans form an important voting bloc and could play a key role in swing states, write two political scientists.Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana UniversitySteven Webster, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1872722022-08-30T12:19:19Z2022-08-30T12:19:19ZLow vaccine booster rates are now a key factor in COVID-19 deaths – and racial disparities in booster rates persist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480642/original/file-20220823-11-gs3akm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C0%2C8660%2C5691&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As of August 2022, COVID-19 vaccination rates in Black and Hispanic people exceeded those of white Americans nationally, but only for the initial shots.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/getting-vaccinated-royalty-free-image/1363894755?adppopup=true">FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 450 people are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">dying of COVID-19 in the U.S. each day</a> as of late August 2022.</p>
<p>When COVID-19 vaccines first became available, public officials, community organizations and policymakers mobilized to get shots into arms. These efforts included <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/vaccine-equity.html">significant investments</a> in making vaccines accessible to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/25/fact-sheet-biden-administration-announces-historic-10-billion-investment-to-expand-access-to-covid-19-vaccines-and-build-vaccine-confidence-in-hardest-hit-and-highest-risk-communities/">Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native populations</a>. These groups experienced exceptionally high <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e2.htm">COVID-19 death rates early in the pandemic</a> and had <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7006e3.htm?s_cid=mm7006e3_w">low initial vaccine rates</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7123a2.htm">efforts worked</a>. As of August 2022, vaccination rates for the <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-demographics-trends">primary series – or required initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines – for Black and Hispanic people</a> exceeded those of white Americans.</p>
<p>But boosters are a different story. Comparable booster vaccine promotion efforts <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-get-a-covid-19-booster-shot-now-or-wait-until-fall-two-immunologists-help-weigh-the-options-184809">have been lacking</a>. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/04/cdc-covid-vaccine-booster-campaign/629536/">Confusion</a> in the public health messaging surrounding boosters and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/27/us-second-covid-booster-delays-funding">limited federal funding</a> for rolling out vaccination campaigns have resulted in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/18/us-booster-gap/">slow booster uptake</a> across the country. </p>
<p>As a result, divides have once again emerged. A recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.27680">study of COVID-19 booster rates</a> found that 45% of white adults and 52% of Asian American adults had received boosters by January 2022. But only 29% of Black adults and 31% of adults who reported another racial or ethnic identity, such as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or multiracial, were boosted. </p>
<p>As of late August 2022, the U.S. <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-demographics-trends">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported</a> that 36.3% of white adults in the U.S. 50 years or older and eligible for a second booster shot had received one. This is compared to only 28.4% for the Black population, 31.3% for American Indian or Alaska Native populations, and 25.1% for the Hispanic population. </p>
<p>New boosters aimed at the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-omicron-booster.html?">currently dominant omicron subvariant</a> are expected to become available <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/23/us/politics/covid-booster-shots-biden.html">in early September 2022</a>. But the benefits of this new booster will be limited if it is not widely used. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The new variant-specific boosters are expected to be available in September 2022.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Booster rates predict mortality rates across counties</h2>
<p>We are a team of population health researchers at <a href="https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/andrew-stokes/">Boston University</a> and the <a href="https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/ewf">University of Minnesota</a>. We have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003571">tracking COVID-19 mortality rates</a> since the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2378023120980918">beginning of the pandemic</a>. Our team uses demographic methods to identify social and structural factors that influence health and <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306331">contribute to evidence-based reforms</a> of <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/3572982-hidden-covid-fatalities-show-us-death-investigations-need-reform/">public health and health care systems</a>.</p>
<p>Vaccine studies suggest that adults age 50 and older who receive a booster shot have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2115624">90% lower death rates</a> from COVID-19 than those who receive only the initial vaccine regimen. But the extent to which boosters have translated into health gains at the population level remains unclear. </p>
<p>Preliminary analyses by our team indicate that people in the U.S. living in counties with low booster uptake are dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than people living in counties with high booster uptake. In particular, in comparing the counties in the bottom 10% of booster rates with those in the top 10%, the COVID-19 death rates for residents of the bottom 10% of counties were 64% higher. Our analysis applies to the period from January to June 2022. It also adjusts for residents’ ages.</p>
<p>This difference in death rates may in part reflect the fact that counties with greater booster protection also tend to have higher rates of primary-series vaccination. Nonetheless, these findings suggest that at the population level, booster rates are now a key factor behind COVID-19 deaths. </p>
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<p>A prior study found that vaccination strategies that target high-risk geographical areas <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj2099">save more lives than strategies based on age alone</a>. Thus, the evidence suggests that limited federal funding for COVID-19 booster promotion should be sent to geographical areas that are currently reporting high rates of COVID-19 deaths. </p>
<h2>Learning from the community</h2>
<p>An effective booster campaign could build on lessons learned from prior vaccination campaigns. Specifically, this involves <a href="https://time.com/6204470/innovation-covid-19/">bringing vaccines directly to people</a>. From the earliest days of vaccine distribution during the pandemic, partnerships with faith-based organizations, housing communities and trusted community organizations have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11524-021-00594-3">successful in reaching populations with low vaccination rates</a>. </p>
<p>Other strategies to make boosters <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/downloads/vaccination-strategies.pdf">more accessible</a> include increasing access to vaccine centers via public transit and outside of typical working hours. In rural areas, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fofid%2Fofab152">evidence-based strategies</a> to promote vaccination include education of community ambassadors, use of social media and operation of mobile vaccination sites. </p>
<p>In the absence of federal funding, community efforts have aimed to make boosters more accessible. A New Yorker documentary filmed in 2021 explored the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/an-alabama-womans-neighborly-vaccination-campaign">challenges that one rural community in Alabama</a> – Panola – has faced with vaccination. It highlights community leader Dorothy Oliver as she promotes vaccination with little to no support from the government. Her efforts included door-to-door campaigns, discussions with residents about their fears and concerns and coordination of vaccination logistics, including scheduling and transport. </p>
<p>In a similar way, Minneapolis’ Seward Vaccine Equity Project <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20220518.186581/">increased booster shots among East African immigrant families</a> by having volunteers call members of their own communities and offer them a booster appointment and a ride. The volunteers were also available to answer residents’ questions and address any concerns. Successful efforts like those could be carried out by health departments on a much wider scale.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Stokes receives funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the National Institute on Aging. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Wrigley-Field is a member of the Seward Vaccine Equity Project, discussed in the article. She receives funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development via the Minnesota Population Center and from the National Institute on Aging via the Life Course Center, both at the University of Minnesota.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dielle Lundberg and Rafeya Raquib do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Early on, public health messaging focused on the need for vaccines to combat COVID-19. But far less attention has been given to the role of boosters in preventing deaths and reducing inequities.Andrew Stokes, Assistant Professor of Global Health, Boston UniversityDielle Lundberg, Research Fellow in Global Health, Boston UniversityElizabeth Wrigley-Field, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of MinnesotaRafeya Raquib, Research Fellow in Global Health, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1819182022-05-17T12:25:14Z2022-05-17T12:25:14ZFewer donors say they’re willing to give to a charity when it supports immigrants – especially if they’re undocumented<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462017/original/file-20220509-12-614jhx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=206%2C465%2C5544%2C3543&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman and her child seek help from CASA, an immigrants rights group, in Maryland in 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-and-her-daughter-arrive-at-the-office-of-the-news-photo/1170066991">Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>About <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states">45 million of the people who live in the United States are immigrants</a>, a near-record 14% of the population. Among them are, according to government estimates, <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/population-estimates/unauthorized-resident">11.4 million who are undocumented</a>.</p>
<p>Overall, immigrants are <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states">slightly more likely to be low-income</a> than other Americans, and many face discrimination. Also, many immigrants, especially those who are low-income, undocumented or <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/20/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/">have trouble speaking English</a>, need help getting settled in the U.S. As a result, there are charities that support these newcomers.</p>
<p>Two of us are immigrants <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=y03FaYcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">from Canada</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jWEaD9IAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">India</a> who research nonprofits. The other, who studies <a href="https://spp.umd.edu/our-community/faculty-staff/m-apolonia-calderon">race and ethnicity and immigration policy</a>, is the child of immigrants from Mexico. We wanted to know whether the immigration status of the people a charity aids can influence the public’s willingness to donate to it.</p>
<h2>‘Help Kids Thrive’</h2>
<p>To find out, we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13499">conducted an experiment</a> by having 1,209 people take an online survey to assess their willingness to donate to an imaginary charity. Participants didn’t know the group we made up, “Help Kids Thrive,” wasn’t a real organization when they heard about its activities. They had to answer some questions about the group and whether they might donate to it.</p>
<p>We hired <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dynata">Dynata</a>, a private firm, to conduct this survey in October 2019. In exchange for their time, the company lets participants earn points that they can redeem for gift cards, loyalty miles and other rewards. The people who took part were a nationally representative group of Americans in terms of their race and ethnicity, geographical region and most age categories – although women and people age 18 to 24 were slightly underrepresented. </p>
<p>To assess whether the demographics of the people a nonprofit like Help Kids Thrive supported matters to Americans, we focused on four groups of beneficiaries. One was families who are homeless or can’t afford basic necessities; a second was families who immigrated recently from three Latin American countries – Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador; a third was families who immigrated recently from three Asian countries – China, India and the Philippines; and the fourth was families from anywhere in Latin America who are undocumented, facing deportation or both.</p>
<p>We chose these countries because they are <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states">among the top sources of immigrants to the United States</a>. </p>
<p>Everyone who took this survey was randomly assigned to one of these four groups. They were told that Help Kids Thrive assisted families in one of these categories.</p>
<p>We also experimented with suggested donation amounts. Half could choose to donate either $5, $10, $15 or $20, while the other half saw higher suggested amounts: $20, $40, $60, $80. Across the board, it was also possible for those taking the survey to say they would give nothing at all or to write in their own amount. To be clear, no one gave real money to our imaginary charity.</p>
<p>About half of the survey participants said they would be willing to donate. They wrote in donation amounts from $1 to $500 or selected a suggested amount.</p>
<p>By asking participants three questions about Help Kids Thrive, we could identify the ones – 492 people – who had carefully read the information provided and focus on their responses.</p>
<h2>Support less likely for immigrants</h2>
<p>Overall, we found people were less willing to donate to the charity when its recipients were described as immigrants. The probability was even lower for immigrants who were undocumented, facing deportation or both.</p>
<p>For example, after controlling for other factors, the average person in the sample had a 67% probability of saying they would donate something to Help Kids Thrive when they were told that it assisted low-income families. If they were told the charity helped immigrants, that probability dropped by 13 or 14 percentage points, to 54% for Latin American immigrants and to 53% for Asian immigrants.</p>
<p>The probability that they would say “yes, I would make a donation to this charity” fell to 47% for undocumented immigrants. </p>
<p>Within the group of participants who read the experiment closely, we found that gender, age and political ideology did not affect their answers. Even their attitudes toward immigrants did not play a statistically significant role in their willingness to donate.</p>
<p>In this study, we focused on immigrants from Latin America and Asia because they have accounted for more than <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states">80% of undocumented immigrants</a>. We did not address the <a href="https://www.jeanvnelson35.org/anti-blackness-and-the-criminalization-of-immigrants-part-one">anti-Black discrimination</a> that many immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America face, but believe it’s an important topic to be researched in the future.</p>
<h2>People who speak other languages at home</h2>
<p>The people completing the survey also answered questions about themselves, such as their age, gender, political affiliations and educational background.</p>
<p>We found that having the same racial or ethnic identity as the charity’s beneficiaries didn’t affect the willingness to donate to this fictitious charity. Identifying as Latino or Hispanic, or having Asian American heritage, made no statistically significant difference. Nor did it matter if survey takers believed that the immigrants assisted were from Latin America or Asia.</p>
<p>But those with strong enough ties to another country that they spoke a language other than English at home were more likely to say they would be willing to donate. The probability that the average survey participant who speaks another language at home would be willing to donate was about 13 percentage points higher than for the average white, non-Hispanic respondent who speaks English at home for every scenario we tested.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/press/2021/11/618bec6e4/unhcr-conflict-violence-climate-change-drove-displacement-higher-first.html">Conflict</a>, <a href="https://unu.edu/publications/articles/an-economists-view-on-migration-and-refugees.html">economic distress</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/23/1082370619/migration-climate-change-disaster">climate change</a> are leading to more migration around the world, including large numbers of <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/report-to-congress-on-proposed-refugee-admissions-for-fy-2021/">people seeking asylum</a> or refugee status in the United States. Because governments lack the resources and the political will to serve immigrants adequately, nonprofits can help fill those gaps.</p>
<p>But raising funds to help undocumented immigrants appears to be much harder for charities, even as these immigrants may need the most help. </p>
<p><em>This article was updated to clarify that there are 45 million people living in the U.S. who are immigrants.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181918/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Apolonia Calderon received funding from Southern Methodist University’s Tower Center Latino Center For Leadership and Development.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aseem Prakash and Joannie Tremblay-Boire do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers created an imaginary nonprofit and told participants in a survey that it served different kinds of people. Their results show how feelings about immigrants may influence generosity.Joannie Tremblay-Boire, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy, University of MarylandApolonia Calderon, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of MarylandAseem Prakash, Professor of Political Science, Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences and Founding Director, Center for Environmental Politics, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1796122022-03-25T12:19:33Z2022-03-25T12:19:33Z2020 census miscounted Americans – 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453610/original/file-20220322-17-1ukv0eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C5157%2C3448&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Census takers went door to door in 2020, as in past years, seeking to make the count as accurate as possible.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/2020CensusDoorKnockers/0075ed39582247b5a577b989138e5fa7/photo">AP Photo/John Raoux</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>_The census conducted in the U.S. every 10 years is meant to count everyone. But it doesn’t actually count everyone.</p>
<p><em>After every census, the U.S. Census Bureau reports how well it did at counting every person in the country. In 2020, as in past years, the census <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-census-bureau-report-finds-racial-gap-in-2020-population-count">didn’t get a completely accurate count</a>, according to the bureau’s own reporting. The official census number reported more non-Hispanic whites and people of Asian backgrounds in the U.S. than there actually were. And it reported too few Blacks, Hispanics and <a href="https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/special-reports/2022/02/21/census-historically-undercounted-indigenous-population-wisconsin/6570741001">Native Americans</a> who live on reservations.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BHtyLUQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Aggie Yellow Horse</a>, a sociologist and demographer at Arizona State University, to explain why, and how, the census misses people, and how it’s possible to assess who wasn’t counted.</em>_</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a mask and a face shield writes on a clipboard while talking with a person in a car" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453612/original/file-20220322-15-1l2y8bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Census workers found their time and ability to connect with people limited by the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CensusMontanaHouseSeat/3c04be6e29914360bc2b1e2b11609eab/photo">AP Photo/Matthew Brown</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Who gets missed in the census?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2019/demo/2020-brief.html">people most commonly missed</a> are those with low income, people who rent or don’t have homes at all, people who live in rural areas and people who don’t speak or read English well. Often, these are people of color – Black Americans; Indigenous peoples; or people of Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander backgrounds.</p>
<p>Because of their living situations, these people can be hard for census takers to track down in the first place. And they may be more reluctant to participate because of concerns <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/plan/final-analysis/2020-report-cbams-study-survey.html">about confidentiality, fear of repercussions and distrust of government</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the U.S. Census Bureau tries to count everyone, aiming <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/02/census-bureau-reaches-native-hawaiians-and-pacific-islanders-through-music.html">targeted public relations campaigns</a> at specific communities to encourage members to participate. In addition, Census Bureau employees knock on doors in person across the country, trying to <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-census-nonresponse-followup-completion-rates.html">follow up with those who did not respond to mailings, announcements and events</a>. </p>
<p>However, the pandemic made that process more difficult for the 2020 census, both by making people uncomfortable with in-person visits and by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/census-supreme-court-ruling.html">shortening the timeline for collecting the data</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Who got missed?</h2>
<p>The official estimates show that the 2020 census was really very accurate, capturing 99.8% of the nation’s residents overall. But the census <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/2020-census-estimates-of-undercount-and-overcount.html">missed counting</a> 3.3% of Black Americans, 5.6% of American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations and 5% of people of Hispanic or Latino origin. This could mean missing about 1.4 million Black Americans; 49,000 American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations; and 3.3 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin.</p>
<p>This performance is much worse than in the previous two censuses, when smaller proportions of those populations were missed.</p>
<p>The 2020 census also counted 1.64% more non-Hispanic whites than there actually are in the country. For example, college students could have been counted twice – at their college residence and at their parents’ home.</p>
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<h2>3. How can they count the people who were missed?</h2>
<p>It can be puzzling to understand how the Census Bureau can know how many people it missed. Efforts for measuring census accuracy <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/04/02/sample-surveys-and-the-1940-census/">started in 1940</a>. Census officials use two methods.</p>
<p>First, the Census Bureau uses <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/coverage-measurement/da.html">demographic analysis</a> to create an estimate of the population. That means the bureau calculates how many people might be added to the population counts, through birth registrations and immigration records, and how many people might be removed from them, through death record or emigration reports. Comparing that estimate with the actual count can reveal an <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/demo/popest/2020-demographic-analysis-tables.html">overall scale</a> of how many people the census missed.</p>
<p>As a second measure, the Census Bureau runs what it calls a “<a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2021/post-enumeration-survey.html">post-enumeration survey</a>,” taken after the initial census data is collected. The survey is conducted independent of the census and <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/2020/planning-management/plan/memo-series/2020-memo-2022_06.html">randomly sent to a small group of households</a> from census blocks in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The results of that survey are compared with the census results for those households and can reveal how many people were missed, or if some people were counted twice or counted in the wrong place.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man gestures at a screen showing two maps of political districts in South Carolina" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453615/original/file-20220322-27-1hv1yd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Population figures formally reported by the Census Bureau for the purposes of reapportionment cannot be corrected, according to a 1999 Supreme Court ruling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Redistricting-SouthCarolina/3a5b086838a441f396539a20a71ec024/photo">AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Can the Census Bureau fix its data?</h2>
<p>The Census Bureau has determined that its 2020 data is not accurate and has measured the amount of that inaccuracy. But in 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/525/326">the bureau cannot adjust the numbers</a> it sent to Congress and the states for the purpose of allocating seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and, therefore, Electoral College votes. That’s because federal law <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/13/141">bars the use of statistical sampling</a> in apportionment decisions and requires those changes to be made only on the basis of how many people were actually counted. That means political representation in Congress may not accurately reflect the constituencies the representatives serve.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/525/326">the numbers can be adjusted when used to divide up federal funding</a> for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/01/1069610946/2020-census-correction-challenge-results-count-question-resolution">essential services in communities</a> around the nation. More than <a href="https://www.census.gov/about/what.html">US$675 billion a year is provided to tribal, state and local governments</a> proportionally according to their population numbers.</p>
<p>However, that adjustment happens only if tribal, state or local officials ask for it. The Census Bureau’s <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2021/2020-census-count-question-resolution.html">Count Question Resolution program</a> can correct 2020 census data until June 2023. After the 2010 census, the program received requests from 1,180 governments, of out about 39,000 nationwide. As a result, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42092.pdf">about 2,700 people were newly added</a> to the census count, and about <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/01/1069610946/2020-census-correction-challenge-results-count-question-resolution">48,000 household addresses were corrected</a>.</p>
<p>This approach can lessen the harm done to communities where the census count missed people. But it doesn’t prevent the Census Bureau from missing them – or others – in the next census.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aggie Yellow Horse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the Census Bureau’s count of the population is inaccurate, it affects representation and government spending. Correcting errors isn’t always allowed.Aggie Yellow Horse, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791622022-03-25T12:16:21Z2022-03-25T12:16:21ZAsian American mothers confront multiple crises of pandemic, anti-Asian hate and caregiving<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454441/original/file-20220325-21-2rq5i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=143%2C197%2C2851%2C1796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On March 16, 2022, more than a hundred people attended the Justice for Asian Women Rally in New York City. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/more-than-a-hundred-people-attended-justice-for-asian-women-news-photo/1239259206?adppopup=true">Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In memory of the <a href="https://www.axios.com/asians-atlanta-shootings-anniversary-4d90b144-ab67-4be8-9521-93e94ec719fb.html">Atlanta massage spas</a> shootings on March 16, 2021, that killed eight people, including six Asian women, communities around the country gathered a year later to mourn and demand responses to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/us/atlanta-spa-shootings-anniversary/index.html">violence against Asian Americans</a>, especially women who work in service industries.</p>
<p>In addition to being exposed to risks at their workplaces, Asian American women who care for children and elders are especially vulnerable to anti-Asian violence. As <a href="https://www.umass.edu/wgss/member/miliann-kang">sociologists</a> and scholars of gender, race, immigration and <a href="https://people.umass.edu/cnle/">Asian American studies</a>, we focus on the particular challenges facing Asian American mothers. </p>
<p>Though they face challenges similar to those faced by other mothers confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian American women have the added burden of being seen as the <a href="https://news.osu.edu/study-reveals-why-some-blame-asian-americans-for-covid-19/">cause of the virus</a> and being disproportionately targeted by hostility and violence that such misconceptions bring on. </p>
<h2>Spike in assaults</h2>
<p>From March 2020 to December 2021, <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/">StopAAPIHate</a>, a joint project between the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University and two Asian American community organizations, collected reports of almost 11,000 incidents in the U.S. of anti-Asian hate, ranging from spitting to verbal abuse to physical attacks. Women reported <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-december-31-2021/">62%</a> of these incidents. </p>
<p>In a separate survey of 2,414 female Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders conducted in January and February 2022 by the <a href="https://www.napawf.org/">National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum</a>, a national organization founded in 1998 to advocate for women and girls in that community, results show that 74% of respondents reported personally experiencing racism, discrimination or both in the prior 12 months. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holds up a sign that says 'Asian is not a virus.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453910/original/file-20220323-13-1hj9bqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester in Oakland, Calif., holding a placard against Asian hate on May 15, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-holding-a-placard-against-asian-hate-in-the-news-photo/1232919262?adppopup=true">Pat Mazzera/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The spike in violence has been reflected in news headlines that have appeared since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/20/1082012448/theres-been-an-alarming-spike-in-violence-against-women-of-asian-descent-in-the-">National Public Radio proclaimed</a>, “There’s been an alarming spike in violence against women of Asian descent in the U.S.” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/nowhere-safe-asian-women-reflect-brutal-new-york-city-killings-rcna16173">NBC also reported</a>, “‘Nowhere is safe’: Asian women reflect on brutal New York City killings.”</p>
<p>Over the same time period, other news headlines reflected the toll the pandemic took on mothers. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/parenting/working-moms-mental-health-coronavirus.html">New York Times headline</a>, for instance, read “The Primal Scream: America’s Mothers Are in Crisis.” Another in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/04/07/sacrificed-working-moms-economy-burden-unemployment-column/7104145002/">USA Today</a> read “We sacrificed working moms to survive the pandemic.”</p>
<p>For Asian American mothers, what appear to be distinct headlines are inextricably connected in daily decisions on whether to send children to school, accompany parents on the subway, go to work or simply leave the house. </p>
<h2>Heightened risks</h2>
<p>“There’s just a real sense of fear,” said Jeanie Tung, director of business development and workforce partnerships at <a href="https://www.henrystreet.org/about/">Henry Street Settlement</a>. The organization, located near New York City’s Chinatown, serves Manhattan’s Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers through social services, arts and health care programs.</p>
<p>During an interview, Tung said she has heard from Asian American mothers that their concerns go beyond the lack of child care. “It’s more like, ‘I don’t want to work because I don’t want to risk my life,’” said Tung.</p>
<p>The shootings in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth">Atlanta-area massage spas</a> exposed the heightened vulnerabilities of Asian American women who work in high-contact service industries, such as nail salons, restaurants, delivery, health care, caregiving, hospitality and, especially, massage and sex work.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dozens of white bags are placed on red stairs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453915/original/file-20220323-27-1g4b2fv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During the Justice for Asian Women Rally in New York City on March 16, 2022, dozens of white bags are placed on red steps to honor victims of hate crimes against Asian Americans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/white-bags-set-on-red-steps-to-honor-victims-of-hate-crimes-news-photo/1239258840?adppopup=true">Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yin Q is an organizer for <a href="https://www.redcanarysong.net/">Red Canary Song</a>, a coalition of Asian massage and sex workers in the U.S., with programs also in Toronto, Paris and Hong Kong. “If you look at the rise in violence across the board,” she said in an interview, “then it’s magnified for massage and sex workers. And then you add to that, being a mother and a caregiver.” </p>
<p>She explained that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/opinion/politics/atlanta-shooting-massage-workers-protection.html">social stigma and criminalization</a> of their work increase their risks of violence. Their work also prevents them from being seen as devoted mothers and responsible caregivers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hunterurban.org/faculty/john-chin">John Chin</a>,
professor of urban planning at Hunter College, co-authored an National Institutes of Health-funded study that interviewed over 100 <a href="https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R21-HD074446-01A1">Korean and Chinese women</a> working in illicit massage parlors.</p>
<p>“Can we as a community accept that a person might be both a sex worker and a loving mother dedicated to raising her children?” <a href="https://aaari.info/assets/2022/03/CFV9-Chin.pdf?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_7_2018_12_57_COPY_01)">he asked</a>.</p>
<p>Various initiatives have been proposed to address how motherhood negatively impacts earnings, known as the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0730888415615385">motherhood penalty</a>, and how this penalty has been <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/build-back-better-plan-reduce-motherhood-penalty/">exacerbated during the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>Measures such as flexibility to work from home, child care subsidies, paid family leave and other programs in the Biden administration’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/">American Families Plan</a> are important. </p>
<h2>Unique challenges</h2>
<p>On top of negotiating vaccines, mask mandates, online and in-person learning while trying to sustain their own careers and mental health, Asian American mothers are in a state of hypervigilance against racist attacks. </p>
<p>Immediate needs include increased personal safety. Measures such as providing alarms, rides and hotlines, as well as offering classes in self-defense and <a href="https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/events">bystander</a> training,
have proved effective. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.napawf.org/">A report</a> by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum goes even further. “The State of Safety for Asian American and Pacific Islander Women in the U.S” <a href="https://www.napawf.org/our-work/march-2022/state-of-safety">urged elected officials</a> to spend more money on community-based organizations that offer language-accessible services to help Asian Americans find employment, housing and health care. </p>
<p><a href="https://caaav.org/">CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities</a> has been working since 1986 to address various forms of anti-Asian violence – from street assaults to police brutality to landlord harassment and housing displacement. Its main approach is developing leadership within Asian immigrant communities, including among tenants, workers and youths. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kqed.org/arts/13522854/making-queer-and-trans-asian-american-identities-visible">Queer and trans Asian American mothers</a>, and those raising children who identify as queer and trans, are demanding visibility and responses to the particular challenges they face, including higher risk for <a href="https://www.api-gbv.org/resources/with-you-queer-and-trans-koreans-surviving-violence-2018/">intimate partner and family violence</a>.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-important">Get The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a>.</em>]</p>
<p>Asian Americans are a diverse group, as are Asian American mothers. While some Asian American groups have called for more policing, others disagree and call for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/16/anti-asian-violence-is-serious-problem-policing-isnt-solution/">community-based approaches</a> to increase safety.</p>
<p><a href="https://council.nyc.gov/district-26/">Julie Won</a>, one of the first Korean Americans to serve on the New York City Council, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/nyregion/asian-woman-attacks.html">The New York Times</a> in March 2022 that tougher policing is not the answer and more attention needs to be paid to “prevention and long-term solutions to what leads to these violent crimes.” </p>
<h2>Education remains key</h2>
<p><a href="https://aaastudies.org/">Asian American studies</a> scholars have sought to teach the <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-behind-anti-asian-american-violence-even-when-its-not-a-hate-crime-157487">history of anti-Asian racism</a> and specifically the roots of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/opinions/to-be-an-asian-woman-in-america-ho/index.html">racialized sexualization of Asian American women</a>. </p>
<p>But backlash against teaching <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/09/10/crt-schools-education-racism-slavery-poll/5772418001/">critical race theory</a> underscores the need to expand curriculum on <a href="https://www.si.edu/unit/asian-pacific-american-center">Asian American history</a> and <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal-asian-american-studies">contemporary issues facing Asian Americans</a> beyond the university to K-12 public education. Such <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/18/opinions/asian-american-history-education-aapi-hate-crimes-murphy-pritzker/index.html">initiatives</a> have been proposed in several U.S. states and have become law in Illinois and New Jersey. </p>
<p>Efforts to support and protect Asian Americans, particularly mothers, require approaches that both respond to the rise in anti-Asian violence at this very troubling moment and recognize the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00447471.2020.1840319">long gendered and racial histories</a> of anti-Asian exclusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors are a married couple in addition to being colleagues at UMass Amherst. John Chin and Jeanie Tung are colleagues we have known since graduate school who have specific expertise to contribute to this article. We invited Yin Q to speak on a panel at UMass Amherst last fall. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>When C.N. Le worked for the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS as the Director of Education in New York City from 1999 to 2002, John Chin was his former supervisor and Jeannie Tung was under his supervision in her position as Volunteer Coordinator.</span></em></p>Asian American mothers face a caregiving crisis, fueled by the pandemic but rooted in histories of anti-Asian discrimination and violence.Miliann Kang, Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, UMass AmherstC.N. Le, Director Asian & Asian American Studies Certificate, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1765012022-02-17T13:08:20Z2022-02-17T13:08:20ZAnti-Asian violence spiked in the US during the pandemic, especially in blue-state cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446364/original/file-20220214-23-1q4gzh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C2970%2C1969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anti-Asian attacks killed nine people in 2021, including 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, seen in a photo held by his daughter Monthanus Ratanapakdee.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AntiAsianAttacks/e99ab10373b54120963eb93769acb07f/photo">AP Photo/Terry Chea</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s widely known that Asian Americans felt – and were – <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/21/one-third-of-asian-americans-fear-threats-physical-attacks-and-most-say-violence-against-them-is-rising/">persecuted</a> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-13/san-gabriel-valley-anti-asian-hate">during the pandemic</a>. But the extent of this violence, and its uneven geographic distribution across the U.S., is now much clearer, thanks to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xBQYKHwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">research I conducted</a> with collaborators at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the independent research firm Development Services Group.</p>
<p>The Asian American-Pacific Islander Equity Alliance, a nonprofit based in California, has collected reports of <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-september-2021/">10,370 “hate incidents”</a> from March 2020 through September 2021. The <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/">categories of those incidents</a> include verbal harassment, refusal of service at a business and online abuse, as well as assaults and property damage.</p>
<p>My collaborators and I looked more specifically at <a href="https://dsgonline.com/2022/AntiAsianViolence_PerligerAnastasio_Feb2022.pdf">violent attacks against Asian Americans or their property from 1990 to 2021</a>. In the 30 years before the pandemic, we identified public reports of 210 anti-Asian violent attacks in total, an average of 8.1 per year. But during 2020 and 2021, there were 163 attacks, averaging out to 81.5 a year – or more than 11 times the previous average.</p>
<p><iframe id="A4b3x" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/A4b3x/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Pandemic sparks violence</h2>
<p>Minorities and other vulnerable groups have been targeted for persecution during public health crises throughout history. In 14th-century Europe, <a href="https://www.montana.edu/historybug/yersiniaessays/pariera-dinkins.html">Jews were blamed for the bubonic plague</a>. In 1900, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/26/980480882/why-pandemics-give-birth-to-hate-from-black-death-to-covid-19">Chinese people were unfairly blamed</a> for a plague outbreak in San Francisco’s Chinatown. And in the 1980s, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/26/980480882/why-pandemics-give-birth-to-hate-from-black-death-to-covid-19">Haitians were wrongly blamed</a> for bringing HIV/AIDS to the U.S.</p>
<p>Our data found that before 2020, the average number of Asian Americans killed or injured in anti-Asian attacks was just over eight per year. In 2020 and 2021, however, 49 were physically harmed, an average of almost 25 per year.</p>
<p>We found that almost half of the anti-Asian attacks in 2020 and 2021 were motivated, at least partially, by anger and animosity associated with COVID-19, a disease <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.4269%2Fajtmh.20-0849">first identified in Asia</a>. For instance, in June 2020, an <a href="https://abc7ny.com/hate-crime-new-gourmet-garden-chinese-restaurant-graffiti/6252183/">Asian restaurant in New Jersey was vandalized</a> with graffiti reading “coronavirus” and “COVID-19.” And in February 2021, Denny Kim, a 27-year-old Korean American veteran of the U.S. Air Force, was <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/koreatown-attack-against-27-year-old-asian-american-air-force-veteran-being-investigated-as-hate-crime/">beaten by two men</a> who shouted anti-Asian slurs at him and called him “Chinese virus.”</p>
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<h2>Continuing previous trends of violence</h2>
<p>The additional anti-Asian attacks in 2020 and 2021 tended to be in the same places that had seen high levels of anti-Asian violence before the pandemic. </p>
<p>Before 2020, about half of these attacks happened in the New York City metropolitan area and in urban centers in California. During the pandemic, almost 60% of the attacks happened in those same regions. With higher numbers of Asian American residents, those might seem more likely places for anti-Asian violence to happen, but they aren’t home to 60% of Americans of Asian descent, so the level of anti-Asian violence is still disproportionately high.</p>
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<p>Most anti-Asian violence, both before and during the pandemic, happened in <a href="https://medium.com/3streams/why-hate-crimes-proliferate-in-progressive-blue-state-72483b2d72a7">urban and suburban areas in typically progressive states</a>. </p>
<p>Regardless of when they happened, the attacks were of similar types as well. Before the pandemic, more than 70% of anti-Asian hate crimes targeted people of Asian descent personally, such as a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3460293/White-supremacist-59-attacked-18-year-old-Chinese-girl-hatchet-act-ethnic-cleansing.html">2016 attack on a Chinese exchange student</a> by an alleged white supremacist.</p>
<p>About 20% of attacks were aimed against property owned or regularly used by Asian Americans, such as in 2008 when <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/hate-incidents?state=All&page=110">someone painted racist graffiti</a> on a trash can behind an Asian market in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in a nearby park.</p>
<p>During the pandemic, the proportions were similar: About 60% of anti-Asian attacks were against people, and about one-third were against their property.</p>
<h2>Some changes in trends, too</h2>
<p>During the pandemic, more of the violence was spontaneous, rather than preplanned, than it had been before 2020, according to our analysis. Most <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26544643">other hate crimes are unplanned</a>.</p>
<p>We also found that a higher proportion of attacks were carried out by a single person than had been normal before the pandemic. </p>
<p>Overall, our findings support and confirm the experiences of Asian Americans who reported being targeted by violence more often during the pandemic.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arie Perliger receives funding from the National Institute of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. He is affiliated with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, where he serves as a research fellow. </span></em></p>A new analysis of crime data shows that anti-Asian violence, targeting people of Asian descent and their property, rose sharply during the pandemic.Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1738312022-01-13T13:01:50Z2022-01-13T13:01:50ZMaking sugar, making ‘coolies’: Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-century Louisiana plantations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439550/original/file-20220105-25-x462d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C93%2C3128%2C2062&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harvesting on a Louisiana sugar plantation, 1875.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/93505862/">Alfred R. Waud/Library of Congress</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: This article quotes historical sources using terms now considered racist to describe Black and Asian workers.</em> </p>
<p>The recent surge in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. has put a spotlight on Asian American history, at least for a moment. “Racism is real in America, and it always has been,” <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/03/19/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-emory-university/">Vice President Kamala Harris said on March 19, 2021</a>. “In the 1860s, as Chinese workers built the transcontinental railroad, there were laws on the books, in America, forbidding them from owning property.”</p>
<p>In fact, far more Asian workers moved to the Americas in the 19th century to make sugar than to build the transcontinental railroad. It is a history that can force Americans to contend with colonial violence in the making of the modern world, dating back centuries to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sugar-masters-in-a-new-world-5212993/">Christopher Columbus and his search for trade routes and quick wealth</a>.</p>
<p>As I explore in my book “<a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/coolies-and-cane">Coolies and Cane: Race, Labor, and Sugar in the Age of Emancipation</a>,” thousands of Chinese migrants were recruited to work side by side with African Americans on Louisiana’s sugar plantations after the Civil War. Though now a largely forgotten episode in history, their migration played a key role in renewing and reinforcing the racist foundation of American citizenship. Recruited and reviled as “coolies,” their presence in sugar production helped justify racial exclusion after the abolition of slavery.</p>
<h2>Empire, sugar and slavery</h2>
<p>In places where sugar cane is grown, such as Mauritius, Fiji, Hawaii, Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname, there is usually a sizable population of Asians who can trace their ancestry to India, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere. They are descendants of sugar plantation workers, whose migration and labor embodied the limitations and contradictions of chattel slavery’s slow death in the 19th century. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BLzgD11RwEc?wmode=transparent&start=45" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Sugar was a rare and expensive status symbol until colonial powers created an industry based on enslaved labor.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beginning in the 17th century, the global sugar industry and slavery grew hand in hand to shape the course of capitalist development. Mass consumption of sugar in industrializing Europe and North America rested on mass production of sugar by enslaved Africans in the colonies. The whip, the market, and the law institutionalized slavery across the Americas, including in the U.S.</p>
<p>When the Haitian Revolution erupted in 1791 and Napoleon Bonaparte’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/opinion/france-year-of-napoleon.html">mission to reclaim Saint-Domingue</a>, France’s most prized colony, failed, slaveholding regimes around the world grew alarmed. In response to a series of slave rebellions in its own sugar colonies, especially in Jamaica, the British Empire formally abolished slavery in the 1830s. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/29/slavery-abolition-compensation-when-will-britain-face-up-to-its-crimes-against-humanity">British emancipation</a> included a payment of £20 million to slave owners, an immense sum of money that British taxpayers made loan payments on until 2015.</p>
<p>Importing indentured labor from Asia emerged as a potential way to maintain the British Empire’s sugar plantation system. In 1838 John Gladstone, father of future prime minister William E. Gladstone, arranged for the shipment of 396 South Asian workers, bound to five years of indentured labor, to his sugar estates in British Guiana. The experiment with “Gladstone coolies,” as those workers came to be known, inaugurated what historian Hugh Tinker called “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/A_New_System_of_Slavery.html?id=q1_tAAAAMAAJ">a new system of slavery</a>,” which would endure for nearly a century.</p>
<h2>Louisiana’s sugar bowl</h2>
<p>Louisiana is firmly enmeshed in the global history of empire, sugar and slavery. When Bonaparte’s dream to make France great again collapsed in Haiti, he agreed to sell France’s claims in North America to the U.S. empire in 1803, in what has come to be known as the Louisiana Purchase. Plantation owners who escaped Saint-Domingue with their enslaved workers helped <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/08/the-most-successful-slave-rebellion-in-history-created-an-independent-haiti-and-secured-the-louisiana-purchase-and-the-expansion-of-north-american-slavery.html">establish a booming sugar industry in southern Louisiana</a>.</p>
<p>On huge plantations surrounding New Orleans, home of the largest slave market in the antebellum South, sugar production took off in the first half of the 19th century. By 1853, Louisiana was producing <a href="http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/83038/5/04%20Estados%20Unidos%20(Richard%20Follet).pdf">nearly 25% of all exportable sugar in the world</a>. </p>
<p>Enslaved Black workers made that phenomenal growth possible. On the eve of the Civil War, Louisiana’s sugar industry was valued at US$200 million. More than half of that figure represented the valuation of the ownership of human beings – Black people who did the backbreaking labor of making sugar on a grand scale.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vintage print depicting Native Americans and sugar cane workers in Louisiana." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439560/original/file-20220105-15-15ikwte.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1855 print shows workers on a Louisiana plantation harvesting sugar cane at right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015650277/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Civil War, Black workers rebelled and joined <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/12/reading-w-e-b-dubois-black-reconstruction-chapters-4-and-5.html">what W.E.B. Du Bois called the “General Strike</a>,” abandoning sugar production as quickly as they could. On plantation after plantation, Black workers ran away. By the war’s end, approximately $193 million of the sugar industry’s prewar value had vanished. </p>
<h2>Disappearing acts</h2>
<p>Desperate to regain power and authority after the war, Louisiana’s wealthiest planters studied and learned from their Caribbean counterparts. They, too, looked to Asian workers for their salvation, fantasizing that so-called “coolies” would be cheap, industrious and submissive – a “<a href="https://densho.org/catalyst/inventing-the-model-minority-a-critical-timeline-and-reading-list">model minority</a>” of sorts.</p>
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<p>Thousands of Chinese workers landed in Louisiana between 1866 and 1870, recruited from the Caribbean, China and California. Bound to multiyear contracts, they symbolized Louisiana planters’ racial hope for a new system of slavery. “We can drive the niggers out and import coolies that will work better, at less expense,” journalist Whitelaw Reid <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/title/coolies-and-cane">reported hearing all across the South in 1866</a>, “and relieve us from this cursed nigger impudence.” </p>
<p>To great fanfare, Louisiana’s wealthiest planters spent thousands of dollars to recruit gangs of Chinese workers. When 140 Chinese laborers arrived on Millaudon plantation near New Orleans on July 4, 1870, at a cost of about $10,000 in recruitment fees, the New Orleans Times reported that they were “young, athletic, intelligent, sober and cleanly” and superior to “the vast majority of our African population.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Engraving of men in conical hats working in cane fields." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439559/original/file-20220105-17-idovqs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1871 engraving titled ‘Chinese cheap labor in Louisiana - Chinamen at work on the Milloudon Sugar Plantation.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002716000/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mostly segregated in specifically designated buildings in former slave quarters, Chinese workers generally contracted to work for wage rates far below the prevailing rate in the sugar region: around $14 per month, compared with about $20 per month that local Black men received. But the competition between Black and Chinese laborers that planters predicted did not materialize. </p>
<p>On the ground, Chinese workers behaved no differently from Black workers. When they heard that other workers earned more, they demanded the same. When planters refused, they ran away. The Chinese recruits, the Planters’ Banner observed in 1871, were “fond of changing about, run away worse than negroes, and … leave as soon as anybody offers them higher wages.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Faded letters on a building spell 'On Leong Chinese Merchants Association'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439561/original/file-20220105-17-lkjeqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The former headquarters of the Chinese Merchants Association at 530 Bourbon St. in New Orleans, part of a Chinatown neighborhood that formed in the 1940s after a larger one was destroyed by fire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_New_Orleans#/media/File:530_Bourbon_Street.jpg">Winstonho0805/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Adapting to the rhythms of sugar production, where workers were in high demand during the harvest season at the end of the year, Chinese workers transformed themselves from long-term contract laborers to short-term seasonal laborers. Many moved around Louisiana throughout the 1870s, stopping over in New Orleans and other towns between stints on sugar plantations. Many others left sugar production altogether. In their search for something better, Chinese workers blended into the landscape so well that they disappeared. </p>
<p>But the racial image of Asian workers as industrious and submissive “coolies” making sugar on plantations stuck. When Congress debated excluding the Chinese from the United States in 1882, Rep. Horace F. Page of California argued that the United States could not allow the entry of “millions of cooly slaves and serfs.” That racial reasoning would justify a long series of anti-Asian laws and policies on immigration and naturalization for <a href="https://aatimeline.com">nearly a century</a>.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439239/original/file-20220103-48418-1p7tcpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>This article is part of a series examining sugar’s effects on human health and culture. <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/sugar-2022-114641">Click here to read the articles on theconversation.com.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Moon-Ho Jung does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sugar has deep links with slavery in the US, but Black workers weren’t the only ones affected. In post-Civil War Louisiana, Chinese workers also toiled cutting and processing cane.Moon-Ho Jung, Professor of History, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1738862021-12-21T14:15:55Z2021-12-21T14:15:55ZMillions more Americans now have the right to vote in non-English languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438237/original/file-20211217-13-16r5ux2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C36%2C4859%2C3217&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many Americans need election materials provided in languages other than English.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Census-VotingLanguages/abc9cbea3ca6486dba7d30214285703e/photo">AP Photo/Mark Lennihan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Americans and their elected representatives debate <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/10/26/voter-suppression-or-voter-expansion-whats-happening-and-does-it-matter/">who should be allowed to vote</a> and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/22/wide-partisan-divide-on-whether-voting-is-a-fundamental-right-or-a-privilege-with-responsibilities/">what rules should govern eligibility and registration</a>, one key issue isn’t getting much attention: the ability for people to vote in languages other than English.</p>
<p>Communities with relatively high numbers of voting-age citizens with limited English-language proficiency tend to have lower voter turnout. This problem worsens when the people who are not proficient in English also <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/voting-rights-determination-file.html">don’t have very much education</a>.</p>
<p>They include places like the counties containing Cleveland, Salt Lake City and Rochester, New York – and some counties directly neighboring Chicago and Washington, D.C. </p>
<p>The federal <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/voting_rights_act">Voting Rights Act</a> requires local officials in any community with <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/voting-rights-determination-file.html">significant groups of non-English-proficient citizens</a> to provide election materials in that group’s language. That includes materials such as “any registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/language-minority-citizens">including ballots</a>.”</p>
<p>Every five years, the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/voting-rights-determination-file.html">U.S. Census Bureau announces</a> the list of voting jurisdictions – states, counties, municipalities, American Indian and Alaska Native areas – where those criteria are true. On Dec. 8, 2021, the latest list came out, declaring that <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/section-203-voting-rights-act.html">331 jurisdictions in 30 states</a> must offer non-English voting materials. These locations are home to <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2021/dec/rdo/section-203-determinations.html">80.2 million voting-age citizens</a>, including 20 million people of Hispanic backgrounds. </p>
<p>We are researchers at Boise State University’s <a href="https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-ipi/">Idaho Policy Institute</a> studying the effects of non-English election materials on voting behavior. We have eagerly awaited this release of newly covered areas, which we expect to affect the 2022 midterm election, the 2024 presidential election and beyond. </p>
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<h2>Who is covered?</h2>
<p>People who speak Spanish, Asian, Native American and Alaska Native languages are the focus of this policy, because the federal government has decided that they have “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/language-minority-citizens">suffered a history of exclusion from the political process</a>.” Former University of Michigan Law professor Brenda Abdellal has said the Voting Rights Act provision should be expanded to include protections for other groups too, such as <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol38/iss4/4/?">Arab Americans</a>.</p>
<p>The 2021 Census Bureau designations create the largest increase to date in the number of jurisdictions that must provide non-English election materials and the number of people who will have access to them. Since the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/voting-rights-determination-file.2016.html">last designations in 2016</a>, the number of covered jurisdictions has jumped by 68, a 26% increase. In comparison, the 2016 designations saw only a 6% increase in new jurisdictions over the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/voting-rights/voting-rights-determination-file.2011.html">prior 2011 designations</a>.</p>
<p>California, Florida and Texas are still required to provide Spanish-language ballots for <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/08/2021-26547/voting-rights-act-amendments-of-2006-determinations-under-section-203">every statewide</a> election, even if specific local communities don’t need to do so for their elections.</p>
<p>Although officials in jurisdictions not covered by the relevant Voting Rights Act provisions may also choose to offer these materials, we expect this new set of requirements to result in changes for a large portion of newly covered jurisdictions that have not, until now, offered those materials.</p>
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<p>The number of voting-age citizens who can receive non-English materials is increasing as well. Under the 2016 designations, <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2016/dec/rdo/section-203-determinations.html">68.6 million voting-age citizens</a> lived in covered areas.</p>
<p>The 2021 designations add 11.6 million to that number. The combined language minority populations living in these areas saw a 22% increase in coverage under the 2021 designations, from 19.8 million to <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/rdo/datasets/2021/2021_Section203-Determinations/Sec203_comparisons_2021_revised.pdf">24.2 million Americans</a>.</p>
<p>Broken down by ethnicity, the number of Hispanic voting-age citizens living in jurisdictions required to offer Spanish-language ballots has <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/rdo/datasets/2021/2021_Section203-Determinations/Sec203_comparisons_2021_revised.pdf">increased by 22.7%</a>. This increase is nearly double the 12.4% increase seen between 2011 and 2016. </p>
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<p>Likewise, the number of Asian citizens living in jurisdictions required to offer Asian-language ballots has risen by 21.5%. That contrasts sharply with the 2% increase from 2011 to 2016. This change may reflect the ongoing growth of the Asian population in the U.S., which <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/">nearly doubled from 2000 to 2019</a> and is expected to double again by 2060.</p>
<p>The number of Alaska Native and American Indian citizens living in jurisdictions required to offer Alaska Native and American Indian language ballots has not increased as dramatically – by just 6.3%. However, the fact that it has increased at all is notable, as this is the first time since at least 2002 that the number has not decreased.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is the state with the most new jurisdictions, with 47, with many towns being newly covered for American Indian languages. While Wisconsin’s American Indian population has not grown as rapidly as its Black and Hispanic populations, other researchers have noted an <a href="https://theconversation.com/wisconsins-not-so-white-anymore-and-in-some-rapidly-diversifying-cities-like-kenosha-theres-fear-and-unrest-148044">ongoing demographic shift in Wisconsin over recent years</a>, <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/12/census-wisconsin-grows-modestly-while-milwaukee-drops-1930-s-levels/8110913002/">especially in smaller cities</a>.</p>
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<h2>An important set of changes</h2>
<p>Expanding the languages in which voting information is available boosts participation in the electoral process. The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1975 to require additional languages. In the following 30 years, <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/tfcl12&i=167">Hispanic voter registration doubled</a>. </p>
<p>In previous elections, counties that offered non-English assistance have seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-county-in-idaho-offered-spanish-language-ballots-for-the-first-time-and-heres-what-happened-106500">increased voting by language minority groups</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00317.x">especially for first-generation citizens</a>.</p>
<p>While there may be increased voting in those counties, other research suggests that election language assistance <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00302.x">does not help increase voter registration</a> for people who don’t speak English fluently.</p>
<p>Overall, studies show that language assistance, and especially Spanish-language ballots, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23025122">make it easier for immigrant populations</a> to engage in the election process, resulting in increased voter turnout among Hispanic citizens.</p>
<p>As minority populations continue to grow in many communities – the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing group in more than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/census-maps-race-population-demographics/">2,000 counties</a> – Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act will continue playing a key role in providing access to the voting booth for millions of Americans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lantz McGinnis-Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabe Osterhout does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Access to voting materials in a citizen’s native language helps boost involvement and voter turnout.Gabe Osterhout, Research Associate, Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State UniversityLantz McGinnis-Brown, Research Associate, Idaho Policy Institute, Boise State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1669282021-09-03T13:43:23Z2021-09-03T13:43:23ZHow memories of Japanese American imprisonment during WWII guided the US response to 9/11<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418265/original/file-20210827-23066-3dx6ax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C1997%2C1203&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On Sept. 17, 2001, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, left, met with President George W. Bush and others.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-george-w-bush-meeting-with-transportation-secy-news-photo/50369139">Greg Mathieson/Mai/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As soon as Islamic extremists were identified as having carried out four deadly, coordinated attacks on U.S. soil in the early morning of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta started hearing calls from the public to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7rGPXGicM">ban Arab Americans and Muslims from all flights</a> – and even to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2001/12/dont-treat-innocent-people-like-criminals/378049/">round them up and detain them</a>.</p>
<p>In the chaotic hours and days following the attacks, Mineta did not yet know that his childhood incarceration by the federal government in the aftermath of Japan’s Pearl Harbor bombing nearly 60 years earlier would <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/norman-mineta-s-american-story-helped-u-s-apologize-incarceration-n1005406">be a crucial element in decisions</a> about how the George W. Bush administration responded to 9/11.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mineta family was sent to a camp surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers near Cody, Wyoming. Pictured here with relatives and friends, Norman Mineta is in the front row, second from right, in the white shirt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://minetalegacyproject.com/timeline/">Mineta Family Archives, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation via Mineta Legacy Project</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Enduring the wartime hardships</h2>
<p>Earlier that spring, President Bush had invited Mineta and his wife, Deni, to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-norman-mineta-politics-20190508-htmlstory.html">spend time at Camp David</a>, the presidential retreat. One night after dinner, the president asked Mineta about his imprisonment during World War II. </p>
<p>For three hours, Mineta, an 11-term member of Congress who also had served as President Bill Clinton’s secretary of commerce, shared his experience of wartime detention and its effects on him and his family. </p>
<p>On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had issued an <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74#">executive order authorizing the military to round up</a> and <a href="https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Executive_Order_9066/">remove</a> people of Japanese descent from their homes on the West Coast.
<a href="http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2012/5/16/norman-mineta/">Mineta, his parents, three sisters and a brother</a> were among the approximately 110,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry who were escorted by armed guards to hastily constructed government detention facilities in desolate inland locations.</p>
<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ndu8Fw5h4ITDsNGOj1c0E?si=MtkjEgbdQB2sw0ZMiYw7Yg&t=1656&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A14O3EsEGWQ4mK3XpKzsncP&dl_branch=1"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420489/original/file-20210910-22-cof6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Promotional image for podcast" width="100%"></a>
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<p>Without any charges brought against them, they were held <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/japanese-american-incarceration">under harsh conditions</a> for the duration of the war simply because they were the same race as the enemy.</p>
<p>Mineta’s parents, Kunisaku and Kane Mineta, and other first-generation immigrants from Japan were <a href="http://nikkeijin.densho.org/legacy/reference_ch1_01_issei_en.html">prohibited by federal law from becoming naturalized citizens</a>. After the declaration of war, they were classified as enemy aliens, no matter their loyalty to America, their adopted country. Their U.S.-born children, like young Norm, were included in the military detention orders as “<a href="https://densho.org/terminology/">non-aliens</a>” – the government’s term invented to avoid recognizing that they were natural-born U.S. citizens. </p>
<p>In the spring of 1942, before the family was rounded up by the military, Mineta’s father’s business license for his insurance agency was suspended, and the family bank accounts confiscated. The family scrambled to dispose of their household belongings since they could only take what they could carry. Ten-year-old Norm’s great heartbreak was having to give away his dog, Skippy. And yet, when he boarded a train with his family for an unknown destination, Mineta was <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/barracks-and-boy-scouts-norman-minetas-story">wearing his Cub Scout uniform</a> to show his patriotism.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, where the Mineta family was sent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://news.lib.berkeley.edu/remember">Tom Parker, via University of California Berkeley</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The Minetas arrived at the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California, in May 1942, and six months later were transferred to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Cody, Wyoming. During the war years, the Minetas and those incarcerated at nine other camps run by the government’s War Relocation Authority lived behind barbed wire, under searchlights, with armed soldiers in guard towers pointing guns at them.</p>
<h2>From San Jose to Washington</h2>
<p>In his foreword to my book, “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-Can-We-Go-Back-to-America/Susan-H-Kamei/9781481401449">When Can We Go Back to America?: Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II</a>,” Mineta describes how he was raised to be positive about the privilege of being an American citizen, in spite of the crushing injustice of indefinite imprisonment without cause. </p>
<p>When the Mineta family was able to return to San Jose, California, following the end of the war, they put the challenges of their incarceration behind them and prioritized <a href="https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/18323">rebuilding their lives and standing in the community</a>. Mineta was elected student body president at San Jose High School in his senior year and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1953. </p>
<p>After serving three years as an Army intelligence officer in the Korean War, he joined his father’s insurance business and got involved in local politics. In 1971, he became the mayor of San Jose, <a href="https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/may/15/norman-mineta-and-his-legacy-american-story/">the first Asian American mayor of a major American city</a>. Then in 1974 he became the <a href="https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/may/15/norman-mineta-and-his-legacy-american-story/">first Japanese American from outside of Hawaii to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to being the first Asian American to hold a presidential cabinet position, he was one of the few individuals to serve two presidents from different political parties; in Bush’s cabinet, he was the only Democrat.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One man fastens an award ribbon around the neck of another man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418275/original/file-20210827-23-181y6gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In December 2006, President George W. Bush presented Norman Mineta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431371">Eric Draper, via National Archives and Records Administration</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Changing the course of history</h2>
<p>The day after the 9/11 attacks, Secretary Mineta was at the White House in a meeting with the president, Cabinet members and Democratic and Republican congressional leaders. The discussion turned to the concerns of Arab Americans, Muslims and those from Middle Eastern countries over the growing demands reported in the media that they be placed in detention facilities.</p>
<p>Mineta later recalled the president saying, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7rGPXGicM">We want to make sure that what happened to Norm in 1942 doesn’t happen today</a>.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VH7rGPXGicM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Norman Mineta remembers the initial response to 9/11, from the public and from President George W. Bush.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bush later explained: “One of the important things about Norm’s experience is that sometimes we lose our soul as a nation. The notion of ‘all equal under God’ sometimes disappears. And 9/11 certainly challenged that premise. So right after 9/11, I was deeply concerned that our country would lose its way and treat people who may not worship like their neighbor as non-citizens. So, I went to a mosque. And in some ways, Norm’s example inspired me. In other words, <a href="https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/may/15/norman-mineta-and-his-legacy-american-story/">I didn’t want our country to do to others what had happened to Norm</a>.”</p>
<p>At Mineta’s direction, on Sept. 21, 2001, the Department of Transportation emailed major airlines and aviation associations cautioning against <a href="https://theconversation.com/measuring-racial-profiling-why-its-hard-to-tell-where-police-are-treating-minorities-unfairly-105455">racial profiling</a> or targeting or otherwise discriminating against passengers who appeared to be Middle Eastern, Muslim or both. The message reminded the airlines that “<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/20010921.pdf">not only is it wrong, but it is also illegal</a> to discriminate against people based on their race, ethnicity, or religion.” It said the department would be on the lookout to ensure that airport security measures were not unlawfully discriminatory. </p>
<p>Five years later, in December 2006, Bush presented Mineta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061215-1.html">paying tribute to Mineta’s lifetime of public service</a>. While the government of the 32nd U.S. president would not acknowledge Mineta as a citizen, the 43rd president called him a patriot and “an example of leadership, devotion to duty and personal character” to his fellow citizens.</p>
<p>In 2019, Mineta reflected on how his childhood experience, and the events of 9/11, taught him about how vulnerable U.S. civilians are to being rounded up and detained when the nation is under threat: “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-norman-mineta-politics-20190508-htmlstory.html">You think it won’t happen again? Yeah, it can</a>.”</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan H. Kamei is a member of the Japanese American Citizens League and the Japanese American National Museum. She worked with Secretary Norman Y. Mineta in the campaign for Japanese American redress and he authored the foreword for her book "When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II" (Simon & Schuster 2021).</span></em></p>In the wake of 9/11, some called for rounding up whole groups of people viewed as potential threats to the nation. But Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta knew the U.S. had done that before.Susan H. Kamei, Lecturer in History; Managing Director of the Spatial Sciences Institute, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1587572021-05-30T11:17:50Z2021-05-30T11:17:50ZIn music and film, a new Korean wave is challenging Asian stereotypes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398781/original/file-20210505-21-1hqb16v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C32%2C3573%2C1622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of BTS at the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At this year’s Oscars, Chloé Zhao became the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/apr/26/chloe-zhao-wins-best-director-oscar-nomadland">first woman of colour to win the award for best director</a> for <em>Nomadland</em>. Youn Yuh-jung also became the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-oscars-2021/2021/04/25/989638064/youn-yuh-jung-is-first-korean-to-win-oscar-for-best-supporting-actress">first Korean actress to win an Oscar</a> for her role in <em>Minari</em>.</p>
<p>After decades of being excluded from, and stereotyped by Hollywood, East Asians are finally being recognized in the film industry. This degree of recognition is a cause for celebration, but there is still a long way to go.</p>
<p>For decades, the predominantly white western film industry has <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2018/10/steven-yeun-walking-dead-glenn-asian-stereotype-short-round-1202015250/">confined Asian actors to stereotypical</a> roles and even <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/yellowface-whitewashing-history">cast white actors to play Asian characters</a>. But the recent success of Asians in the film industry begins to open the door to more prominent Asian roles in this field. </p>
<p>A new Korean wave is helping to significantly break down barriers and deconstruct the representation of Asians in western media. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinese-american-actresses-soo-yong-and-anna-may-wong-contrasting-struggles-for-recognition-in-hollywood-159174">Chinese American actresses Soo Yong and Anna May Wong: Contrasting struggles for recognition in Hollywood</a>
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<h2>The power of representation</h2>
<p>I grew up watching Hollywood cinema in South Korea and was especially fond of Katharine Hepburn. Her role in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036777/">the 1944 film <em>Dragon Seed</em></a> left a lasting impression.</p>
<p>In the movie, Hepburn plays a Chinese woman with awkward makeup. When I first saw the film I was only eight years old and had never been to China, but I knew what a Chinese person looked like and it was not that. I wondered whether this casting choice was because there were no Asians in America, or because Asian women weren’t as pretty as Hepburn. I was gaslighted into believing Asian women couldn’t be the central character because we aren’t attractive.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Youn Yuh-jung poses in the press room at the Oscars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=860&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398041/original/file-20210430-19-tt4s22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1081&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Youn Yuh-jung won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in <em>Minari</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Pool)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/multiculturalism">almost 50 years of Canadian multiculturalism</a>, Asian people are still facing discrimination and stereotyping around <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">being a model minority</a>.</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-asian-racism-during-coronavirus-how-the-language-of-disease-produces-hate-and-violence-134496">rise in anti-Asian racism during the pandemic</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56218684">recent violent attacks in the United States and Canada</a>, Asian people are increasingly becoming fearful about their place in North American society.</p>
<p>As a Korean language instructor at Carleton University, my classes are made up of students from multiple cultural and ethnic backgrounds. During one of my classes, I decided to show a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/entertainment/bts-kpop-album-persona-soul-who-is-trnd/index.html">music video by the K-pop band BTS</a> to engage students in contemporary Korean culture. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women</a>
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<p>After playing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBdVXkSdhwU"><em>DNA</em> by BTS</a>, I was surprised to see how it was able to break down cultural and language barriers. Students who had not yet spoken began chatting like they had known each other for a long time. <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_music_strengthens_social_bonds">Research shows that music brings people together</a>.</p>
<p>East Asian students continue to see <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/healing-power-of-k-pop-pandemic-playtime-music-for-the-soul-1.5600104/how-k-pop-band-bts-is-helping-fans-a-world-away-navigate-identity-and-hardship-1.5600109">the accomplishments of K-pop artists as their own</a>. One of my students, a second-generation immigrant from Vietnam said: “I feel indebted to BTS. I am wounded because I am underrepresented in a society where I should belong, but I feel healed by them.” </p>
<p>In the long history of Western pop-culture, non-western cultures have too often been portrayed as <a href="https://thirdcoastreview.com/2019/06/20/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-hollywood-thoughts-on-asian-american-representation-in-pop-culture/">tacky subcultures or disparaged racial minorities</a>. The rise of K-pop is helping reset these stereotypes and, within Asian communities in North America, has become a remedy for those who are perpetually made to feel like foreigners in their own country.</p>
<h2>The Korean wave</h2>
<p>From BTS to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/korean-esports-gaming-class-culture/">video game competitions</a> and the noteworthy 2016 K-drama, <a href="https://otakukart.com/403428/guardian-the-lonely-and-great-god/"><em>Goblin</em></a>, the Korean wave is taking western audiences by storm.</p>
<p>Netflix is planning to invest <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/25/netflix-nflx-to-spend-500-million-in-south-korea-in-2021.html">$500 million this year</a> in South Korean films and TV series. Korean movies and dramas like <em>Parasite</em>, <em>Train to Busan</em> and the <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/bong-joon-ho-the-host-best-monster-movie-21st-century-korea-song-kang-ho-bae-doona-trump-1201813051/">2006 cult classic <em>The Host</em></a> have received critical acclaim globally and in North America. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a tuxedo waves and carries an award." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403180/original/file-20210527-13-k8ehaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bong Joon-ho, director of <em>Parasite</em> and <em>The Host</em>, at the 2019 Palme d'Or Awards in Cannes, France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Korean dramas consistently provide solid performances through impeccable storytelling. One example is the Korean drama <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6611916/"><em>Kingdom</em>, Netflix’s first original Korean series</a>.</p>
<p>Kingdom is more than just a cliché zombie show. With its spectacular landscapes and complex characters, <em>Kingdom</em> holds its own in the competitive streaming space. This challenges the sentiment that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/03/minari-and-the-invisible-stars-of-asian-led-movies/618169/">mainstream content with Asian actors as leads is inferior</a>.</p>
<p>The influx of Korean content can do a great deal to reduce racist attitudes and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0899-5">alter perceptions of East Asians by normalizing the presence of Asian people</a> on screen, in magazines, on the radio and in broader society.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-oscar-for-parasite-the-global-rise-of-south-korean-film-128595">An Oscar for Parasite? The global rise of South Korean film</a>
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<p>As a Korean, I feel fulfilled when I watch series and films filled with faces like mine, portraying complex characters and telling stories not restricted by Western stereotypes.</p>
<p>There are still major hurdles to overcome that prevent Asians from getting into the mainstream. However, Korean content is a powerful way of providing healthy Asian representation and transcending racist stereotypes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hyounjeong Yoo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new wave of Korean music and cinema can play a powerful role in changing perceptions and stereotypes of Asian people.Hyounjeong Yoo, Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585122021-05-27T14:01:57Z2021-05-27T14:01:57ZJapanese American soldiers in World War II fought the Axis abroad and racial prejudice at home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399851/original/file-20210510-5687-12ps4vc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C10%2C2304%2C1838&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soldiers of the Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Bruyères, France.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:442nd_RCT_citation_presentation_in_Bruy%C3%A8res_1944-11-12.jpg">U.S. Army Signal Corps via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine being forced from your home by the government, being imprisoned in a detention camp under armed guards and behind barbed wire – and then being required to join the military to fight for the nation that had locked up you and your family. </p>
<p>That’s what happened in a little-known chapter of U.S. history, in which many of those men went on to become American military heroes, some making the ultimate sacrifice. These soldiers, along with all other Japanese Americans who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, were honored with a <a href="https://www.khon2.com/local-news/hawaii-nisei-soldier-is-the-face-of-the-new-usps-forever-stamp/">new U.S. Postal Service stamp</a> on June 3, 2021.</p>
<p>From the time the first immigrants had arrived from Japan in the 1880s, people of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. – whether they were American citizens or not – faced decades of discrimination. The inequities stemmed from politicians promoting anti-immigrant sentiments, workers and businesses fearing economic competition, and tensions relating to Japan’s rise as a military power. The attack on Pearl Harbor whipped those prejudices into a frenzy of fear that swept the nation. After Dec. 7, 1941, anyone with a Japanese face, especially on the West Coast, had the face of the enemy.</p>
<p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Ndu8Fw5h4ITDsNGOj1c0E?si=MtkjEgbdQB2sw0ZMiYw7Yg&t=1656&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A14O3EsEGWQ4mK3XpKzsncP&dl_branch=1"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420489/original/file-20210910-22-cof6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1" alt="Promotional image for podcast" width="100%"></a>
<br>
<em>Find other ways to listen to <a href="https://theconversation.com/haitis-history-of-political-fragility-makes-its-recovery-from-disaster-even-harder-podcast-167566">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a> here.</em></p>
<p>A little more than two months later, on Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=74#">Executive Order 9066</a>, authorizing the forcible removal of about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from California, Oregon, Washington and parts of Arizona. Without any evidence of disloyalty or charges brought against them, these people – including my grandparents, parents and their families – were sent at gunpoint to hastily constructed detention facilities in desolate inland locations, where they spent the duration of the war. </p>
<p>Two-thirds of those incarcerated were “Nisei” – American citizens, born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrant parents. Their first-generation parents, called “Issei,” were barred by federal law from becoming citizens. Lacking any political clout or any effective allies, the community was powerless to fight against removal and imprisonment.</p>
<p>My forthcoming book, “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-Can-We-Go-Back-to-America/Susan-H-Kamei/9781481401449">When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II</a>,” chronicles the stories of many who experienced this <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-signing-bill-providing-restitution-wartime-internment-japanese-american">travesty of justice</a> simply because of their race. I also tell of the roughly 33,000 Japanese Americans who served gallantly in the U.S. military during the war, fighting for a country that had <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter52&edition=prelim">unconstitutionally wronged them</a>, their families and friends.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men squat near a stove, with a woman holding a child" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399859/original/file-20210510-5566-70vk7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The barracks at Manzanar War Relocation Authority Center in California relied on cloth partitions to provide privacy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manzanar_Relocation_Center,_Manzanar,_California._A_typical_interior_scene_in_one_of_the_barrack_ap_._._._-_NARA_-_538136.jpg">War Relocation Authority, U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Segregated units</h2>
<p>On Jan. 5, 1942, the War Department reclassified Japanese American men from being draft-eligible to <a href="https://amhistory.si.edu/perfectunion/resources/history.html">“enemy aliens” not eligible for the draft</a>. Yet as the war continued into 1943, the U.S. government put out a call seeking Japanese American volunteers to join the army. Thousands of them rushed to sign up, agreeing to serve in a segregated all-Nisei unit under the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/black-soldiers-world-war-ii-discrimination">command of white officers</a>.</p>
<p>Most of these volunteers were from Hawaii, where the Japanese American population had generally been allowed to stay in their homes. Future U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, then a college student, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/journey-to-washington/oclc/949787">was among the first to enlist</a>.</p>
<p>On the mainland, about 1,500 Nisei men volunteered from the 10 euphemistically named “relocation centers.” Of these, <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469641904/american-inquisition/">805 were accepted into service</a>, having satisfied a loyalty test administered only to incarcerated Nisei. Some used their Japanese language skills in the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific theater, while others formed the 100th Infantry Battalion, which fought in Europe, including as a unit attached to the Nisei-staffed 442nd Regimental Combat Team.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Japanese American soldiers stand in a French forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399857/original/file-20210510-16-171boqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">These Japanese American soldiers were part of intense combat retaking Europe from the Nazis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2nd_Battalion,_442nd_RCT_near_Saint-Di%C3%A9_1944-11-13.jpg">U.S. Army Signal Corps via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<h2>Going for broke</h2>
<p>By the end of 1943, U.S. military leaders had grimly realized they were running short of manpower. The political decision to reclassify the Nisei as ineligible for the draft was being reconsidered, as commanders were hearing impressive reports of Nisei volunteers in their training. Mike Masaoka of the Japanese American Citizens League was also lobbying the military brass for the opportunity to show through a <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/great-betrayal-the-evacuation-of-the-japanese-americans-during-world-war-ii/oclc/982298524">“demonstration in blood”</a> that Japanese Americans were loyal Americans. </p>
<p>On Jan. 20, 1944, Secretary of War Henry Stimson announced the reinstatement of the draft for all Nisei men. Young Japanese American men were now considered loyal enough for compulsory military service. These draftees from the detention camps subsequently fought in some of the bloodiest battles in Europe.</p>
<p>The Nisei soldiers shared a spirit, and a motto, of “Go for Broke,” Hawaiian gambling slang for wagering everything on one roll of the dice. They wanted to give it all to defend their country and prove their patriotism.</p>
<p>The Japanese American soldiers helped <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/combat_history/world_war_2/european_theater/north_apennines_campaigns.php">drive the German army out of Italy</a> and continued into eastern France, fighting nonstop for nearly two months in the <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/combat_history/world_war_2/european_theater/rhineland_vosges.php">Vosges Mountains</a>. Their last-ditch effort <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/combat_history/world_war_2/european_theater/rescue_of_the_lost_battalion.php">rescued over 200 soldiers from Texas</a>, who had been stranded behind German lines for nearly a week.</p>
<p>By the time the Nisei troops emerged from the Vosges, the number of dead and wounded outnumbered the living. One company had started out with 185 men, but ended up with <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/combat_history/world_war_2/european_theater/rescue_of_the_lost_battalion.php">only eight</a>. This terrible casualty rate earned the 442nd the nickname of the “<a href="https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2001155728/">Purple Heart Battalion</a>.”</p>
<p>Approximately 18,000 Nisei soldiers served in the combined 100th and 442nd, and collectively they and their units <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/hall_of_honor/awards_stats.php">earned more than 14,000 awards</a>, making it the <a href="https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/history/military_units/442nd.php">most decorated military unit for its size and length of service</a> in all of U.S. military history.</p>
<p>One top military official in the Pacific theater credited the <a href="https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Military_Intelligence_Service/">Nisei MIS interpreters</a> with saving tens of thousands of American lives and shortening the war by as much as two years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ronald Reagan, sitting, shakes hands with smiling people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399864/original/file-20210510-13-13bij0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a bill making moral and financial amends to Japanese Americans kept in U.S. detention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/USPRESIDENTREAGAN/fd942fdf82e4da11af9f0014c2589dfb/photo">AP Photo/Doug Mills</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Their legacy</h2>
<p>The Nisei soldiers might have prevailed over the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific, but they came home to racial prejudice that had only intensified during the war. In 1981, MIS veteran Mits Usui recalled that as he returned to his hometown of Los Angeles, wearing his U.S. Army uniform, <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans/hearings">a bus rider called him a “Damn J*p.”</a> Inouye described how after he was released from the hospital as a decorated second lieutenant with a hook replacing the arm he had lost in combat, a San Francisco <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/journey-to-washington/oclc/490796212">barber refused to cut his “J*p hair.”</a></p>
<p>Vigilantes were terrorizing the veterans’ families so they would not return to their West Coast homes. Some were threatened with bodily harm. The government promoted stories of the Nisei soldiers’ valor as part of a pro-Japanese American publicity campaign to combat the terrorism. </p>
<p>For U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga, President Ronald Reagan’s signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was important recognition of the Nisei’s wartime sacrifices. That legislation officially apologized for the incarceration and provided token reparations payments to the surviving incarcerees. A decorated 100th/442nd member, Matsunaga recalled, “<a href="https://www.nvlchawaii.org/442nd-rct-veteran-spark-matsunaga-elected-us-representative">We feel now that our efforts at the battlefront</a> – giving up our lives and being wounded and maimed and disabled – all this was for a great cause, great ideals … to remove the one big blot on the Constitution that has been there for over 45 years.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399862/original/file-20210510-23-1j8q2th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new stamp is based on a photo of U.S. Army Private First Class Shiroku ‘Whitey’ Yamamoto with the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, Antitank Company in Touet de l'Escarène, France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://store.usps.com/store/results/stamps/_/N-9y93lv">U.S. Postal Service</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2005, surviving Nisei veterans and their families launched a campaign to have the U.S. Postal Service issue a <a href="https://niseistamp.org/">stamp honoring all Japanese Americans who served in World War II</a>, including the women who served. The campaign has had support from bipartisan local, state and federal legislators, as well as from French citizens and officials who have not forgotten the <a href="https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/1117-usps-announces-upcoming-stamps.htm">Nisei heroes</a> who freed their towns from German forces. <a href="https://store.usps.com/store/product/buy-stamps/go-for-broke-japanese-american-soldiers-of-wwii-S_480504">The stamp</a> is one of only a few in U.S. postal history to feature an Asian American or Pacific Islander.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan H. Kamei is a member of the Japanese American National Museum and the Japanese American Citizens League.</span></em></p>Young Japanese American men who were incarcerated because they were presumed to be disloyal were considered loyal enough for compulsory military service.Susan H. Kamei, Lecturer in History; Managing Director of the Spatial Sciences Institute, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1579562021-04-19T12:25:36Z2021-04-19T12:25:36ZAre America’s schools safe for Asian Americans?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391963/original/file-20210326-15-v3vjgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C0%2C6720%2C4436&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Eight out of 10 Asian American youths reported being bullied and harassed during the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/girl-hugs-her-mother-on-first-day-of-school-royalty-free-image/1278034168?adppopup=true">RyanJLane/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf">rise in anti-Asian hate crimes</a> during the pandemic has prompted many Asian American parents to enroll their children in remote learning out of concern for their child’s safety at school. Asian American youths are enrolled in remote learning at <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-04-07/majority-of-students-learning-remotely-despite-schools-reopening">much higher rates than other racial groups</a>. <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/">Federal data</a> show that 78% of Asian American eighth graders attended school virtually in February 2021, whereas just 59% of Black, 59% of Latino and 29% of white students attended school virtually.</em></p>
<p><em>Here, three scholars address school safety for Asian American students.</em></p>
<h2>Are American schools dangerous for Asian American students?</h2>
<p><strong>Aggie J. Yellow Horse, assistant professor of Asian Pacific American Studies at Arizona State University.</strong></p>
<p>Data show that many Asian American youths have experienced anti-Asian violence in the past year. </p>
<p>Asian Americans have experienced a great deal of <a href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/asian-americans-experience-rise-in-severe-online-hate-and-harassment-adl-survey%22%22">racial harassment</a> amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey found that <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6537/8?rss=1">1 in 8 Asian Americans</a> reported experiencing anti-Asian hate incidents in 2020. The victims of that harassment aren’t just adults – they include students.</p>
<p>Since the beginning of the pandemic, <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf">more than 3,800 hate incidents</a> targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been reported to the <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/">Stop AAPI Hate National Reporting Center</a>. Among the incidents early in the pandemic, 16% percent of the targets were Asian American youths ages 12-20. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of mask-wearing protestors hold signs in the middle of the street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394850/original/file-20210413-23-c84t3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on a steep rise during the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-hold-placards-expressing-their-opinions-during-news-photo/1231919317?adppopup=true">Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Stop-AAPI-Hate-Report-On-Youth-Incidents-9-17.pdf">majority of the young victims</a>, about 80%, reported being bullied or verbally harassed. In over half the incidents, the perpetrator used anti-Asian hate rhetoric. About 1 in 5 hate incidents happened at school.</p>
<p>National trends before the pandemic suggested that Asian American students were already more likely to experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.05.002">racial discrimination</a>, such as race-related name-calling, from their peers at school than other categories of students. About 11% of Asian American students reported being called hate-related words, compared with 6.3% of white students in 2015. A separate study found that bullying and physical violence were less of an issue for Asian American students. Only about 7.3% <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020063">reported being bullied at school</a> in 2017, compared with 23% of white students.</p>
<p>How common race-based harassment against Asian students is can vary based on different factors, such as where students live, their gender, grades or immigration status. For example, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15563041/">a study from California</a> found that Asian American sixth graders in California reported being bullied and victimized at higher rates than other racial groups.</p>
<h2>What are the biggest worries for Asian American youth and parents?</h2>
<p><strong>Charissa S. L. Cheah, professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County</strong></p>
<p>Many Asian American parents are <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/parents-fear-anti-asian-racism-as-schools-mull-reopening">worried that their children will be the victims</a> of discrimination once school reopens. </p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="222" data-image="" data-title="Asian American parents are worried about schools reopening." data-size="3549354" data-source="NPR" data-source-url="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980592512/new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social" data-license="" data-license-url="">
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Asian American parents are worried about schools reopening.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980592512/new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social">NPR</a><span class="download"><span>3.38 MB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2161/20210324-me-new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
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<p>In one survey, nearly <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/146/5/e2020021816&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1617719863460000&usg=AOvVaw0VB0DOt_rSsmJcOFFZPdbC">1 in 2 Chinese American parents and 1 in 2 Chinese American youth</a> reported being directly targeted with COVID-19 racial discrimination in person or online. About 4 in 5 of these parents and their children also reported witnessing racism directed at someone else of their own race either online or in person.</p>
<p>Despite their concerns, some parents may avoid talking to their children about anti-Asian racism to avoid scaring them while they are at school. Even if parents <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/well/family/Talking-to-children-anti-Asian-bias.html">want to have the “race talk”</a> with their children, many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12495">struggle with how to talk to their children</a> about the potential racism they might encounter. Some parents may not have been taught these lessons while growing up and are grappling with how to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/03/asian-parents-silence-racism-atlanta/618412/">make sense of these experiences</a>.</p>
<p>Anti-Asian racism is also associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-021816">greater depressive symptoms and anxiety</a> in Chinese American parents and their children. A majority of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/30/americans-fault-china-for-its-role-in-the-spread-of-covid-19/">Americans blame China</a> for its mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. Researchers have found that even thinking that one’s racial or ethnic group is viewed by the general public as a threat to the health of Americans is linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-021816">poorer mental health in both Chinese American parents and youths</a>. </p>
<p>Asian Americans are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000056">less likely</a> than non-Hispanic white Americans to seek mental health help. This is due in part to perceived stigma, language barriers and lack of mental health providers of the same ethnicity. These disparities are even greater for Asian American families with fewer financial resources. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young Asian American boy wearing a mask stands next to someone holding a sign which reads 'Don't hurt my grandparents.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394857/original/file-20210413-13-todys1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elderly Asian Americans are at a higher risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/anuluck-jesadavirojna-wearing-a-face-mask-and-his-mother-news-photo/1231698431?adppopup=true">Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Some Asian American parents have also expressed concerns about the ability of schools to maintain appropriate COVID-19-related health and safety measures. They are worried about the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/asian-american-students-home-school-in-person-pandemic/2021/03/02/eb7056bc-7786-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html">health risks that children exposed to others at school</a> might bring home. Asians Americans are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/05/a-record-64-million-americans-live-in-multigenerational-households/">more likely to live in a multigenerational household</a>, in which older adults might be at a higher health risk. </p>
<p>Even if parents choose to keep their children home because of one or several of these concerns, they are <a href="https://www.aappublications.org/news/2021/01/05/covid-school-safety-010521">getting the message that in-person education is superior to virtual education</a>. Being out of physical school could cause Asian Americans to miss out on these opportunities and resources even more. Also, due to the “<a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/9781118663202.wberen528">model minority myth</a>,” which characterizes Asian Americans as successful, the needs of this <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/08/key-facts-about-asian-americans/">very diverse group</a>, including a large number of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/asian-american-students-home-school-in-person-pandemic/2021/03/02/eb7056bc-7786-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html">immigrant and refugee Asian families</a> in the U.S., are often overlooked. With 30% of Asian Americans reporting <a href="https://aapidata.com/infographic-limited-english-2-2/">limited English proficiency</a>, these families are more difficult to reach. The fears of being harassed also make some parents <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/asian-american-students-home-school-in-person-pandemic/2021/03/02/eb7056bc-7786-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html">reluctant to access educational materials or free meals</a> or even reach out to teachers or counselors for help. </p>
<h2>What can schools do to reduce threats to Asian American students?</h2>
<p><strong>Kevin Gee, an associate professor in the school of education at the University of California Davis</strong> </p>
<p>Helping students build strong and supportive relationships with each other can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000155">reduce their physical victimization</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9215-1">buffer the negative effects</a> of discrimination Asian Americans face.</p>
<p>Schools can also create <a href="https://www.apa.org/advocacy/interpersonal-violence/bullying-school-climate">supportive environments</a> by implementing a range of <a href="https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/Best-practices-strategies-recommendations-for-improving-school-climate-and-culture-2018.pdf">evidence-based approaches</a>, such as building teachers’ cultural knowledge and strengthening teacher-student relationships. Activities like engaging students in class discussions about bullying <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.12.002">have been shown</a> to reduce bullying. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students and their teacher sit around desks engaging themselves in a class discussion." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394864/original/file-20210413-13-cw1ws6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Class discussions around the harms of bullying in schools can prevent harassment toward Asian American students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teaching-high-school-students-during-covid-19-royalty-free-image/1264747482?adppopup=true">RichVintage/E+via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alongside initiatives to build supportive environments, schools should also consider partnering with parents. Directly engaging Asian American parents in anti-bullying initiatives can help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-018-0002-1">reduce victimization</a>. For example, schools can collaborate with parents to craft disciplinary policies on bullying. Schools can also hold workshops to teach parents how to handle and prevent bullying. </p>
<p>In order to reduce threats and eradicate harm, I believe schools will need to consider whether they are doing enough to protect Asian American youth. One <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/united-states-v-school-district-philadelphia-school-reform-commission-edpa">landmark case</a> underscores this. In the aftermath of violent attacks on Asian American students at South Philadelphia High School in 2009, a Department of Justice investigation revealed that the school district was “<a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-summaries#philly">deliberately indifferent</a>” to harassment against Asian students that fueled the attacks. </p>
<p>A key takeaway: Harms against Asian American students can be systemic and require broader structural solutions. When South Philadelphia High School began to do more to promote multicultural awareness and improved systems to report and investigate harassment, the school saw <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/south-philly-high-five-years-later-stability-replaces-deliberate-indifference/">fewer violent incidents</a>. </p>
<p>To make Asian American youth feel safe and protected, schools need to track, report and respond to incidents of hate against Asian Americans, especially among <a href="https://aapidata.com/ethnicitydata/">Asian American ethnic subgroups</a>. Subgroup data, <a href="http://aapidata.com/blog/ethnicity-data-is-critical/">often lacking on Asian Americans</a>, can be a powerful tool in revealing potential disparities and highlighting groups that schools need to target for support.</p>
<p>I believe schools also need to invest in longer-term systemic changes such as including <a href="https://time.com/5949028/asian-american-history-schools/">a more complete history of Asian Americans in U.S. social studies curricula</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157956/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charissa S. L. Cheah receives funding from the National Science Foundation, and previously from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Foundation for Child Development (FCD).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aggie Yellow Horse works for the Stop AAPI Hate National Reporting Center. Aggie Yellow Horse previously received funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin A. Gee receives funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and previously from the Spencer Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development (FCD).</span></em></p>Asian Americans are more likely to participate in remote learning than other racial groups, federal data show. To understand why, three experts weigh in.Charissa S. L. Cheah, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyAggie Yellow Horse, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State UniversityKevin A. Gee, Associate Professor of Education, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1578242021-04-04T12:00:50Z2021-04-04T12:00:50ZAnti-Asian violence: Mental health check-ins on your friends isn’t enough<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392373/original/file-20210329-23-2c9n98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C5447%2C3620&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While mental health check-ins are important, there is more we can do. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently, my friend and I were talking over the phone about <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-26/racist-attacks-inspire-asian-americans-to-fight-back">the anti-Asian violence that has been taking place in the United States</a>. As a first-generation Filipino Canadian woman, my friend was particularly worried for elders and women in her community who are seen as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/there-were-3-800-anti-asian-racist-incidents-mostly-against-n1261257">easy targets for violent racist attacks</a>. </p>
<p>But that’s not the only thing she was worried about:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I am dreading the messages and phone calls that are bound to come in any minute. The mental health check-ins, asking me if I am OK after what happened in Atlanta. I mean the violence did affect me as a person, but it did not affect me <em>personally</em>.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>She went on to explain how her co-worker, who happened to be a Black Canadian woman, had received similar check-in messages and calls after what happened to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html">Breonna Taylor</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726">George Floyd</a>. </p>
<p>People who she had gone to school with, people she had not talked to in years were sending messages asking if she was OK. And while <a href="https://idontmind.com/journal/just-checking-in-ten-minutes-ten-questions">we both agree that mental health check-ins are important</a>, there have to be other things people can do to be responsible citizens. </p>
<p>As a researcher engaged in work related to gender studies and criminal law, with an interest in governance and regulation, I wonder how mental health discourses are employed in the aftermath of racist violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of girls sit hugging each other at protest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392387/original/file-20210329-23-108u6lc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The #StopAsianHate movement is about more than a mass shooting, it is about demanding accountability in the face of white supremacy and hatred.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An exercise in governmentality</h2>
<p>These mental health check-ins are an exercise in <a href="https://criticallegalthinking.com/2014/12/02/governmentality-notes-thought-michel-foucault/">governmentality</a>. Governmentality is what French philosopher <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Foucault-Effect%3A-Studies-in-Governmentality-Burchell-Gordon/c2322f53910e4fb9eba57a6c2232fc0f493edae5?p2df">Michel Foucault compared to the “art of government”</a>: it acknowledges that governance is not limited to the acts or decisions of a government alone, and that as a population, we govern each other as well. </p>
<p>An example of governmentality can be something as mundane as a professional dress code. If you were to show up at a formal event wearing ripped jeans and a tank top, other guests would likely give you a disapproving look. And while you have not broken the law, you have broken some code of conduct. It would not come as a surprise if you were asked to change into formal wear and come back. </p>
<p>There are three things that happened in the above example: there are rules you must follow; if you don’t follow the rules, you have done something wrong; the people who follow the rules are keeping you in line by ensuring you do as they do. </p>
<p>These elements can be applied to mental health check-ins as well. </p>
<h2>Governmentality and mental health check-ins</h2>
<p>As a South Asian woman, I can put myself in the shoes of a well-meaning ally and check in on my friends. I have seen the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-03-17/atlanta-shooting-stop-asian-hate-celebrity-reactions">numerous posts on social media</a> about how we <em>must</em> do mental health check-ins. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1372063887554539524"}"></div></p>
<p>So I listen, scroll through my contacts, friend lists and send <em>the</em> text: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Hey, I heard about what happened in Atlanta. I am so sorry. If you need to talk to someone about it, I’m here, OK?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>My work as a good ally is done, I go about my day with a sense of accomplishment — but should I?</p>
<p>This is governance. We do what we tell each other we are <em>supposed</em> to do. And this is where most people think their work as a good ally and responsible citizen is over, but it isn’t. </p>
<h2>Striking a balance between mental health and justice</h2>
<p>The U.S., like many colonial-era countries, has a long <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/a-long-history-of-bigotry-against-asian-americans/">history of racial violence against Asian people</a>. The <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/politicians-businesses-advocates-speak-out-virtual-stopasianhate-day-n1262193">#StopAsianHate movement</a> is about more than a mass shooting; it is about demanding accountability in the face of white supremacy and hatred. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/power-in-numbers-making-visible-the-violence-against-racialized-women-157749">Power in numbers: Making visible the violence against racialized women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters stand holding signs in support of Stop Asian Hate" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392385/original/file-20210329-23-1prem1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Political leaders and entertainment media have contributed to the anti-Asian violence we’re seeing today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Steven Senne)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thanks to political leaders like former U.S. president Donald Trump, who <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-helped-lead-rise-racist/story?id=76530148">racialized COVID-19</a>, Asian people have been attacked, abused and murdered. The <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/03/22/objectifying-asian-women-racism">objectification of Asian women</a> in entertainment media has also contributed to the anti-Asian violence we’re witnessing today. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-model-minority-myth-hides-the-racist-and-sexist-violence-experienced-by-asian-women-157667">The model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Studies suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/713667453">poor mental health among racial minorities is closely linked with their negative experiences related to racism</a>. Saying that we need to talk about mental health without addressing systemic racism and white supremacy is futile. </p>
<h2>Check in and demand better</h2>
<p>So what can one do if mental health check-ins are not enough? </p>
<p>Agitate and demand better policies. Facilitate healing for Asian communities without interjecting yourself in the process. Donate to, or volunteer with <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a35862857/stop-asian-hate-organizations-to-support/">organizations that are working on the ground</a> to help those affected.</p>
<p>Keeping in mind that you can always do more, do check in with your Asian friends. Because mental health is important, and so is justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diksha Kale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the wake of anti-Asian violence in North America, we need to demand accountability and not just stop after performing mental health check-ins.Diksha Kale, PhD Candidate (Legal Studies), Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1576672021-03-28T13:39:17Z2021-03-28T13:39:17ZThe model minority myth hides the racist and sexist violence experienced by Asian women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391805/original/file-20210325-15-1fesls5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C26%2C4446%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters display placards during a rally held to support Stop Asian Hate, March 21, 2021, in Newton, Mass. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP/Steven Senne)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Six women of Asian descent were among eight people <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth">tragically killed in a targeted shooting</a> on March 16 in Atlanta. The initial <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/18/978680316/atlanta-spa-shootings-expose-frustration-and-debate-over-hate-crime-label">denial by the Atlanta police that this was a hate crime</a>, along with some news reports highlighting the <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/18/opinion/massacre-targeting-asians-georgia-wasnt-bad-day-it-was-hate-crime/">offender’s version of the incident</a>, evoked a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-92-all-in-a-day/clip/15831934-8-killed-atlanta-spa-shootings-sparking">swift reaction by communities all over North America</a>. Many spoke of the invisibility of anti-Asian racism.</p>
<p>One of the reasons for the invisibility of anti-Asian racism is inextricably connected to the model minority myth. The model minority myth focuses on prevailing stereotypes of Asians as hard-working, independent, intelligent and economically prosperous. </p>
<p>But the stereotypes — while seemingly positive — hide many issues, including anti-Asian racism, poverty, labour abuse and psychological needs. It disappears the realities of working-class Asian women’s lives.</p>
<p>The myth has also sometimes <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks">disrupted inter-racial solidarity</a> and has been used against Indigenous, Black <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691168029/the-color-of-success">and other racialized groups</a>. </p>
<h2>The reality of working-class Asians</h2>
<p>The Asian <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691168029/the-color-of-success">model minority myth was popularized by sociologist William Pettersen</a> through a 1966 <em>New York Times</em> article. For the past several decades, the Asian model minority myth has been prevalent in the general public as a counter-argument for anti-Asian racism. </p>
<p>The myth is that Asians are rule-abiding and thus do not have needs that warrant societal and government policy concerns. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="women hold placards at a rally." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391808/original/file-20210325-21-sxsavh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters Dana Liu, centre front, and Kexin Huang, right, display placards during a rally held to support Stop Asian Hate, March 21, 2021, in Newton, Mass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Steven Senne)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some even talk about reverse discrimination and highlight a few successful stories of Asian Americans and Asian Canadians. Leaders have used examples of Asian Canadian and Asian American success <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691168029/the-color-of-success">to deny deeply rooted systemic racism</a> and instead point to that success as evidence of a “colour-blind” society.</p>
<p>However, this celebratory tone systemically excludes the reality of working-class Asian Canadians and Asian Americans. It also excludes a specific form of <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-119">anti-Asian racism against Asian women that is intertwined with gender and sexuality</a>.</p>
<h2>Fear of failure</h2>
<p>The Asian model minority myth produces Asian subjects who are encouraged to be the model, in other words, the non-trouble-making minority. The narrative creates this idea of the essentialist “other” — those who are part of the “model” group. It also discourages that group’s potential collective actions to overcome challenges.</p>
<p>Numerous studies have shown that the model minority myth itself causes a <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/47fea8mk9780252040887.html">fear of failing to conform to the positive stereotype among Asians</a>.</p>
<p>The sentiment that we ought to “take care of the problem ourselves, without troubling others” (as someone said in a research interview) <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-437-1">hides socio-economic, political, educational and psychological needs of Asian Canadians from public view</a>. </p>
<h2>High poverty rates</h2>
<p>Contrary to common notions about Asian Canadians’ economic success, an <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00042-eng.htm">analysis of Canada’s 2016 census data</a> shows that “among Korean, Arab and West Asian Canadians, the poverty rate ranged from 27 per cent to 32 per cent.” Among Chinese and also Black Canadians, the poverty rate reached 20 per cent. Filipinos were the only visible minority group that had a lower poverty rate (7.2 per cent) than the white population (12.2 per cent). </p>
<p>While Asian Canadians are highly represented in skilled occupations, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2019006-eng.htm">particularly among those born in Canada</a>, the high poverty rates of Asian Canadians suggest that they are also over-represented in low-paying occupations, particularly among immigrants. </p>
<p>However, these statistics do not clearly show the feminized poverty, violence and exploitation that many Asian women face due to their precarious immigration status, gender stereotyping and fetishization of Asian women’s bodies. </p>
<p>In fact, anti-Asian racism is <a href="https://www.vox.com/22338807/asian-fetish-racism-atlanta-shooting">intertwined with the sexualization of Asian women</a>, a fetishization of Asian women’s bodies and the stigmatization of sex work. </p>
<h2>Colonial ideas of ‘orientalism’</h2>
<p>The sexualization of Asian women stems from a history of European colonization of the Asia Pacific as well as colonial ideas of orientalism that constructed Asian women as “exotic” sexual objects. In North America, settler colonialism constructed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09663690701439751">Asian immigrants as threats to the biological reproduction of the white nation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a black and white image of men working on the railway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391977/original/file-20210326-21-zhvxvq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chinese men came to work on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway as shown here in 1881.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brown/Library and Archives Canada, C-006686B)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One example of this is the <a href="https://humanrights.ca/story/the-chinese-head-tax-and-the-chinese-exclusion-act">Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada</a> during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Surrounding the immigration ban, Chinese women’s sexuality was constructed as immoral compared to white women. Their exclusion to legitimate immigration was justified by constructing Chinese women as potential “sex workers.” </p>
<h2>Femininized workforce</h2>
<p>Asian women migrants are mainly employed in a feminized workforce, including domestic and care work, service industry and the sex industry. These feminized low-paying workforces have traditionally been considered white women’s work but are now mostly taken up by racialized women. In this work, Asian women workers are stereotyped as <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=4972">“ideal” docile labour</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman kneels down to place flowers at a memorial. Behind her, a protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391970/original/file-20210326-17-1hh51iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People place flowers during a vigil in Montréal to highlight anti-Asian racism and to remember the victims who were murdered in Atlanta, on March 21, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Asian women workers who have precarious migration status are particularly vulnerable to labour exploitation, abuses and police violence from potential deportation threats. However, these women’s stories remain silenced in the celebrated myth of Asian success. </p>
<p>The model minority myth repeats symbolic and racist traps. To move beyond this, alternative narratives are needed to build solidarity both within Asian groups and with other racialized people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157667/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The invisibility of anti-Asian racism is inextricably connected to the model minority myth, which serves to disguise the violence experienced by Asian American and Asian Canadian women.Jiyoung Lee-An, Instructor, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton UniversityXiaobei Chen, Professor and Associate Chair Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1577622021-03-26T15:46:49Z2021-03-26T15:46:49ZTwo stereotypes that diminish the humanity of the Atlanta shooting victims – and all Asian Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391714/original/file-20210325-23-v8hhgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4436%2C2941&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rally against violence toward Asian Americans, after the March 16 attack in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed eight people, including six Chinese and Korean women. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/as-child-holds-a-asian-lives-matter-sign-at-the-rally-news-photo/1308338677?adppopup=true">Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After the Atlanta spa shootings in March 2021, the U.S. media worked harder than usual to describe and understand Asian Americans. </p>
<p>Asian Americans represent a population of 21 million people, with astounding ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. Yet the <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA581024580&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10517642&p=AONE&sw=w">same two stereotypes often emerge</a> in news coverage about them.</p>
<p>One is that of Asian Americans as the “perpetual foreigner” – immigrants who constantly struggle, never assimilate. That’s how the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/what-we-know-about-the-spa-shooting-victims/OVPCGHAFZVGNRCUY3YUYM2ZQVI/">six Chinese and Korean American women killed in the Atlanta area on March 16</a> came off in early stories about the massacre. The news media persisted in referring to victims as “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/us/asian-women-victims-atlanta-shootings.html">women of Asian descent</a>” – versus “Asian American women” – even after it became clear several were not recent immigrants. </p>
<p>These victims, six of the eight dead, don’t fit into the other Asian American stereotype of the upwardly mobile, educated and eager-to-fit-in immigrant – the “model minority.” </p>
<p>As a journalism <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qdl-b1cAAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1">researcher who has published studies</a> on the news media’s tendency to render some groups in the U.S. as more American than others, I know both the “model minority” and “perpetual foreigner” myths well. </p>
<p>Both stereotypes have been levied in tandem against Asian immigrants to the U.S. for centuries. </p>
<h2>Model minority</h2>
<p>In the mid-1800s, <a href="https://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/chinese-immigration-to-the-united-states-1884-1944/timeline.html">Chinese laborers</a> made up the first significant wave of Asian immigration to the United States. Recruited during the Gold Rush and to build the Transcontinental Railroad, the men were described by employers like industrialist Leland Stanford as “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-chang-transcontinental-railroad-anniversary-chinese-workers-20190510-story.html">quiet, peaceable, patient, industrious and economical</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three Asian-American men stand on a railroad pushcart" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=647&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391719/original/file-20210325-13-11uws6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In California, Chinese immigrants were employed by the railroads to do the toughest work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-early-california-thousands-of-chinese-immigrants-were-news-photo/530853974?adppopup=true">George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As that initial population of 4,000 Chinese Americans in 1850 burgeoned, though, they were accused of taking white men’s jobs. Hostility and violence also grew against them. From the subsequent <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/chinese-exclusion-act">Chinese Exclusion Act</a> of 1882, which prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers, to the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation">imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II</a>, Asian Americans were still seen as hardworking and submissive – yet also dangerous and alien.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27246287/">model-minority myth</a> emerged later. In 1965 the <a href="https://www.mackseysymposium.org/virtual2020/all/presentations/353/">Hart-Celler Act</a> opened immigration quotas that had previously favored Western Europeans. That spurred a major wave of immigration from across the globe, including Asia, to the United States. </p>
<p>Bolstered by university offers of international graduate scholarships, this policy favored <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Essays/Growing-Diversity/Hart-Celler/">highly skilled immigrants</a> from Taiwan, South Korea, India, Japan and beyond. </p>
<p>My father, Tien-Yuh Chuang, who boarded a trans-Pacific flight from Taipei to San Francisco in 1965 with US$300, a suitcase and his letter of admission to an engineering doctoral program at University of California, Berkeley, was among them. </p>
<p>Many of the Hart-Celler immigrants were funneled into growing numbers of professional jobs in science and technology fields. They were part of the United States’s <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/sputnik-impact-on-america/">push to become a world leader in everything from the space race to transportation</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/asian-women-and-men-earned-more-than-their-white-black-and-hispanic-counterparts-in-2017.htm">Out-earning all other racial groups</a>, Asian Americans became the “model minority,” a term first coined by <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/sibl/Publications/Model%20Minority%20Section%20(2011).pdf">sociologist William Petersen in a 1966 New York Times article</a>, “Success Story: Japanese American style.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two Asian American women in graduation gowns pose with other people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391718/original/file-20210325-17-138ug8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A family in Los Angeles celebrates college graduation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/asian-graduate-students?agreements=pa:91269&family=editorial&phrase=Asian%20graduate%20students&sort=oldest#license">Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Perpetual foreigner</h2>
<p>As U.S. immigration policy shifted to <a href="https://cis.org/Historical-Overview-Immigration-Policy">favor family reunification and diversity of origin</a>, waves of Asians came to the U.S. from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/09/magazine/the-new-asian-immigrants.html">mid-1970s to 1980s and onward</a>.</p>
<p>Some were refugees resettled from places where the U.S. had gotten involved in wars, like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and South Korea. Other immigrants came from <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrants-asia-united-states-2020">China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and more</a>, attempting to lift their families out of poverty. </p>
<p>Without the same educational and professional sponsorships as my father had, many in these later waves founded mom-and-pop businesses and <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2017/11/20/immigrant-lending-clubs-provide-capital-cost/">peer lending</a> networks. They gravitated toward blue-collar industries and “pink-collar” jobs in salons, food service or child care. </p>
<p>Often serving affluent Americans who looked the other way at their struggle, or their very existence, members of this Asian America are perpetually foreign, and doubly invisible.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Asian woman hands change back to three Asian American customers, over a large outdoor fruit display" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391725/original/file-20210325-23-j299ht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mom-and-pop grocery store in Chinatown, New York City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-paying-a-woman-at-a-fresh-fruit-stand-in-chinatown-news-photo/916117612?adppopup=true">Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The women who worked and died at Young’s Asian Massage, Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa lived in this Asian America – not my father’s or mine.</p>
<p>Between the ages of 33 and 74, more than half were over 50. They worked in a low-wage industry in which Asian immigrant ownership is linked to assumptions about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/03/19/asian-massage-business-women-atlanta/">sex work</a>. This fits into the exotic <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jgrj1&div=11&id=&page=">Asian prostitute stereotype</a>, as old as Suzie Wong or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25069626">Miss Saigon</a>.</p>
<p>However, immigrant-run massage and spa establishments perform <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/opinion/atlanta-shooting-asian-massage.html">legitimate business transactions</a> every day. They massage feet and backs, do acupuncture, give facials. It’s also possible for both legal massage and sex work to occur at the same business, not involving every worker or every client.</p>
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<p>Such workers make up the other side of the high-earning “model minority” statistic. That data masks the fact that Asian Americans have the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u-s-is-rising-most-rapidly-among-asians/">highest income inequality of any racial group</a>, with the top 10% of this population earning more than 10 times what the bottom 10% earns. </p>
<h2>Dangerous stereotypes</h2>
<p>This second Asian America is less likely to work from home or have access to power. That, combined with perceptions that they are not fully American, may make them more vulnerable to attacks like the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/us/hate-crimes-against-asian-americans-community.html">3,800 documented hate incidents against Asian Americans</a> since the pandemic started. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Exterior of the spa at dark with flowers all around it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391726/original/file-20210325-21-1v1frcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A memorial at Gold Spa, in Atlanta, after the March 16 shootings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-bring-flowers-to-the-memorial-sight-set-up-outside-news-photo/1231818325?adppopup=true">Megan Varner/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Asian Americans are so easily, and so often, stereotyped, they become categories, not people – not individuals who make lives, raise families and do the best they can in their adopted homeland. </p>
<p>In the case of the Atlanta killings, many early media portrayals obscured the victims’ dignity or distinctness as mothers and grandmothers, a business owner, a former school teacher, an avid line dancer and a lover of Korean soap operas who cooked a mean kimchi jjigae — in short, as Americans. </p>
<p>“My mother didn’t do anything wrong,” the son of 63-year-old Yong Ae Yue, the fan of Korean soap operas and cooking, told the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-officials-release-names-of-4-women-killed-in-atlanta-spa-shootings/UJR22SSUQZE2JHB7EFWRT6DUZI/">Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>. “And she deserves the recognition that she is a human.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angie Chuang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The media tends to render Asian Americans as either a ‘perpetual foreigner’ or ‘model minority’ – both stereotypes that have been levied in tandem against immigrants from Asia since the 1830s.Angie Chuang, Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1575332021-03-22T12:27:25Z2021-03-22T12:27:25ZUS has a long history of violence against Asian women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390677/original/file-20210319-19-vvpmwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C2995%2C2142&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Esther Song tears up as she attends a community rally to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence and racist attitudes, in Los Angeles in February 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Anti-AsianViolenceAwareness/d2cc54aa88814a569e2773530c27cc0d/photo">AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Asian American women understand that the alleged murderer of eight people in Atlanta was acting in keeping with a culture filled with racialized and sexualized views of Asian women. Of the people murdered, four women were of Korean descent and two of Chinese heritage.</p>
<p>The shooter himself, Robert Long, has said he was <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/suspect-denies-race-was-motivation-in-atlanta-spa-attacks/ar-BB1eEQwx">motivated to act violently</a> because of his self-proclaimed “sex addiction.” He allegedly told investigators that the businesses he attacked represented “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/17/atlanta-spa-shootings-live-updates/">a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate</a>.” </p>
<p>Long sought to eliminate the objects of his sexual temptations, Asian women. In doing so, he drew on the U.S.’s long history of sexualizing Asian American women. </p>
<h2>A long history of stereotypes</h2>
<p><a href="https://asiasociety.org/education/understanding-our-perceptions-asian-americans">Harmful stereotypes of Asian women in American popular culture</a> date back to at least the 19th century. Back then, American missionaries and military personnel in Asia <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-119">viewed the women they met there as exotic and submissive</a>. </p>
<p>These stereotypes influenced the first U.S. immigration law based on race, the 1875 <a href="https://immigrationhistory.org/item/page-act/">Page Act</a>, which prevented Chinese women from entering the United States. The official assumption was that, unless proven otherwise, Chinese women seeking to enter the United States <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27500484">lacked moral character and were prostitutes</a>. In fact, <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/85tcb3hp9780252024696.html">many were wives</a> seeking to reunite with their husbands who had already come to the U.S. </p>
<p>Around the same time, <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520226296/contagious-divides">Chinese women in San Francisco also were scapegoated</a> by local public health officials who feared they would spread sexually transmitted diseases to white men, who would then spread it to their wives. </p>
<p>In the mid-20th century, U.S. wars and military bases in China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea and Vietnam resulted in increased interracial contact between American soldiers and Asian women. The GIs’ restricted interactions with the larger Asian population meant that they met Asian women that worked on or near the military bases: <a href="https://www.salon.com/2017/10/08/womens-labor-sex-work-and-u-s-military-bases-abroad/">on-base service workers who cleaned or cooked</a>, or <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/my-body-was-not-mine-but-the-u-s-militarys/">sex workers in the surrounding communities</a>.</p>
<p>Some soldiers married Asian women and brought them home <a href="https://www.warbrideproject.com/">as war brides</a>, while others primarily viewed Asian women as sexual objects. Both approaches perpetuated <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742560604/Asian-American-Women-and-Men-Labor-Laws-and-Love-Second-Edition">stereotypes of Asian women</a> as sexually submissive, either as ideal wives or sexually exotic prostitutes. </p>
<p>These stereotypes are evident throughout U.S. popular culture in the form of novels and movies, including “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049830/">The Teahouse of the August Moon</a>” and James Michener’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046806/">The Bridges at Toko-Ri</a>,” which feature romances between GIs and Asian women. Vietnam War-era films like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/">Full Metal Jacket</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/">Platoon</a>” depict graphic sexual violence committed by American GIs against Vietnamese women.</p>
<h2>Violence against Asian American women</h2>
<p>In online digital pornography, Asian women are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0964663912443919">disproportionately presented as victims of rape</a>, compared to white women or women of other racial backgrounds. Asian American feminist and activist <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/reconstructing-gender-a-multicultural-anthology/oclc/917433013?referer=br&ht=edition">Helen Zia</a> has argued that there is a connection between the portrayals of Asian women in pornography and violence against Asian American women. </p>
<p><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442209244/Asian-American-Sexual-Politics-The-Construction-of-Race-Gender-and-Sexuality">Rosalind Chou</a>, a sociologist, describes how in 2000, <a href="https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20010531&slug=mukogawa31m">a group of white men kidnapped five Japanese female exchange students</a> in Spokane, Washington, to fulfill their sexual fantasies of Asian female bondage, a subgenre of pornography.</p>
<p>Sexual attacks targeting Asian American women are more likely to come from non-Asians. Though most attacks on white or Black women come from men of the same ethnic background, Asian American women – and Native American women – are more likely to be sexually assaulted by <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj/vol14/iss2/5">males of a different ethnicity</a>. </p>
<p>The most recent high-profile example of this dynamic is the 2015 rape of a woman by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/02/stanford-swimmer-sexual-assault-brock-allen-turner-palo-alto">white Stanford student Brock Turner</a>. Not until 2019 did the woman, Chanel Miller, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/opinion/chanel-miller-know-my-name.html">reveal her name and identity as an Asian American woman</a>. At that point many Asian American women understood another element of what had already been a troubling case of white male sexual aggression: Turner likely felt entitled to use and abuse Miller’s unconscious body not just because she is a woman, but because of her Asian heritage.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Police in a park in Seattle's Chinatown" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390678/original/file-20210319-15-1t06u29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police across the nation, like these Seattle officers, have stepped up their presence in Chinatowns and other Asian neighborhoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RacialInjusticeGeorgiaShootingsReaction/61b22fb407d44d189a952b0a8a8ed307/photo">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Targeted attacks</h2>
<p>In March 2020, Asian American and Pacific Islander community organizations joined with San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Program to document incidents of anti-Asian racism occurring across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>The group they formed, called <a href="https://stopaapihate.org/">StopAAPIHate</a>, has recorded an <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf">average of 11 anti-Asian hate incidents in the U.S. each day</a> since its creation, including in-person and online verbal harassment, civil rights violations and physical assaults. </p>
<p>The group has found that Asian women report hate incidents <a href="https://secureservercdn.net/104.238.69.231/a1w.90d.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/210312-Stop-AAPI-Hate-National-Report-.pdf">2.3 times as often</a> as Asian men. The data doesn’t distinguish between sexual assaults or harassment and other types of physical attacks and harassment, but it nevertheless emphasizes the vulnerability of being Asian and being female.</p>
<h2>Oppression of women of color</h2>
<p>Asian women are not the only targets of racial and sexual violence. Any <a href="https://incite-national.org/dangerous-intersections/">non-white woman has a greater risk</a> of these perils than white women do.</p>
<p>One day after the white male shooter in Georgia killed six Asian women, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/17/politics/kamala-harris-residence-arrest/index.html">an armed white man was detained</a> outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence in Washington, D.C. As a mixed-race South Asian and Black woman, Harris is not exempt from this culture that racializes and sexualizes Asian women and all women of color. None of us is.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>US culture has long represented Asian American women as sexually seductive – showing how victims’ gender and race cannot be separated when attacked by white male violence.Karen Leong, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies, and Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State UniversityKaren Kuo, Associate Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.