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COVID-19 ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT
2020 – 2022
When cases of COVID-19 proliferated in the United States starting in March 2020, the virus was frequently dubbed as the “Wuhan flu” or the “Chinese virus,” sparking a modern-day “yellow peril.” Since the start of the pandemic, Asian American communities have come face-to-face with racist and xenophobic violence and discrimination. The anti-Asian sentiments have manifested in plummeting sales and looting of Chinese restaurants, near-deserted Chinatown districts, and bullying toward Asian Americans in school and across social media.
There is a long history of bigotry against Asian Americans in the United States, dating back to as early as the late-nineteenth century during the Chinese Exclusion Act. Over a century later, anyone perceived to be Chinese during the COVID-19 pandemic is at risk of becoming a target of racially motivated hate crimes. That is the painful reality of the everyday Asian American: no matter how hard one works, the status they have achieved, or the nation they identify with—Asian Americans have always been pitched into the "them" category.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Cleary, T., Nagano, T., Ma, J., & Lopez de Castilla, M. (2021). COVID-19 oral history project. Asian Heritage Committee at LaGuardia Community College. https://asianheritage.commons.gc.cuny.edu/videos/
Kulkarni, M.P., Choi, C., & Jeung, R. (2020, March 19). Stop AAPI Hate. https://stopaapihate.org/
More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported since the pandemic began. (2021, August 12). National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027236499/anti-asian-hate-crimes-assaults-pandemic-incidents-aapi
Ngai, M., & Hwang, D.H. (2021). Asian-American experience during COVID-19. Columbia University: Justice, Equity & Rights. https://fas.columbia.edu/files/fas/content/Justice%2C%20Equity%20%26%20Rights_%20Issue%203.pdf
Ong, C., & Zhang, A. (2021, March 24). Research report & resources for disentangling anti-Asian violence. The AAPI COVID-19 Project. www.tinyurl.com/ACPMar2021Report
Ong, C., Zhang, A., & Shaw, V. (2021). Asian American, Asian Immigrant, and Pacific Islander businesses and workers During COVID-19: Recovery, resilience, and loss. Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Grant Report Series, 322. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://hazards.colorado.edu/quick-response-report/asian-american-asian-immigrant-and-pacific-islander-businesses-and-workers-during-covid-19
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Great Kanto Earthquake
Internment of Japanese Americans
Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The War Brides
Immigration and Nationality Act
Redress Payments
COVID-19 Anti-Asian Sentiment
CLICK ON AN EVENT ABOVE TO LEARN MORE...
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