news combating the issue of rising attacks against asian americans april 22 2021 combating the issue of rising attacks against asian americans racially-motivated violence against asian-americans has been on the rise since the covid-19 pandemic began by mia mercer ‘23 reposted from the college of liberal arts according to the center for the study of hate and extremism anti-asian hate crimes have increased 149% in american cities since the covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020 xenophobic attacks (attacks motivated by fear and hatred of strangers or perceived foreigners) became a regular part of the news cycle after nine people including six women of asian descent were killed by a gunman in an atlanta massage parlor on march 16 although covid-19 caused an increased number of attacks on asian and asian-american communities anti-asian violence and exclusion is a problem that dates back to the 19th century though america has deep historical xenophobic roots the fight to end racist attacks and violence starts today by implementing progressive anti-racist tactics in both our personal and professional lives the first race-based exclusion law in the us was the 1882 chinese exclusion act which suspended chinese immigration for 10 years it excluded chinese skilled and unskilled labor as well as those working in mining industries it also affected chinese people who were already in the united states by restricting their re-entry into the us so if they left they were not allowed entry back in after the 1882 act was passed associate professor from the department of english and chair of the diversity committee for the english department vanita reddy explained it also denied asian immigrants us citizenship while the 1882 chinese exclusion act reinforced american xenophobia the effects of the 1875 page act continue to be seen today in crimes against asian women such as the atlanta spa shooting the page act actually prohibited the migration of all chinese women to the us reddy said so even before the chinese exclusion act was passed there was the page act which specifically excluded immigrant women from china who were at the time labeled as lewd and immoral based on the assumption that all chinese women were engaged in sex work or were prostitutes in fact the page act even uses the discourse of prostitution as a justification for excluding chinese women entry into the us so when the georgia shooter confessed to having a sex addiction we must see this as linked to the way in which asian women have been constructed as historically sexually available to white men even as they are rendered racially and sexually pathological race in america explains that yellow peril is the fear of asians disrupting western ideals and society and though it dates back to the 19th century this fear is still circulating today generally speaking xenophobia tends to be aggravated in moments of national crisis associate sociology professor kazuko suzuki said we should never forget that the us has a long-standing ideology of facing a ‘yellow peril while it could be dormant during peaceful times it can easily resurface whenever the country encounters national crises as more anti-asian crimes are reported reddy and suzuki suggested recognizing the history of anti-asian violence in america is an important step towards change we cannot separate the anti-asian violence happening now from its long history within the us the passing of the first race-based exclusion law in the us beginning in the 19th century contributed to this stereotype of asian immigrants as being ‘perpetual aliens reddy said there is this ‘perpetual alien racialization thats very particular to asian-americans in this country that theyve never been seen as ‘real americans this can explain in part the rise in anti-asian violence in the us since asian-americans are seen as always foreign although some argue the us has come to terms with its long history of asian and asian-american discrimination since the 1875 page act and the 1882 chinse exclusion act both sources say that asian and asian-american violence and racism are still fueled by the jargon used by politicians and the media for example since the start of the pandemic former president donald trump referred to the coronavirus as the china virus and the kung flu fueling anti-asian sentiment throughout the country as the number of covid-19 cases increases many chinese people are being shunned and blamed for spreading this potentially deadly disease which originated in wuhan china suzuki said the new york times also found more than 110 episodes since march 2020 in which there was clear evidence of race-based hate in the us where asians are frequently aggregated under one umbrella without making clear ethnic distinctions among them it is almost unavoidable that anti-china or anti-chinese sentiments develop into anti-asian sentiment according to reddy anti-asian violence is also intertwined historically with other types of racialized violence which is why the atlanta spa shooting provides an opportunity to think about movements like black lives matter in relation to addressing anti-asian violence as well what happened in atlanta ga which has a large african american population provides a renewed opportunity to look at past and present cross-racial solidarities against white supremacy such as the movement asian americans for black lives and to think about how white terrorism is at the heart of black racial subordination and anti-asian xenophobia in order to combat the rising issue suzuki and reddy shared opportunities for everyone to help minimize the spread of anti-asian violence and racism its important not to put too much pressure on our asian and asian-american colleagues to talk about something that they may or may not want to talk about listen to what they need and center their pain reddy said dont mispronounce their names or ask them to anglicize their names for the sake of your convenience benevolent racism is just as much a problem so commenting on or imputing value around peoples accents or ability to speak english is not a compliment; its racism in addition to offering advice for us as individuals reddy also offered advice for the university and aggie community at large there are everyday ways we can work toward having a more robust asian and asian-american racial consciousness on this campus we really need to be careful of not using one label to talk about everyone reddy advised we need to disaggregate and understand the differences that exist within that category so from an institutional standpoint we need to understand that the category ‘asian is constituted by multiple identities and circumstances thats important because those of us who are asian or asian american may not have the same kinds of access to resources or encounters with anti-asian racism as some of our colleagues since asian-americans are stratified by class nationality and citizenship status among other categories of differences both professors also pointed out the importance of dismantling the model minority myth about asians and asian-americans where asian-americans are viewed as high-income earners and achievers they also shared that because there is a great deal of cultural linguistic and religious differences among people of asian descent universities should implement a curriculum dedicated to asian-american studies in order to learn about each without dehumanizing demonizing or pathologizing others while it may take longer id like to believe in the power of education suzuki said hate crimes often arise out of perceived threats and stereotypes we have to cultivate a spirit of tolerance and valorization of diversity a lack of education and lack of true appreciation of diversity in certain institutions are problematic and this certainly needs to be addressed home page news social justice vanita reddy