Anti-Bias Anti-Racism Anti-Asian/Asian American

Asian American Leaders Reiterate Call for Vigilance and Community Support as COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is Signed into Law

On May 20, 2021 President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.

COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act passes in the Senate. NCAPA Calls for Further Community Investment Outside of Law Enforcement

On April 22, 2021 The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. 

Asian American and Pacific Islander Civil Rights Organizations on the Coronavirus: “Not a Green Light to Target Asian Americans and Asian immigrants with Racism and Hate”

On February 07, 2020, The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) issued a statement regarding racism and COVID-19, which reads:

"While the coronavirus represents a legitimate public health concern, it is not a green light to target Asian Americans and Asian immigrants with racism and hate. We are concerned with the growing xenophobic rhetoric that harkens back to the dehumanizing, anti-Asian trope of the “yellow peril,” that was used during the 19th century.  We have consistently stood against efforts to cast our community as “perpetual foreigners,” and sadly, we find ourselves having to do so again.

We call on news outlets and social media platforms to do more to curb racist and inaccurate content in addition to removing misinformation on the coronavirus alone.

National Director, Gregg Orton added: “Many Asian Americans are just as concerned as everyone else about the coronavirus--even more so considering how in some cases, our extended families could be impacted. But to let someone’s health status be a measure of how American they are is absurd. Mass hysteria will not help, and neither will bigotry. Be better than that.”

More details can be found at: NCAPA Statement on Coronavirus Racism

Ascend:  Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend has grown to serve professionals and corporations across various professions and across multiple industries. Ascend reaches 60,000 people with 30 student chapters and 17 professional chapters located in both the United States and Canada around major business hubs and educational institutions. Ascend offers professional development and career enhancement programs designed to cultivate Pan-Asian talent.

Asian American Advertising Federation:  The Asian American Advertising Federation is made up of Asian American advertising principals, media, advertisers and strategic partners. Its mission is to grow the Asian American advertising and marketing industry, raise public awareness of the Asian American community and further professionalism within the industry.

The Asian American Architects and Engineers Association:  AAAESC provides a platform for empowering professionals working in the built environment in personal and professional growth, business development and networking, and leadership in the Asian American community.

Asian American Business Development Center:  Since its establishment in 1994, the Asian American Business Development Center has been striving to assist Asian American businesses in strengthening their capacities to compete in the mainstream marketplace, to expand business opportunities and to promote greater recognition of the contribution of Asian American businesses to the general economy.

Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN):  The Asian American Government Executives Network (AAGEN), founded in 1993, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of the highest ranking Asian American and Pacific Islander career and appointed executives, foreign service officers, legislative and judiciary members, and military officers in Government.

Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA):  The Asian American Journalists Association is a nonprofit professional and educational organization with more than 2,300 members. AAJA serves Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by encouraging young people to consider journalism as a career, developing managers in the media industry and promoting fair and accurate news coverage.

Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF):  The Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund is the first legal rights organization on the East Coast serving Asian Americans. It was founded by a group of lawyers, law students and community activists who believed that the law should be used as a tool to achieve social and economic justice for Asian Americans and all Americans.

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF):  Headquartered in Oakland, APIAHF influences policy, mobilizes communities, and strengthens programs and organizations to improve the health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

APIAHF supports local AA and NHPI communities to have an influence on local, state, and national policy by providing policy and political analysis, research and data support, and effective communications strategies.

Asian Women in Business:  Asian Women in Business is a not-for-profit membership organization created to assist Asian American women in understanding their entrepreneurial potential.

Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC):  The mission of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce is to facilitate business relationships among Asian and U.S. based companies and to promote the economic advancement of Asian Pacific Americans.

Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association:  The Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association is a national organization that aims to address issues important to Asian American students studying medicine.

The Center for Asian Pacific American Women:  The Center for Asian Pacific American Women (formerly The Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute) is the only national, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing and enriching leadership skills for Asian American and Pacific-Islander women leaders. Its mission is to address the challenges facing Asian American and Pacific-Islander women and to nurture trusteeship within their communities by expanding leadership capacity, fostering awareness of Asian American and Pacific-Island issues, creating a supportive network of Asian American and Pacific-Island women and strengthening community.

Committee of 100:  The Committee of 100 is a national non-partisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent. Each member has achieved positions of leadership in the United States in a broad range of professions. With these diverse backgrounds, members collectively pool their strengths and experience to address important issues concerning the Chinese-American community, as well as issues affecting U.S.-China relations.

Federal Asian Pacific American Council:  FAPAC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing the civilian and military Asian Pacific American (APA) employees in the Federal and District of Columbia governments. The mission is to promote equal opportunity and cultural diversity for APAs within the Federal and District of Columbia governments. FAPAC encourages the participation and advancement of APAs in the Government work force.

Japanese American Citizens League (JACL):  The Japanese American Citizens League was founded to address issues of discrimination against people of Japanese ancestry residing in the United States. It is the largest and one of the oldest Asian American organizations in the United Sates.

Korean American Coalition (KAC):  The Korean American Coalition is a nonprofit service, education and advocacy organization that facilitates Korean-American participation in civic, legislative and community affairs. KAC has grown into a national organization with membership chapters in several cities along the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii and affiliate organizations on the East Coast. With more than a dozen full-time staff and a large base of volunteers, KAC provides a variety of direct and indirect services to the fast growing Korean-American communities across the nation.**

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association:  The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association monitors legislative developments and judicial appointments, promotes Asian/Pacific American (APA) political leadership, advocates for equal opportunity in education and in the workplace, works to eliminate violence against APAs and builds coalitions on these issues and others within the legal profession and the community at-large.

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum:  The mission of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum is to forge a grassroots progressive movement for social and economic justice and the political empowerment of Asian and Pacific-American women and girls.

National Association of Asian American Professionals:  The National Association of Asian American Professionals is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization whose mission is to promote the personal and professional development of the Asian American community.

National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development:  The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development is the first national advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the community development, organizing and advocacy needs of the diverse and rapidly growing Asian American and Pacific-Islander communities nationwide

NetIP North America (Network of Indian Professionals):  NetIP North America's mission is to serve as a voice for the South Asian Diaspora and to provide a vehicle for South Asian professionals to enhance the communities in which they work and live. Areas of focus for the organization include economic growth and security, cultural awareness and preservation, family needs and education and learning.

The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE):  The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) was founded in November 2007 to help Asian heritage scientific and engineering professionals achieve their full potential. Organizations existed for other affinity groups - The National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers – and there was a need for a similar organization where students representing all of the pan Asian cultures could connect and support each other.

South Asian Bar Association of North America:  The South Asian Bar Association of North America (SABA) seeks to strengthen the rapidly growing South Asian legal community with a recognized and trusted forum for professional growth and advancement, and promotes the civil rights and access to justice for the South Asian community.

U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce:  The U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization that represents Asian and non-Asian American businesses and professionals in business, sciences, the arts, sports, education, entertainment, community and public service through advocacy, education, information and networking.

Villy Wang is in the business of rewriting stereotypes, empowering youth of color to take back their narratives through storytelling. In this moving talk, Wang explains how she developed a program to train kids in filmmaking so they can create new, authentic stories and break the cycle of bias perpetuated in media.

Here are a few helpful resources focused on facts and on recognizing & addressing racism and microaggressions related to COVID-19i. There is a rapidly growing body of literature on this emerging topic.

• American Medical Association warns against racism, xenophobia amid Covid-19

  AMA Press Releases, May 4, 2020

• Asian Iowans see increased xenophobia, harassment during coronavirus pandemic

  By Andrea Sahouri and Suzanne Behnke, Des Moines Register, April 28, 2020

• The Coronavirus Exposes the History of Racism and “Cleanliness”

  From Vox.com

• Coronavirus Myths and Facts

  Helpful infographic from UNLV's Student Diversity & Social Justice group separates myths and racist assumptions from facts.

• The Coronoavirus Reawakens Old Racist Tropes Against Chinese People

  From the Washington Post

• Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide

  From Human Rights Watch, May 12, 2020

• COVID-19: UN counters pandemic-related hate and xenophobia

  "“We must act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate.” – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, United Nations, May 8, 2020

• I didn't want to write about Coronavirus and racism. Then I got harassed twice.

  By Bethany Ao, from Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

• It Takes All of Us to Reduce Stigma during Disease Outbreaks

  By Washington State Dept. of Health, Secretary of Health John Wiesman and Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs Executive Director Toshiko Hasegawa

• The New Coronavirus is Not an Excuse to be Racist

  From TheVerge.com; warning that this article reproduces some hate speech from Twitter and other online sites

• Tool for Interrupting Microaggressions

  While not focused on Coronavirus racism, here is a super helpful and easy-to-use tool for recognizing and interrupting / responding to microaggressions. From UCSC Academic Affairs; adapted from "Interrupting Microaggressions," by College of the Holy Cross, Diversity Leadership & Education.

• The True Coronavirus Pandemic is the Spread of Racism and Xenophobia through the Media

  From UC Riverside's Highlander News

• Xenophobia is a Pre-existing Condition: How Harmful Stereotypes and Racism are Spreading Around the Coronavirus

  From Time.com, by Jasmine Aguilera

• Yellow Peril Teach-In: Resources to Address Coronavirus Racism

  This crowd-sourced "Yellow Peril Teach-In" Google doc bibliography is being compiled by librarians nationwide; read their guidelines and feel free to add your own citations, if you have helpful information to contribute.

In May 2021, President of the United States, Joe Biden passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. For more information, click HERE.

In Six Weeks, STOP AAPI HATE Receives Over 1700 Incident Reports of Verbal Harassment, Shunning and Physical Assaults LOS ANGELES—

Since its official launch on March 19, 2020, the STOP AAPI HATE reporting center has received over 1700 reports of coronavirus discrimination from Asian Americans across the country. The reporting center was founded by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department.

The following patterns emerged over the course of six weeks
● STOP AAPI HATE received 1710 incident reports.
● Nine out of ten respondents believed that they were targeted because of their race
● Thirty-seven percent of incidents took place at public venues, including streets, parks and transit
● Reports came from 45 states across the nation and Washington DC.

To read the full report, click HERE.

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

This Libguide began was adapted from the American School of Madrid, which was adapted from the Simmons University Libguide, and has grown to include sources from our ASU resources and community. It is a work in progress with news, resources and links to actionable information.