# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Across the United States right now, people are feeling isolated and afraid. As schools and businesses close, people are worrying about their health, their families, their jobs and their future. All of these worries make sense, and of course there's nothing wrong with being afraid. But as people share news, fears and concerns, some people are sharing something else, as well: racism and xenophobia.

Obviously, Chinese people are not responsible for a virus simply because the first reported cases were in China. But some politicians and media figures have taken to referring to the "Chinese Coronavirus." They've used stereotypes about the different foods people eat around the world or made jokes that rely on "Chinese-sounding" words or phrases to make light of the crisis and somehow suggest that Chinese people are to blame. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that China should apologize for the virus.

While it might be tempting to think we should just shake this kind of language off and focus on larger concerns, the truth is that racist and xenophobic words have real-world effects. Across the U.S., Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders report being harassed at school, in stores, on the streets and on the subway. Last month in London, a Singaporean man was assaulted, kicked and punched by a man who said, "I don't want your coronavirus in my country."

We know that racist "jokes" can quickly become racist rants, and those rants can turn to violence. So it's up to all of us to make it clear that we're not OK with racist responses to this crisis.

To do that, Teaching Tolerance recommends a four-step process for speaking up against bias:
Interrupt
Question
Educate
Echo
Here's what speaking up against racism during the coronavirus might look like now.

Interrupt

Interrupting means taking a time out. It shows the person you're talking, texting or chatting with that what they've said is important enough to pause your conversation to address-that you need to talk about the racism before you talk about anything else. Here are a few phrases to try:

"Hang on. I want to go back to what you called the virus."
"Just a second-let's get into your point that the virus is somebody's fault."
"Before we talk about that, I want to talk about the language you just used."

Question

We're all familiar with "questions" that are really warnings: What did you just say to me? or Are you really going to do that? But in this context, the goal of questioning really is to better understand why the person said what they did. You might ask:

"Why did you call it the 'Chinese Coronavirus'?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Where did you get that information?"

One note: Asking someone to explain why a racist joke is funny is a great way to stop them from making racist jokes to you again. But if you want to have a real discussion about what they've said, it might work better to ask something like, "What made you say that?"

Educate

The key to educating is to continue the conversation. The goal here isn't to just provide facts about the topic generally to the person you're talking to with, but to explain why what they've said needs rethinking.

That means that, to educate folks around racism associated with the coronavirus, we need to understand not only the virus but also the racism.

For example, you might explain that it's actually not common anymore to name a disease after its place of origin, that there's a long, bad history of associating diseases with specific groups of people and that the name COVID-19 was chosen very carefully to avoid repeating those mistakes.

If someone doesn't understand why a comment they made was racist, you can educate them about the long history of stereotyping immigrants-and Asian people, specifically-as people who bring disease. You can explain how this stereotype is both wrong and harmful.

And if someone tries to play down racist phrases as "just a joke," you can educate them about the discrimination and racism many AAPI folks are facing right now, so they better understand the impact of their words.

Echo

It takes an effort to speak up against racist ideas and language. This is particularly true of people who are targeted by that language. That's why we need to have each other's backs. When someone else speaks up, echo them. Thank them, and emphasize or amplify their message any way you can. This not only encourages more speaking up-it also ensures that no one thinks your silence in response to biased ideas or language means you're OK with it.

Of course, echoing is harder while we're social distancing, but there are many ways to do it. Online, we can re-share antiracist messages. And in chats or conversations, we can respond to offer support and agreement.

In the coming weeks, we're all going to have to make an effort to take care of one another. We'll probably need to make some more sacrifices to ensure that our communities stay as safe and healthy as possible. Speaking up against bigotry, particularly if you're not the target, costs very little.

If we all commit to interrupting, questioning, educating and echoing to fight racist rhetoric, we can start making our communities safer and healthier today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Across the United States right now, people are feeling isolated and afraid. As schools and businesses close, people are worrying about their health, their families, their jobs and their future. All of these worries make sense, and of course there's nothing wrong with being afraid.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the aftermath of the recent increase in hate crimes and bias incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, many communities are showing their support in various ways, from social media activism to mutual aid efforts.

Efforts like these are starting to heighten awareness surrounding racism against Asian Americans, which can be ingrained and subtle - ranging from racially insensitive incidents to physical attacks, experts say. And it's been fueled over the past year by pandemic-related rhetoric such as referring to the coronavirus as the "China virus," reports have shown.

Initiatives including educational resources, donation sites, in-person volunteering and reading lists all aim to help prevent further violence. Last year from March to December, there were 2,800 anti-Asian American hate incidents, according to the online self-reporting tool Stop AAPI Hate. There were 69 incidents that included racist language in addition to a physical incident. The site doesn't report these to police.

Experts share further resources below on how to be anti-racist and support the Asian American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, community.

Racism against AAPIs has a long and painful history, dating back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Scholars say this law scapegoated Chinese workers on the West Coast who were often blamed for declining wages and job opportunities. A century later, many Americans continued to blame Asian Americans for their economic woes, this time in the auto industry, as Japanese manufacturers made their way into the U.S. market. In 1982, Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese American was murdered in Detroit by two white men - one a Chrylser worker and another a recently laid-off Chrysler worker - who, according to a witness, used obscene language while blaming him for losing his job.
Resources:
-- "Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning" is a collection of essays published in 2020 about the nuances of the Asian American experience

-- "Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White" examines stereotypes, such as the perpetual foreigner and the model minority myth, and tackles issues including affirmative action, immigration and interracial marriage

-- Self Evident: Asian American's Stories is a podcast that aims to challenge assumptions about Asian Americans

--PBS' Asian Americans is a five-part documentary series on the history of Asians in America.

--#AsianAmCovidStories is a YouTube documentary series exploring Asian Americans' experiences and challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many members of the AAPI community have long said they feel the need to "prove" they experience racism, and social media has been somewhat of a game changer in terms of being able to offer "receipts." Though experts say the fact the community even feels compelled to do so points to a larger problem.

"Asians have had a harder time proving racism in a large part because, in general, people still don't know the history and struggles of Asian Americans," Stewart Kwoh, president emeritus of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, said previously. "That's the overwhelming problem we have to confront as a society."

Sharing racist incidents on social media helps dispel the myth that Asian Americans don't experience violent crime or racism, said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director at the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, told NBC Asian America.

"The enormous force of the model minority myth - that you're all doing well, that your issues are not the same as others who are really suffering - is what we're fighting against," she said.

Factual information is essential to furthering conversations about racism in a productive way, said Russell M. Jeung, a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. He points to specific suggestions surrounding terminology.

"'Xenophobia' assumes we're foreigners, so call it 'racism'," Jeung said. "And don't call it 'anti-Asian sentiment' because sentiment is all warm and fuzzy. Call it 'Asian hate,' because that's what it is."

Be clear on the difference between a hate or a bias incident and a hate crime -- that a bias incident might involve an act like a slur and a hate crime is a physical act of violence that shows racial motivation. Public mislabeling of incidents can have an impact on a jury and lead to a greater sentence for a suspect. The distinction between these terms is essential, experts say.

"Hate crimes are really narrowly defined as crimes for which you can be arrested with a racial bias there," Jeung said. "It's not an indicator of the level and extent of racism occurring."

Experts say that the conversation around anti-Asian American hate must include incidents besides hate crimes and that just because an act is not categorized as such doesn't diminish its significance.
Resources:
-- Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC's tool for reporting hate incidents and Stop AAPI Hate's tool for reporting hate incidents.

-- Learn what makes a hate crime from the U.S. Department of Justice.

-- Learn about coded language from the National Education Association's EdJustice.

Promoting safety doesn't necessarily mean calling for more policing, experts say. Instead, safety can "look like neighbors helping each other out," said John C. Yang, president and executive director of civil rights nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. "It's about creating that community where people feel like they are better protected and that they are not alone."

In places like Oakland, California, Yang said community members are supporting their local Asian American elders by helping them run errands, walking them to the grocery store, or buying food for those who are too afraid to go outside. Aside from donations and volunteers, many nonprofits are also seeking help with political lobbying and letter writing.

"It's important for us to always be building coalition, working in solidarity so that it's not only when crises happen that we're reaching out to an organization for support," said Michelle Kim, author of The Wake Up and CEO of Awaken, a company that offers diversity and inclusion workshops.
Resources:
-- Oakland Chinatown Coalition brings together cultural organizations to advocate for neighborhood improvement projects and community engagement.

-- Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC develops projects, training, education and advocacy to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans.

-- The Center for Asian Pacific American Women offers professional development programs for Asian women.

Although the current moment is focused on hate incidents and crimes as a result of language such as "China virus," many Asian American subgroups have long been the targets of racism as well. Groups such as South Asian Americans and Southeast Asian Americans face other challenges and issues that are often hidden by the model minority myth, the belief that all Asian Americans are successful.

Support and seek resources from a broad range of AAPI advocacy groups, such as South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), which focuses on public policy analysis, advocacy and community building; The National Federation fo Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), which develops young leaders, urges political participation and supports small businesses; the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), which promotes visibility and provides education and tools to tackle homophobia and racism; the Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund (SALDEF), a media and educational organization that promotes civic and political participation; and Empowered Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), which seeks to empower Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities through advocacy and research.

Support groups like StopAAPIHate, which organized a tracking tool for hate incidents last year; The National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, which helps provide affordable care, translated resources and cultural competency for professionals; Send Chinatown Love, which supports restaurants, many of which are immigrant-run and cash-only and so were rejected for government aid.

In addition, the Asian American advocacy group Goldhouse has compiled a comprehensive fundraising page on GoFundMe featuring local nonprofits by region, ways to help small businesses and social media toolkits.

Experts have pointed out that it's a sign of progress that we no longer name viruses after their country of origin.

"Just because certain terms have been used in the past doesn't make it appropriate now. We know that language evolves," Yang said in a past interview. "Certainly, there are terms that have been used in the past, whether in the health context or also elsewhere, that we all recognize have become inaccurate, anachronistic or inappropriate."

He pointed out that we no longer uphold the tradition of naming hurricanes only after women. From about 1953 to 1978, common female names were chosen for storms. Feminist activist Roxcy Bolton fought to end the practice as she and others saw the harmful rhetoric that resulted.

Before Asian Americans ask others to advocate for them, the community must do its own work on addressing biases -- one example being anti-Blackness, experts say.

"We have a responsibility to call out racism, whatever we see, not only when it happens to Asians," Yang said.

When addressing loved ones who might hold racist misconceptions, he thinks it's helpful to approach the subject from a place of care. "Don't approach it in a way where they will get defensive, because it's a learning process for them too," he said.

Jeung said that when it comes to understanding racism, playing "oppression olympics" is both counterproductive and misleading.

"When we try to dismantle white supremacy, we're working in partnership with Black Lives Matter, but we are addressing a different aspect of racism," Jeung said.

One way Asian Americans can call attention to racism without comparing it to anti-Blackness, Jeung said, is to "recognize that Asians are racialized differently" in the U.S., and "placed on an outsider-insider spectrum."

"Sometimes we're insiders to America, we belong and should have white-adjacent or honorary rights," he said. "But in times of war, times of pandemic, times of economic downturn, we're pushed. We can be deported, cut refugee resettlement and H1-B visas because we're outsiders."
Resources:
-- "How to talk to your Asian immigrant parents about racism while considering their lived experiences"

-- "How to talk to parents about race if you're adopted or multiracial"

-- Resources for Asian Americans learning about anti-Blackness by Asians American Advancing Justice - AAJC.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anti-racism resources to support Asian American, Pacific Islander community

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the aftermath of the recent increase in hate crimes and bias incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, many communities are showing their support in various ways, from social media activism to mutual aid efforts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang called upon Asian Americans to become part of the solution against COVID-19.

In the face of rising anti-Asian racist actions - now at about 100 reported cases per day - Yang implores Asian Americans to "wear red, white, and blue" in their efforts to combat the virus.

Optimistically, before Donald Trump declared COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," Yang believed that "getting the virus under control" would rid this country of its anti-Asian racism. But Asian American history, my field of research, suggests a sobering reality.

A history of anti-Asian racism

Up until the eve of the COVID-19 crisis, the prevailing narrative about Asian Americans was one of the model minority.

The model minority concept, developed during and after World War II, posits that Asian Americans were the ideal immigrants of color to the United States due to their economic success.

But in the United States, Asian Americans have long been considered as a threat to a nation that promoted a whites-only immigration policy. They were called a "yellow peril": unclean and unfit for citizenship in America.

In the late 19th century, white nativists spread xenophobic propaganda about Chinese uncleanliness in San Francisco. This fueled the passage of the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act, the first law in the United States that barred immigration solely based on race. Initially, the act placed a 10-year moratorium on all Chinese migration.

In the early 20th century, American officials in the Philippines, then a formal colony of the U.S., denigrated Filipinos for their supposedly unclean and uncivilized bodies. Colonial officers and doctors identified two enemies: Filipino insurgents against American rule, and "tropical diseases" festering in native bodies. By pointing to Filipinos' political and medical unruliness, these officials justified continued U.S. colonial rule in the islands.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 to incarcerate people under suspicion as enemies to inland internment camps.

While the order also affected German- and Italian-Americans on the East Coast, the vast majority of those incarcerated in 1942 were of Japanese descent. Many of them were naturalized citizens, second- and third-generation Americans. Internees who fought in the celebrated 442nd Regiment were coerced by the United States military to prove their loyalty to a country that locked them up simply for being Japanese.

In the 21st century, even the most "multicultural" North American cities, like my hometown of Toronto, Canada, are hotbeds for virulent racism. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Toronto saw a rise of anti-Asian racism, much like that of today.

In her 2008 study, sociologist Carrianne Leung highlights the everyday racism against Chinese and Filipina health care workers in the years that followed the SARS crisis. While publicly celebrated for their work in hospitals and other health facilities, these women found themselves fearing for their lives on their way home.

No expression of patriotism - not even being front-line workers in a pandemic - makes Asian migrants immune to racism.

Making the model minority

Over the past decade, from Pulitzer Prizes to popular films, Asian Americans have slowly been gaining better representation in Hollywood and other cultural industries.

Whereas "The Joy Luck Club" had long been the most infamous depiction of Asian-ness in Hollywood, by the 2018 Golden Globes, Sandra Oh declared her now famous adage: "It's an honor just to be Asian." It was, at least at face value, a moment of cultural inclusion.

However, so-called Asian American inclusion has a dark side.

In reality, as cultural historian Robert G. Lee has argued, inclusion can and has been used to undermine the activism of African Americans, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups in the United States. In the words of writer Frank Chin in 1974, "Whites love us because we're not black."

For example, in 1943, a year after the United States incarcerated Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066, Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. White liberals advocated for the repeal not out of altruism toward Chinese migrants, but to advocate for a transpacific alliance against Japan and the Axis powers.

By allowing for the free passage of Chinese migrants to the United States, the nation could show its supposed fitness as an interracial superpower that rivaled Japan and Germany. Meanwhile, incarcerated Japanese Americans in camps and African Americans were still held under Jim Crow segregation laws.

In her new book, " Opening the Gates to Asia: A Transpacific History of How America Repealed Asian Exclusion," Occidental College historian Jane Hong reveals how the United States government used Asian immigration inclusion against other minority groups at a time of social upheaval.

For example, in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson's administration signed the much-celebrated Hart-Celler Act into law. The act primarily targeted Asian and African migrants, shifting immigration from an exclusionary quota system to an merit-based points system. However, it also imposed immigration restrictions on Latin America.

Beyond model minority politics

As history shows, Asian American communities stand to gain more working within communities and across the lines of race, rather than trying to appeal to those in power.

Japanese American activists such as the late Yuri Kochiyama worked in solidarity with other communities of color to advance the civil rights movement.

A former internee at the Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas, Kochiyama's postwar life in Harlem, and her friendship with Malcolm X, inspired her to become active in the anti-Vietnam War and civil rights movements. In the 1980s, she and her husband Bill, himself part of the 442nd Regiment, worked at the forefront of the reparations and apology movement for Japanese internees. As a result of their efforts, Ronald Reagan signed the resulting Civil Liberties Act into law in 1988.

Kochiyama and activists like her have inspired the cross-community work of Asian American communities after them.

In Los Angeles, where I live, the Little Tokyo Service Center is among those at the forefront of grassroots organizing for affordable housing and social services in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. While the organization's priority area is Little Tokyo and its community members, the center's work advocates for affordable housing among black and Latinx residents, as well as Japanese American and other Asian American groups.

To the northwest in Koreatown, the grassroots organization Ktown for All conducts outreach to unhoused residents of the neighborhood, regardless of ethnic background.

The coronavirus sees no borders. Likewise, I think that everyone must follow the example of these organizations and activists, past and present, to reach across borders and contribute to collective well-being.

Self-isolation, social distancing and healthy practices should not be in the service of proving one's patriotism. Instead, these precautions should be done for the sake of caring for those whom we do and do not know, inside and outside our national communities.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The long history of racism against Asian Americans in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How should Asian Americans respond to rising anti-Asian racist actions? History may offer some lessons during the pandemic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
‘I am not a virus.’ How this artist is illustrating coronavirus-fueled racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Inspired by recent events, Korean-Swedish artist Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom is addressing the hostility Asians increasingly are facing during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Reports of anti-Asian violence and harassment are once again on the rise-including the horrific murders of six Asian women in a mass shooting in Atlanta. Today it's as critical as ever that we do all that we can to stop it in its tracks.

From March 19, 2020 through February 28, 2021, there were 3,795 incidents of coronavirus-related verbal harassment, shunning, and physical assault on Asian Americans across the U.S. reported to the STOP AAPI (Asian American/Pacific Islander) HATE reporting center. Asians of all ethnicities are being racially profiled, and women are two and a half times as likely to be targeted, the group reports. Asian Americans face coronavirus discrimination in public and at businesses, especially grocery stores, pharmacies, and big box retail stores.

Incidents include physical attacks, denial of service at hotels, verbal abuse of AAPI workers, and xenophobic messages communicated by leaders in government.

This isn't unlike the situation faced by Muslims after 9/11. And just as Islamophobic actions are targeted at both people who are actually Muslim and those perceived to be Muslim, COVID-19 racism has real consequences for Asian Americans who are Chinese or perceived to be Chinese. The harassment of AAPI women is especially concerning, with perpetrators often using the pretext of the coronavirus to perpetuate misogyny. Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, says "I feel like the coronavirus is being weaponized."

People targeted by COVID-19 racist attacks-who are dealing with the devastating impacts of the pandemic like everyone else-can feel further isolated and anxious. Tuyet Anh, a member of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), says that her experience with harassment "makes me and other Asian Americans feel as if we are the virus. We are labeled and demonized as this threat to white American safety."

Amanda Nguyễn of Oakland, California created a viral video about the recent attacks and told reporters "When I made that video I was tired of living in fear and I wanted to scream. ... We are literally fearing for our lives as we walk out of our door."

In these times, it's important to remember the damaging narratives and scapegoating that occurred in other painful periods in our history-resulting in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Act of 1924, and Japanese internment in the 1940s.

Very relevant to the murders in Atlanta, we can go back even further to The Page Act of 1875, used to exclude women who were suspected of prostitution or having "immoral" purposes. Tamara K. Nopper writes that "The Page Act was partly informed by images of Chinese women being dominated by Chinese men and Chinese culture while Chinese women simultaneously being viewed as sexual threat or predator that was being imported into the U.S. (and often assumed to be doing so against their will)." Although gendered and sexual violence exist in every culture, The Page Act racialized it as specific to the Chinese.

In AFSC's workshops on anti-Muslim racism, we trace the roots of these damaging narratives that have targeted the AAPI community over centuries, as articulated by Edward Said in his classic work "Orientalism." Simply put, the European or "Western" world has viewed Asian, Black, and other "non-Western" people through a lens that paints them as monolithic and dangerous, among other things. These narratives-which are still prevalent in our society and reinforced through education and entertainment-undergird our collective anxieties about public health in this moment.

It's as important today as ever to educate ourselves and our community about these issues, stand up to racism wherever we see it, and work to build the safe, inclusive communities we all deserve.

Here are some resources that can help:
Bystander Intervention: Report Instances of anti-Asian harassment: More tools:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Reports of anti-Asian violence and harassment are once again on the rise-including the horrific murders of six Asian women in a mass shooting in Atlanta. Today it's as critical as ever that we do all that we can to stop it in its tracks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As the number of novel coronavirus cases rises, anxiety over the potentially deadly disease has been partly based on something other than health concerns. From denigrating social media memes and GIFs to incidents of outright prejudice around the world, many Chinese people, and people of Asian descent perceived to be Chinese, are being avoided and blamed for spreading the pneumonia-causing virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.

This anti-Asian xenophobia has a history rooted in decades of discriminatory and biased American public health and immigration policies that have targeted, and continue to target, immigrants from Asia because of the perceived threats they pose to America's dominance domestically and abroad, according to two UC Berkeley experts who have studied the history of race in America.

"There's a part of that original history of xenophobia and racism in America from the 19th and 20th centuries that is coming back," said Winston Tseng, a Berkeley research scientist and lecturer in the School of Public Health and in Asian American and Asian Diasporas Studies. "History is resurfacing again, with China becoming a stronger country and more competitive and a threat to U.S. dominance today, just like Japan was a threat in the second world war."

Resurfacing history

Tseng pointed to the immigration station at Angel Island where, between 1910 and 1940, over 225,000 Chinese and Japanese immigrants were detained under oppressive conditions for as long as six months.

This federal facility monitored the flow of Chinese immigrants entering the country after the implementation of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which prevented Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.

It was the first immigration law that excluded an entire ethnic group.

Many of the immigrants were quarantined and given invasive medical examinations and interrogations at the facility without their consent or actual evidence of disease. Public health authorities, in turn, misrepresented Asians as diseased carriers of incurable afflictions, like smallpox and bubonic plague, as a means to justify anti-immigration policy and to drum up hysteria against Asian immigrants, who were perceived as a threat to white Americans for jobs.

The similar association between disease and immigrants was used as a catalyst for immigration restrictions on New York City's Ellis Island in the 1920s. Tseng said the severity of and mortality associated with diseases originating in China, such as coronavirus and SARS, are quite serious, but often overblown.

"Certainly, this type of virus can start from any country. If there's a certain mode of infection from an animal to a human that takes place, it can start anywhere," said Tseng, who teaches a course on Asian American health. "But it's certainly a concern to hear the news that different countries are confirming the 'yellow peril' and 'yellow alert' prejudices against people from China."

While the coronavirus is responsible for more than 1,000 deaths and 43,138 infections, including nearly 500 cases outside of China, as of Wednesday, Tseng said public health officials are still gathering information, and that early estimates are that the virus will reach its peak of contagion in the spring, with potentially more than 200,000 cases by April.

"(The coronavirus) is a very serious issue, for sure, but from a public health standpoint, it's a relative issue compared to all the public health issues out there globally," he said. "Based on preliminary CDC estimates last week, our regular influenza virus has infected more than 20 million Americans and caused 12,000 deaths this flu season. This is probably a more serious issue right now in America."

A state of anti-immigrant bias

Berkeley professor john a. powell said the discrimination against Asians because of the coronavirus is due to a 'heightened state of (anti-immigrant) bias' in the United States.

As an example, a federal law was passed in 2018 to restrict Chinese student and scholar immigration to America. That prejudice, powell said, is an outgrowth of larger debates about trade, Chinese espionage and worries about the expansion of Chinese companies' 5G broadband system.

Many of these debates, he added, are not about trade or free-market competition, but instead about preserving white American dominance.

"It's an assumption that the West, particularly Anglo-American Christians, should dominate the world," said powell, who is director of Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute. "So, somehow, Asians are seen as not real Americans and not to be trusted."

According to the International Monetary Fund, in terms of gross domestic product and purchasing power parity, China's economy is the largest in the world, at $25.27 trillion. The United States, in comparison, sits at just over $21 trillion.

Tseng said China is increasingly perceived as the primary threat to America's global dominance, and with economic and political tensions continuing to rise between the United States and China, Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans may be scapegoated for things other than the coronavirus.

"Many Chinese Americans have been here for many generations and are not coming from China or Wuhan," said Tseng. "Often, from a historical standpoint, I really feel things in our anti-immigration climate may just get worse before they get better."

Empathy for the infected

Third-year Berkeley student Kolette Cho said she's heard of instances where people of Asian descent have been discriminated against because they may have friends or family who have come from, or have visited, China recently.

But as a Korean American, she has not experienced any prejudice firsthand because of the coronavirus.

"I've heard of jokes that maybe it was an exchange student bringing (coronavirus) here, which can be kind of insensitive," Cho, 20, said. "I don't know if people mean it in a malicious manner, but I don't think it's beneficial."

For powell, thinking about the infected and how we can help as a global society is important. He said changing the way we describe people from other cultures and countries is a step in the right direction.

"Sometimes they're Muslim, sometimes they're black, sometimes they're Mexican, sometimes they're Asian," powell said. "But there is no them. There's only us, and we have to figure out how to go forward where everybody belongs and nobody dominates. Not blacks, not whites, not Christians, not Muslims. No group dominates."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus: Fear of Asians rooted in long American history of prejudicial policies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the number of novel coronavirus cases rises, anxiety over the potentially deadly disease has been partly based on something other than health concerns. From denigrating social media memes and GIFs to incidents of outright prejudice around the world, many Chinese people, and people of Asian descent perceived to be Chinese, are being avoided and blamed for spreading the pneumonia-causing virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Asian Americans Advancing Justice is a national affiliation of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all. The affiliation's members are: Advancing Justi

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's a difficult time to be Asian American: Along with the everyone else in the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has infiltrated almost every aspect of our day-to-day lives. And racially motivated violence against Asian Americans seems to be spreading just as quickly as the coronavirus itself.

People are being coughed at and spat on. Verbal insults and threats against women and older people make headlines every week. In Midland, Texas, a father and his toddler were slashed across their faces at a Sam's Club for being Asian.

According to NBC News, the online reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate said that since its inception March 18, it's received more than 650 direct reports of discrimination primarily targeting Asian Americans. (Because COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, Asian Americans have been widely scapegoated and harrassed, regardless of whether they're Chinese or not. )

All the while, President Donald Trump has intermittently called the coronavirus the " Chinese Virus," something many critics say is fueling racism throughout the country.

Whether you've been subjected to discrimination or not, simply hearing about the widespread xenophobia can affect your mental health. We asked therapists who work within Asian American communities to share their best self-care advice for these stressful times.

1. Reach out to friends who can validate your experiences. (Online friends count, too!)

Because we're physically distancing, social bonds are more important now than ever, especially if you're emotionally exhausted from this current wave of xenophobia and racism. (Maybe you've experienced a glare or rude comment yourself at the market or on a walk.)

"I think the need for connection is particularly important when we've encountered a micro or macroaggression," said Gabrielle Zhuang-Estrin, a clinical social worker who works in the Asian American community in Los Angeles. "We should be sharing the burden of our experience. Let family and friends know what's happening."

If you see or hear about another person who's been targeted, reach out and validate their experiences. For instance, if you see a social media post about someone being verbally abused, make a point to comment. (It could be something like, "Hey, we don't know each other, but we're mutual friends through Lauren; I just want to tell you I'm so sorry about what happened to you when you were walking your dog. I've had some experiences like that myself recently, so please let me know if you want to talk.")

"Oftentimes with things like this, you need someone to witness, listen and affirm what we've seen," Zhuang-Estrin said. "I'd also suggest joining a POC or Asian American/APIA online community or advocacy organization to hear more voices that are dealing with this right now and to find larger supportive networks that are mobilizing outreach or action. "

The more popular online communities ― NextShark.com or the Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits - can serve as a good jumping-off point when looking for specific advocacy groups.

10'000 Hours via Getty Images

2. Pull yourself away from the TV and headlines once in a while.

You want to be as informed as possible during an international health crisis like this ― especially when there are local threats to your community. You might feel like you can't take a break and it's not until you're overwhelmed and hit with a wave of exhaustion that you stop. Don't let it get that far, said Zhuang-Estrin.

"I tell my clients that while watching or reading the news, keep track of your personal experience, your feelings and emotions as well as your bodily reactions," she said. "Check to see if there's sadness, grief or anger coming up. If so, maybe you need to take a pause and metabolize that for a moment before moving forward."

Zhuang-Estrin said to notice sensations in your body ― a tightening in the chest or belly, for instance, or a quickened heart rate ― and let that inform your decisions on what you can take in, content-wise, and when it's too much.

"We each have our own tolerance levels of what we can absorb and what is too overwhelming and it takes some mindfulness to be aware of when we become overwhelmed with distressing stories," Zhuang-Estrin said.

When you do take a break, try some mindfulness-based relaxation, go on a walk or do something you love, said Therese Mascardo, a psychologist of Filipino descent who works in the Asian American community.

If you're constantly overwhelmed and are struggling to self-soothe, consider seeing a therapist - over FaceTime or Zoom, that is.

"Professional mental health support from culturally sensitive licensed therapists can be an effective way to process the emotions related to the trauma, and to learn coping skills for resulting depression, anxiety or hypervigilance," Mascardo said.

fanjianhua via Getty Images

3. If you have to go to the grocery store, steel yourself.

For many Asian Americans, there's heightened concern about going to the market right now. It's easy to be wary when you hear stories from others. Take, for instance, this experience journalist Jeff Yang recently tweeted about:

"So I had my first 'breathing while Asian' moment," he said. "Went out for groceries and an older masked white woman passing by the line shouted 'FUCK YOU!' at me for no apparent reason. As I stared at her, she pulled off her mask, coughed directly at me, turned on her heel and walked off."

It's likely that going to the grocery store will be totally OK, but Yang's story is hardly an outlier; there is cause for concern, which is why Amazon Fresh or other grocery delivery services are increasingly more appealing for many.

If that's not an option for you and you have to go to the market to restock, steel yourself for your visit by talking through your feelings beforehand with your loved ones.

"Ask them what they've done to feel OK in situations where they felt like they might be potentially at risk of attack," Mascardo said. "If it helps when you're at the market, be on a call or FaceTime with someone who can serve as an emotional support and 'witness' if something were to happen."

4. If you're discriminated against, put your safety first.

If someone confronts or profiles you because you're Asian ― whether it's a dirty look, a racial slur or something worse ― safety should be your first concern. Typically, the best self-defense is to ignore and walk away from a provocation.

"It's important to remember that by doing so, you are not saying that racism or the racist act is OK," Mascardo said. "Walking away from a racist encounter is simply choosing to not engage in a lose-lose situation. Then, after you've secured safety, it can be valuable to seek immediate emotional support from a friend or loved one."

If you want to make a complaint ― or just need immediate emotional support ― seek out staff at the market and let them know what happened.

How do you calm down in the moment? Zhuang-Estrin said to breathe in and out and to feel your feet.

"Connecting and expanding into our bodies helps us remain as calm as we can and as open as we can so we can access different action options," she said. "When you were faced with a threat, your breathing probably became more shallow and your vision narrowed because you were readying yourself [for] rapid action. Taking a breath and staying connected to our bodies also allows us to remain present rather than relying on our immediate impulses."

However you act, don't judge yourself for it later. Accepting how you handled the encounter is important, Zhuang-Estrin said, because you don't want to deal with that "pang of guilt or concern that you haven't handled the situation 'right' on top of everything else."

5. Lean into literature written for and by Asians.

Now is a great time to grab your Kindle and check out books by Asians and Asian Americans. In this difficult hour, hearing how others in the community have persevered can be heartening, Zhuang-Estrin said.

"I always tell my clients to lean into our ancestors, social justice elders or beloved spiritual figures in hard times," she said. "It allows us to bring in different models that can help lead how we can think and act during this time. Read Grace Lee Boggs, Maxine Hong Kingston and Thich Nhat Hanh."

6. Remind yourself that this is part of a larger story.

Try to keep a wide lens when you consider the current wave of xenophobia and racism that Asian Americans are dealing with. These microaggressions and macroaggressions feel painfully personal, but they're reflective of a larger legacy of oppression against Asians in the U.S., Zhuang-Estrin said.

"Historically, Asian Americans are either exalted (model minority) or vilified (red scare)," she said. "In our current context we are seeing fear and blame being inflamed by a leader who seeks to scapegoat the pandemic so the problem is institutional in nature."

Recognizing that this is bigger than you isn't meant to minimize your current experiences. They're still very valid.

"Looking at our history doesn't give the other person a pass when we're directly confronted with racism," Zhuang-Estrin said. "But holding this wider lens shows us the greater complexity we are in and helps us assess what we can and cannot control."

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Self-Care Tips For Asian Americans Dealing With Racism Right Now

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's a difficult time to be Asian American: Along with the everyone else in the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has infiltrated almost every aspect of our day-to-day lives. And racially motivated violence against Asian Americans seems to be spreading just as quickly as the coronavirus itself. People are being coughed at and spat on.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fundamentals, Resource List, COVID-19 - Racial Equity and Social Justice Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This section includes information that we hope will help communities and activists as they work to understand and respond both to the moment and for the long haul.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This toolkit provides high resolution images in PDF and PNG formats to help interrupt stigma and reduce bias as it relates to coronavirus. These images are intended for use on social media, and are currently sized for Instagram. However, feel free to repurpose them for other communications channels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This toolkit provides high resolution images in PDF and PNG formats to help interrupt stigma and reduce bias as it relates to coronavirus. These images are intended for use on social media, and are currently sized for Instagram. However, feel free to repurpose them for other communications channels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use the resources and activities below to expand your understanding of how the coronavirus pandemic has led to increased racism against people who are of Chinese or Asian descent, and what you can do about it. Grade Level: Middle and High School Lesson Plan: Coronavirus and Infectious Racism Overvie…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Taking on Anti-Asian Racism in the Time of Coronavirus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Asian American Feminist Collective's new zine talks about the history of anti-Asian racism and offers resources for community and care.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Asian Americans Are Calling on Allies in Response to a Wave of Violence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Three recent attacks of senior citizens show the continued rise of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As the coronavirus has continued spreading across the United States, so too has the false belief that Asian Americans are to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic.

State officials are investigating reports of name-calling to denial of services that Minnesotans of Asian descent have been experiencing. And as Minnesota eases up on restrictions on daily life - and everything from schools to shopping malls begin to reopen - some Asian American community members fear these incidents will only increase.

MPR News reached out to a historian and community leaders and asked for their advice for non-Asian Americans to become allies to their peers during this difficult time.

All four respondents were part of an MPR virtual town hall on racism during COVID-19, which you can watch here. Here are their written tips for being an ally.

"The most important thing we can do in this moment is to understand, acknowledge, and relearn our American history of racism. What's happening now to Asian Americans is not new. Instead of allyship, we need to be in unity against racism. Being in unity means we don't let communities stand or solve the problem alone; instead, we collectively call out interpersonal and systemic acts of racialized violence. There is always something we can on our own and something we can do together. Ending racism takes everyone."

"Lead with love: be intentional about letting people know that they are welcome and valued. If you see discrimination or hate, speak up! You can also report discrimination and bias to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights by calling 1-833-454-0148."

Erika Lee | Regents professor of history and American studies, University of Minnesota

Lee said she intends her tip to apply for both allies and victims of racism: "We all need to understand how anti-Asian xenophobia is just one example of how the pandemic is disproportionately impacting poor, African American, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous communities; groups that were already vulnerable to economic inequality, health disparities, and social exclusion. We need to support each other in order to move forward together."

Sam Ouk | Faribault Public Schools' equity and multilingual programs coordinator

"Hate and racist acts against Asian Americans have been on the rise due to COVID-19. And like all acts of hate, it cannot be left unchallenged. Speak out against these acts at any given chance. Teachers and people who work with youth, especially, have a very important role to play. If this is your line of work, use the opportunity to teach and equip youth with healthy ways to respond to hate. Even if you don't have Asian students in your class, the wrongful acts of these events need to be called out. Bias and hate need to be dispelled. The biggest barrier for Asian Americans is the constant invisibility and silencing forced upon them. Asian American issues are American issues. More platforms need to be given to highlight this American story. The Asian American story needs to be heard and a united effort needs to be put forth to illuminate the contributions of Asian Americans throughout history."
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This program is part of MPR's "If you'd like to listen to the town hall event, use the audio player above. Call to Mind" initiative to promote discussion about mental health and well-being. For more resources from Call to Mind, visit this page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to be an ally for Asian Americans facing racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the coronavirus has continued spreading across the United States, so too has the false belief that Asian Americans are to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. State officials are investigating reports of name-calling to denial of services that Minnesotans of Asian descent have been experiencing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Grace has been still struggling with the balance of homeschooling and working. It is a LOT to do in one day. She's made the decision to slow down some of the online learning projects she's been hosting and just focus on writing books.

There have been many articles in the news recently about hate crimes in the US due to the coronavirus. Alvina mostly blames Trump for adding fuel to this fire by calling it "The Chinese Virus". He may have recently stopped using that term as he became aware of Asians being attacked. "Grace, have you experienced ay racism?"

Grace talks about her experience recently at a cross walk where she witnessed a man in his truck glare hatred right at another Asian woman and then right at her while walking across the street. Sometimes these micro-aggressions can add up and be very painful. Some people think it's not racism until something physically awful is done to you but it can also be these subtle moves.

Alvina discussed mask wearing in America (to not get sick from others) vs. in Asian countries where they have the mask on as to not spread their sickness to others. This kind of selflessness should be adopted here right now.

Grace and Alvina discuss wether or not this will have a long term effect on Anti-Asian sentiment. They both hope not but believe it may be true. Asians have always been an "other" and right now that's the focus. It was Muslims, and maybe in the future it will be sometimes else Grace thinks. People do forget easily. What they hope will positively come out of this?: People will value teachers and essential workers. Hopefully more Americans will want universal healthcare.

Last year, Alvina donated money to help fund this Taiwanese American filmmaker who was making a movie called "Hello from Taiwan". One of the awards was a pair of Blue Light Blocking glasses. She never used them. After working from home and being on the computer for 7-10 hours a day, she remembered the glasses! They've really helped!

Grace mentioned that pre-pandemic, she was considering not making any more books like her "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" or "When the Sea Turned to Silver" because she thought perhaps those were contributing to the "otherness" of Asian Americans. Now she has decided to loosen the chains she had put on herself creatively and continue to write those Asian fantasy books. Grace is also grateful for her daughter being able to write an Easter thank you note unprompted!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Episode #59: Being Asian During the Pandemic Episode - Book Friends Forever

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to another great pandemic episode of the Book Friends Forever podcast. Alvina and Grace check-in on each other and discuss what it's like being Asian during the coronavirus. Just a reminder! Once the BFF's reach 50 reviews or 100 ratings, they are going to have a drawing!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus: The rise of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
🇺🇸 Why is anti-Asian racism on the rise in the US? | The Stream

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Facts, Not Fear

For health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.

In addition, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum has been compiling multilingual resources on the coronavirus and COVID-19 in their Community Library: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander In-Language Resources for Coronavirus.

The AAPI Emergency Response Network (ERN), born out of a collaboration between the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) and other non-profit groups, is a compilation of resources on health, hate incidents, small business, and more specifically for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Resources to Document and Address Hate

We encourage reporting to our website, www.StandAgainstHatred.org, which is accessible in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice created this site in January 2017 to capture information about the increase in hate we observed in the lead-up to the 2016 election. Through this website, we document hate crimes, harassment, and discrimination experienced by our community. As we state on the site, when people submit reports, they are aiding our efforts to monitor and push back against hate. "By sharing what you experienced or witnessed, you can educate the public, empower others, show service providers where help is needed, and strengthen advocacy efforts for hate crimes response and prevention."

The following resources are available through Stand Against Hatred:

We partner with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and their Stop Hate project to provide assistance to those impacted by hate. Assistance with legal and social services is available through the Stop Hate hotline (1-844-9-NO-HATE), which is accessible in a number of languages.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice is part of Communities Against Hate, a diverse coalition of civil rights organizations led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Read the report Hate Magnified published by the coalition in January 2019 that details reports submitted to Communities Against Hate.

Discrimination should never be acceptable anywhere. We encourage our communities and allies to learn about ways to respond:

Anti-Hate Community Resources

See our Google doc created in February 2021 for crowdsourced resources, including community organizations, across the country.

Bystander Intervention Virtual Trainings

One way we can take action to protect our communities is to learn ways to intervene effectively as a bystander without compromising safety. We're excited to announce that Hollaback! and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC are partnering for a virtual workshop on bystander intervention.

The one-hour, interactive training will teach you Hollaback!'s 5 D's of bystander intervention methodology.

We'll start by talking about the types of disrespect that Asian and Asian American folks are facing right now -- from microaggressions to violence -- using a tool we call the "spectrum of disrespect."

You'll learn what to look for and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities.

We'll talk through five strategies for intervention: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct; and how to prioritize your own safety while intervening.

We'll have time at the end for practice, and you'll leave feeling more confident intervening the next time you see Anti-Asian and Asian American harassment online or in-person.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The training is currently only offered in English but we are seeking funding to expand it into other languages.
More Resources from Hollaback!

Show Up, Your Guide to Bystander Intervention, by Hollaback! in collaboration with CUP

How to Respond to Street Harassment, by Hollaback!. Written to respond to gender-based harassment but the tactics are applicable to all forms of harassment. We'll be adapting these for the Asian/American community in the coming weeks.

Responding to Online Harassment, Do's and Don'ts by Hollaback! in collaboration with #ICANHELP, Project HEAR, and the Dangerous Speech Project.

Self care guide to healing from Online Harassment, by Hollaback!

Digital Safety Guide, by Hollaback!

HeartMob, a platform where you can get support managing online harassment and/or support others experiencing it, by Hollaback!

Resources for the Asian American Community on Anti-Blackness

Click here for a compilation of resources, reading lists, and more on anti-racism and anti-Blackness for the Asian American community.

Additional Resources

IMPACT Bay Area Training: Free online classes to empower the community during the pandemic, including "Facing AAPI Race-Based Harassment" - Register here

This 90-minute class will introduce strategies that can be helpful in the face of race-based harassment like adrenaline management, de-escalation, and verbal boundary setting, as well as bystander intervention. This class is for AAPI identified and presenting individuals. Registration required, limited to 25 participants in each class.

Words Matter
We are working with the media, Congress, and partner organizations to inform around the harm of this xenophobia. Media Hits

Download the Social Media Toolkit from the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Statement on Discrimination and the Coronavirus Epidemic (February 2020)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Social Media Responses to Comments by Elected Officials:

National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) - Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders and Over 260 Civil Rights Organizations Call on Congress to Denounce Anti-Asian Racism around COVID-19

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) - As Coronavirus Fears Incite Violence, CAPAC Members Urge Colleagues to Not Stoke Xenophobia
​

Yes, Viruses Used To Be Named After Places. Here's Why They Aren't Anymore. (HuffPost - March 19, 2020)

Asian People Are Being Targeted By Racist Attacks. Here's How You Can Be An Ally. (HuffPost - March 19, 2020)

Photo of Trump remarks shows 'corona' crossed out and replaced with 'Chinese' virus (NBC Asian America - March 19, 2020)

Trump doubles down that he's not fueling racism, but experts say he is (NBC Asian America - March 18, 2020)

The coronavirus and the long history of using diseases to justify xenophobia (The Washington Post - Feb. 14, 2020)

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), of which Advancing Justice | AAJC is a member, put together a social media toolkit of many of the resources mentioned here that you can use to amplify to your networks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resources to Stand Against Racism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. In addition, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum has been compiling multilingual resources on the coronavirus and COVID-19 in their Community Library: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander In-Language Resources for Coronavirus.