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Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama has died of natural causes in Berkeley, Calif., at age 93. The lifelong champion of civil rights causes in the black, Latino, Native American and Asian-American communities died peacefully in her sleep Sunday morning, according to her family.

She was definitely ahead of her time, and we caught up with her.

Born in 1921 as Mary Yuriko Nakahara, Kochiyama spent the early years of her life in San Pedro, Calif., a small town south of Los Angeles. Months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she and her family were forced to relocate to internment camps along with tens of thousands of other Japanese-Americans. She met her late husband, Bill Kochiyama, who served with other Japanese-American soldiers in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, at the Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas, where she spent two years.

The couple married after World War II and moved to start their family in New York City. Living in housing projects among black and Puerto Rican neighbors inspired her interest in the civil rights movement. Kochiyama held weekly open houses for activists in the family's apartment, where she taped newspaper clippings to the walls and kept piles of leaflets on the kitchen table. "Our house felt like it was the movement 24/7," said her eldest daughter, Audee Kochiyama-Holman.

Her brief but formative friendship with Malcolm X, whom she first met in 1963, helped radicalize her activism. Kochiyama began focusing her work on black nationalism and was with Malcolm X during his final moments. Minutes after gunmen fired at Malcolm X in 1965 during his last speech in New York City, she rushed toward him and cradled his head on her lap. A black-and-white photo in Life magazine shows Kochiyama peering worriedly through horn-rimmed glasses at Malcolm X's bullet-riddled body.

In the 1980s, she and her husband pushed for reparations and a formal government apology for Japanese-American internees through the Civil Liberties Act, which President Ronald Reagan signed into law in 1988. Her continued dedication to social causes inspired younger generations of activists, especially within the Asian-American community.

"She was not your typical Japanese-American person, especially a nisei," or a second-generation Japanese-American, said Tim Toyama, Kochiyama's second cousin, who wrote a one-act play about her relationship with Malcolm X.

"She was definitely ahead of her time, and we caught up with her."

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Yuri Kochiyama, Activist And Former World War II Internee, Dies At 93

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subscribe to Code Switch podcast subscribe to Code Switch podcast Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama has died of natural causes in Berkeley, Calif., at age 93. The lifelong champion of civil rights causes in the black, Latino, Native American and Asian-American communities died peacefully in her sleep Sunday morning, according to her family.

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White By Law *Appendix A has list of court cases early, late and post United States v. Thind

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White By Law *Appendix A has list of court cases early, late and post United States v. Thind

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by Ian Haney Lopez Published by: NYU Press Imprint: NYU Press 263 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in Paperback 9780814736944 Published: October 2006 $27.00 BUY Hardcover 9780814736982 Published: October 2006 $89.00 BUY eBook 9780814737279 Published: October 2006 Request Exam or Desk Copy White by Law was published in 1996 to immense critical acclaim, and established Ian Haney López as one of the most exciting and talented young minds in the legal academy.

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Why the trope of Black-Asian Conflict in the face of Anti-Asian violence dismisses solidarity

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Why the trope of Black-Asian Conflict in the face of Anti-Asian violence dismisses solidarity

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Julian Clarence Levi Professor of Social Sciences - Columbia University

Elected Member - American Academy of Arts and Sciences

PhD Candidate - Department of Sociology - Columbia University

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Why the trope of Black-Asian conflict in the face of anti-Asian violence dismisses solidarity

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Jennifer Lee and Tiffany Huang write that many Asian Americans recognize commonalities with Black Americans and that these public acts of interracial solidarity show what is possible when we imagine empathy and justice.

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The history behind 'Yellow Peril Supports Black Power' and why some find it problematic

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The history behind 'Yellow Peril Supports Black Power' and why some find it problematic

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The history behind ‘Yellow Peril Supports Black Power’ and why some find it problematic

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While the slogan originated in the 1960s as a show of solidarity between Asian Americans and African Americans, today some say it falsely equates the struggles of the two communities.

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1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

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Chinese Exclusion Act: 1882, Definition & Immigrants - HISTORY

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The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was one of several discriminatory U.S. laws that curbed Chinese immigration and made Chinese people ineligible for naturalization.

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The Role of Cross-Racial Solidarity in a Time of Protest

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The Role of Cross-Racial Solidarity in a Time of Protest

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Demonstrators gather at the Embarcadero after a march from San Francisco City Hall on Sunday May 31, 2020 to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Guests:
Julio Ricardo Varela, co-host, Futuro Media's "In The Thick" podcast, and founder of Latino Rebels

journalist, activist and author of, "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen" Jose Antonio Vargas,

Zahra Billoo, executive director, The Council on American-Islamic Relations San Francisco Bay Area

Eric Ward, executive director, Western States Center, an advocacy organization focused on strengthening an inclusive democracy

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The Role of Cross-Racial Solidarity in a Time of Protest - KQED

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During this time of civil unrest in America, many people are calling for dismantling racism. Much of the conversation frames the conflict as between a black minority and a white majority. The current uprising is sparking conversations about how other groups of color can show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Milestones: 1866–1898 - Office of the Historian

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Black and Asian Solidarity in American History

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Black and Asian Solidarity in American History

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Chinese immigration to the United States became a salient political issue in the 1800s. In his 1869 "Composite Nation" speech, abolitionist Frederick Douglass argued on behalf of Chinese immigration to America, urging Americans not to fear Asian languages or cultures. He advocated for free migration and emphasized equality and human rights:

"It is this great right that I assert for the Chinese and Japanese, and for all other varieties of men equally with yourselves, now and forever. I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human and national rights, it is safe to go to the side of humanity."

Recognizing the common humanity of Asian immigrants, Douglass maintained that the arguments made for restricting Chinese immigration would have also justified banning immigration from Europe. Despite the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, Douglass's hope for a "composite nation" did not waver and he called for an end to prejudice in the last speech of his life, " Lessons of the Hour " (1894).

2. Black support for the Filipino community during the Philippine-American War (1899-1913)

(Photo credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

The Philippine-American War began in 1899 after the United States gained colonial rule of the Philippines following the Spanish-American War (1898). Black leaders such as Ida B. Wells and Bishop Henry M. Turner supported Philippine independence and characterized American colonialism as "an unholy war of conquest." Additionally, the experiences of Filipino people resonated with the Black community because they shared similar histories of imperialism, racism, and economic exploitation.

As the war progressed, many Black soldiers who initially fought on the American side became disillusioned with the war and deserted their U.S. military positions to join the Filipino freedom fighters. Back in the U.S., Black leaders called for solidarity with Filipinos, arguing that they were used as instruments by White leaders to oppress another people of color.

3. Black opposition to the Vietnam War (1955-75)

The Black community was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War for two main reasons, the first being that Black men were disproportionately drafted for the war. In 1967, 64% of all eligible African Americans were drafted, but only 31% of eligible White Americans were. Black men also had a casualty rate twice that of White men from 1965 to 1966.

Second, the Vietnam War was emblematic of the racist ideology that permeated every aspect of American society in the 1950s through the '70s. While race was not explicitly stated as a reason for starting the war, racist ideology shaped the justifications for escalating the conflict. This racist ideology was reflected on the ground; White soldiers in Vietnam wore Ku Klux Klan robes and carried the Confederate flag to express their self-perceived superiority over the native Vietnamese people.

Recognizing the unjust nature of the war, African American leaders such as Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. openly denounced it. In the 1967 Harlem Peace March, African Americans underscored the contradictory nature of their involvement in the war by carrying signs that read, "Black men should fight White racism, not Vietnamese freedom fighters." The marchers understood the experiences of the Vietnamese freedom fighters because of their own oppressive histories shaped by White supremacy, and consequently, they chose to stand in solidarity with them.

4. Asian American women activists' work in abolition and Black liberation

Two Asian American women activists, Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015) and Yuri Kochiyama (1921-2014), were heavily involved in activism surrounding abolition and liberation.

Grace Lee Boggs was a Chinese American activist who focused on labor and tenants' rights. She was a member of the Workers Party and stressed the importance of community building, with a focus on marginalized groups such as women and people of color. Her writing emphasized the value of working alongside unions and the Black Power Movement to achieve the collective liberation of all marginalized groups. She embodied this by organizing alongside Black autoworkers in Detroit to denounce World War II. She also joined the Great Walk to Freedom in Detroit, which was headlined by Martin Luther King, Jr., and contributed to Black-led Save Our Sons and Daughters (SOSAD), which organized marches against violence and advocated for conflict-resolution curriculum in Detroit's public schools. Furthermore, she worked with Malcolm X andeven provided him a place to stay when he delivered his famous "Message to the Grassroots" speech in Detroit.

Yuri Kochiyama was a Japanese American civil rights activist. Following Pearl Harbor, she and her family were incarcerated, during which she first gained exposure to the racism of the Jim Crow South. When World War II ended, she married Bill Kochiyama, whom she had met in the incarceration camps, and moved to New York City. She and her husband lived in housing projects with large Black and Puerto Rican populations, which motivated her to join the Civil Rights Movement. Kochiyama became a close friend of Malcolm X, who inspired her to incorporate Black nationalism into her work. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Kochiyama and her husband opened up their home to activists in need of a place to stay. In the years following, Kochiyama helped organize campaigns to free activists whom she believed had been imprisoned unjustly such as former Black Panther and radio journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The work of Boggs and Kochiyama demonstrates the intersectional nature of civil rights activism and the need for continued solidarity in the years to come.

5. The Third World Liberation Front

The Third World Liberation Front began at San Francisco State University in 1968. Its inception is owed to Black student activists who created the first Black Student Union (BSU) in the country and successfully gained additional slots for Black students in the university's admissions process. Seeing that Asian American and Latinx students were also limited in entry to the university, BSU leaders urged students of color to form their own coalition, i.e., the Third World Liberation Front. Together, BSU and the Third World Liberation Front battled the administration, demanding reforms such as the hiring of minority faculty members.

Black student activists at UC Berkeley, who were inspired by their counterparts at San Francisco State University, joined forces with the Mexican American Student Confederation (MASC), the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA), and the Native American Student Alliance (NASA) to advocate for their own ethnic-focused programs. Pulling from the students at San Francisco State University, they called themselves the Third World Liberation Front, with the ultimate goal of starting a Third World College that would incorporate conversations on identity and oppression into historically Eurocentric academia.

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Black and Asian Solidarity in American History: The Power of Unity Exemplified by 5 Major Events

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Chinese immigration to the United States became a salient political issue in the 1800s. In his 1869 "Composite Nation" speech, abolitionist Frederick Douglass argued on behalf of Chinese immigration to America, urging Americans not to fear Asian languages or cultures.

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The Untold Story Of America's Southern Chinese [Chinese Food: An All-American Cuisine, Pt. 2] | AJ+

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The Untold Story Of America's Southern Chinese [Chinese Food: An All-American Cuisine, Pt. 2] | AJ+

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Discusses interactions between Chinese & Black residents

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The Untold Story Of America's Southern Chinese [Chinese Food: An All-American Cuisine, Pt. 2] | AJ+

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The label of "model minority" has been applied to Asian Americans for years. But the origins of the stereotype are often misconstrued.

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Not all Asian Americans are “crazy rich” - Vox

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Sources:

Key facts about Asian Americans, Pew Research Center

Key findings on the rise in income inequality within America's racial and ethnic groups, Pew Research Center

Key facts about Asian origin groups in the US, Pew Research Center

Why Disaggregate? Disparities in AAPI Health, AAPI Data

Not Just a Latino Issue: Undocumented Asians in America, Asia Society
Lok Siu, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist and associate professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley. Specializing in Asians in the Americas, she is an award-winning author, a regular contributor to media outlets, and an active public speaker.
Jamie Noguchi is a Washington, DC, cartoonist and illustrator. He is a contributor to the comics publication The Nib and, along with Jeremy Whitley, co-creator of School for Extraterrestrial Girls.
Help us reach our goal
In our recent reader survey, we were delighted to hear that people value Vox because we help them educate themselves and their families, spark their curiosity, explain the moment, and make our work approachable.

Reader gifts support this mission by helping to keep our work free - whether we're adding nuanced context to events in the news or explaining how our economy got where it is. While we're committed to keeping Vox free, our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism does take a lot of resources, and gifts help us rely less on advertising. We're aiming to raise 3,000 new gifts by December 31 to help keep this valuable work free. Will you help us reach our goal and support our mission by making a gift today?

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The Asian American wealth gap, explained in a comic

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Sources: Key facts about Asian Americans, Pew Research Center Key findings on the rise in income inequality within America's racial and ethnic groups, Pew Research Center Key facts about Asian origin groups in the US, Pew Research Center Why Disaggregate?

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The "Model Minority" Myth: Jennifer Ho and Frank H. Wu

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The "Model Minority" Myth: Jennifer Ho and Frank H. Wu

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National Committee on U.S.-China Relations

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The "Model Minority" Myth: Jennifer Ho and Frank H. Wu

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Discusses interracial solidarity and connections between Black and Asian movements.

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Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

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Why Do We Call Asians the Model Minority

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Why Do We Call Asians the Model Minority

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Why Do We Call Asian Americans The Model Minority? | AJ+

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Discovering the Mississippi Delta Chinese Legacy

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Discovering the Mississippi Delta Chinese Legacy

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E. Samantha Cheng: Discovering the Mississippi Delta Chinese Legacy

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Untold Stories from the Chinese Exclusion Act

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Untold Stories from the Chinese Exclusion Act

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Untold Stories from the Chinese Exclusion Act Files

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Frank Wu on the Legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act

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Frank Wu on the Legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act

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Frank Wu on the legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act

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American Experience
On March 28, 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark had acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and that "the American citizenship which Wong Kim Ark acquired by birth within the United States has not been lost or taken away by anything happening since his birth."

Aired: 05/29/18

Rating: NR

Problems Playing Video? Report a Problem |

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American Experience | United States v. Wong Kim Ark | Season 30

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American Experience On March 28, 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark had acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and that "the American citizenship which Wong Kim Ark acquired by birth within the United States has not been lost or taken away by anything happening since his birth."

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Court held that residents originating from Syria were considered racially "white", and therefore eligible to become naturalized US citizens- West Asian's become "white" resulting in current designation on census of MENA (Middle Eastern North African) populations as "white."

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The following leaders support relief for AAPI attack victims, neighborhoods, and broader communities

3.1 Phillip Lim * Abhijay Prakash * Aimee Song * Airbnb * Albert Cheng * Alex & Maia Shibutani * Alexander Hodge * Alice Gao * Ally Maki * Amanda Nguyen * Apolo Anton Ohno * Asian American Girl Club * Bao Nguyen * Bing Chen * Bobby Hundreds * Bowen Yang * Brad Jenkins * Bryanboy * CAPE * Carol Lim * Caroline Issa * Chime * Chris leba * Chriselle Lim * Christine Chiu * Daniel Dae Kim * Daniel Wu * D-Trix * Dao-Yi Chow * Don C * Dorothy Wang * Elliot Lum * Eric Nam * Eugene Lee Yang * Eva Chen * Ezra Williams * Far East Movement * Fernando Garcia * Freddie Wong * Geena Rocero * Gemma Chan * Gold House * Good Good Good * H&M * Harry Shum, Jr. * Helen Lin * Humberto Leon * Jake Choi * Jeannie Mai * Jen Rubio & Stewart Butterfield * Jeremy Liew * Jian De Leon * Joel De La Fuente * Jon M. Chu * Jose Antonio Vargas * Karrueche Tran * Kevin Kwan * Kindred * Laura Kim * Lisa Ling * Liya Kebede * M88 * Manny Jacinto * Mark Bustos * Marvin Chow * Meena Harris * Mei Lin * Michelle Lee * Minjae Ormes * NextShark * Nick Tran * Noor Tagouri * Olivia Munn * Panda Express * Patrick Li * Pei Ketron * Phil Wang * Phillip Lim * Phillip Sun * Prabal Gurung * Randall Park * Robecta Ma * Ronny Chieng * Ruba Abu-Nimah * Sahra Nguyen * Samira Nasr * Simu Liu * Steve Jang * Stop AAPI Hate * Susie Lau * Suzy Ryoo * Tao Okamoto * Taylor Rapp * Tenzin Wild * The Hatch Agency * Thuy Music * Tina Craig * Tina Leung * Van Jones * Vanessa Hong * Victor Nguyen-Long * Virgil Abloh * Vistaprint * W.Kamau Bell * Year of the Ox * YouTube * Zach Glassman

The aforementioned leaders are unaffiliated with individual fundraisers.

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Stop Asian Hate: What You Can Do To Make a Difference

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3.1 Phillip Lim * Abhijay Prakash * Aimee Song * Airbnb * Albert Cheng * Alex & Maia Shibutani * Alexander Hodge * Alice Gao * Ally Maki * Amanda Nguyen * Apolo Anton Ohno * Asian American Girl Club * Bao Nguyen * Bing Chen * Bobby Hundreds *

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The Perpetual Foreigner by the SituAsian room 

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The Perpetual Foreigner by the SituAsian room 

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Begins by addressing
interconnectedness of Black & Asian communities and movements and Anti-Blackness

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Asian/Pacific American Cultures and Histories Syllabus Date Published: 3/23/2021

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Asian/Pacific American Cultures and Histories Syllabus Date Published: 3/23/2021

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In response to recent acts of violence against Asian Americans stemming from a long history of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, we wish to offer resources to contextualize the experiences of Asian and Pacific Americans. The articles, issues, and books in this syllabus discuss not only complex histories and contemporary experiences of racism and imperialism, but also community formation, solidarity between marginalized groups, and worldmaking possibilities.

All journal articles and issues listed here are free to read until August 31, 2021. The introduction to each book is free, and books may be purchased at dukeupress.edu.

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Date Published: 3/23/2021

In response to recent acts of violence against Asian Americans stemming from a long history of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, we wish to offer resources to contextualize the experiences of Asian and Pacific Americans. The articles, issues, and books in this syllabus discuss not only complex histories and contemporary experiences of racism and imperialism, but also community formation, solidarity between marginalized groups, and worldmaking possibilities.

All journal articles and issues listed here are free to read until August 31, 2021. The introduction to each book is free, and books may be purchased at dukeupress.edu.

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Asian/Pacific American Cultures and Histories Syllabus

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Date Published: 3/23/2021 In response to recent acts of violence against Asian Americans stemming from a long history of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, we wish to offer resources to contextualize the experiences of Asian and Pacific Americans.

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Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Malcolm X’s Assassination & Living at WWII Japanese American Detention Camp

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Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Malcolm X’s Assassination & Living at WWII Japanese American Detention Camp

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AMY GOODMAN: Forty-one years ago today, on February 21st, 1965, Malcolm X was shot dead as he spoke at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. He had just taken the stage when shots rang out, riddling his body with bullets. He was 39 years old.

Malcolm X's longtime friend, activist Yuri Kochiyama was at the ballroom that day to hear Malcolm X. After he was shot, she rushed to the stage and cradled Malcolm's head in her arms as he lay dying. Today we'll hear Yuri Kochiyama talk about that fateful day and speak about the longtime activism in her own life.

For over 40 years, Yuri Kochiyama has championed civil rights, protested racial inequality and fought for causes of social justice. Her story begins during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Yuri's parents were forcibly removed from their home by the U.S. government, held in internment camps with 120,000 other Japanese and Japanese Americans. While at a camp in Arkansas, Yuri came face to face with the segregation of the Jim Crow South. She immediately saw the parallels between the oppression of Black people and the treatment of Japanese in America.

In 1960, Yuri and her husband Bill Kochiyama moved into a housing project in Harlem. Yuri became involved in the civil rights movement and was part of the major struggles of the 1960s and '70s. She especially supported the Black liberation struggle and the work of the Black Panther Party. In 1977, she took part in the takeover of the Statue of Liberty to bring attention to the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. In the '80s, she and her husband led the successful fight to gain reparations for people of Japanese descent who had been imprisoned during World War II.

I got a chance to interview Yuri Kochiyama in the studios of Link TV just a few weeks ago. She began by talking about this day, 41 years ago, the day Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York.

The date was February 21st. It was a Sunday. Well, prior to that date, I think that whole week there was a lot of rumors going on in Harlem that something might happen to Malcolm. But I think Malcolm showed all along, especially around that time, that there were rumors going on. He was aware, because there were things even in the newspaper, that there was some, I think - I don't know if it was a misunderstanding or just disagreeing about some things that Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm were talking about. They were personal things. But Malcolm was aware that Elijah seemed to be feeling a little, what would be - oh, I'm so sorry that I'm messing this up - but on some very personal issues, there was disagreement between Elijah and Malcolm, and I think there was even talk that was going on. And after the assassination, however, many Black people felt it could have been by people who had infiltrated or that the police department and FBI may have actually planted them in the Nation of Islam.

Yuri Kochiyama, remembering the Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, as she sat cradling his head. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We'll return to Yuri in a moment.

[break]

John Coltrane's "Blue Train," here on Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, as we return to our conversation with longtime civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. Forty-one years ago today, she held the head of Malcolm X in her arms as he lay dying after being shot at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. She first met Malcolm X several years earlier in a Brooklyn courtroom. I asked her to talk about that day.

And as I watched, about 25 yards away, I felt so bad that I wasn't Black, that this should be just a Black thing. But the more I see them all so happily shaking his hands and Malcolm so happy, I said, "Gosh darn it, I'm going to try to meet him somehow." And so, I kept getting closer, and I said, "If he looks up once, I'm going to run over there and see if I could shake his hand." And so, that's what I did.

There was a time where - maybe he didn't look up, but I may have just thought he did or wished he did. And so, then I yelled and said, "Malcolm, can I shake your hands, too?" because all these young people were. And he said, "What for?" And I didn't know at first what to say. "What for?" I said, "Because what you're doing for your people." And he said, "And what am I doing for my people?" Now, I thought, "What would I say to that?" And so I said, "You're giving directions." And then, he just changed and said - he came out of the center of that, you know, where everybody was there, came out, and he stuck his hand out. So I ran and grabbed it. I couldn't believe that I was shaking Malcolm X's hand. And I was just so sorry that my son, who was 16, who wanted to come so much, but he had an exam in high school, and he didn't think he could miss that exam, so he missed seeing Malcolm then. He met him later.

Well, they had regular meetings, you know. But it seems like Elijah and Malcolm's problems were getting a little more serious, and I think because FBI played a role in it, and, of course, they knew which ones of the people in NOI may have had some kind of ill feelings against him.

He wanted to learn all about the different countries in Africa. And the Africans and he talked about the colonization that took place. Well, it could have happened from even as early as the 1600s, but it was mostly 1700, 1800. And the big day that we've got to remember is, I think, 1885. That was where all those European countries took over African countries. What was the name of that? Gosh, I would forget the name. Wait. It might come back to us.

I mean, I wasn't sure he was even coming, so I didn't know if I should put out leaflets, but the word went around, I guess, and I couldn't believe that the day that Malcolm came, our house was packed. Every bedroom - we have four bedrooms - and the kitchen and the hallway. And we had Blacks and whites and Puerto Ricans or anyone else, but they were mostly all activists. Now, there were, as I say, Blacks, but there were none of Malcolm's people - no nationalists, no Muslims, no radicals. I mean, the Blacks were mostly all civil rights activists. The whites, of course, were also.

At first, people didn't know whether they should go up to him and ask if they could shake his hand. They didn't know if he might even be very cold to them, because their ideology was quite different from Malcolm. But as soon as the first person went up to see if he would shake anyone's hand, and Malcolm was so warm to the person - I think the first one was white - that everybody started going to Malcolm, and he was so wonderful to each one. He was very warm to them. And he really - you could see he acted like he was so glad to meet all these people. But then, because it would take too long if everybody would come in from the other rooms to shake his hand -

And so I went there to see who they were. And they all, you know, put their - like a wallet out, which had the FBI card. And they said, "Is there a Seiichi Nakahara living here?" I said, "Yes, that's my father." They said, "Where is he right now? We need to see him." I said, "Oh, he's sleeping in bed." I said, "He just came home." I don't know if it was that morning or the day before, he came home from ulcer surgery. And they said, "Well, where is he?" And I pointed to one of the bedrooms. And they went in and got - it was done so quickly, it didn't even take a half of a minute, I don't think. And I didn't dare ask a question. They were going out the door immediately. And then, I just called my mother, who was right down the street, to say, "Come home quick. The FBI just came and took pop." And -

Well, everybody was - at least two years, I think. And then, because there was this case, and nobody hears of, called the Endo case, where they found out in that case that actually the United States government had no right to take all the people into prison camps when there was nothing really official that could have said that we did some wrong to this country. And so -

Yuri Kochiyama. She will be 85 on May 19th. She shares the same birthday as Malcolm X. We want to say special thanks to Link TV, where we conducted this interview. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. Back in a minute.

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Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Malcolm X's Assassination & Living at WWII Japanese American Detention Camp

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It was 41 years ago today when Malcolm X was gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. Yuri Kochiyama cradled his head as he lay dying on the stage. Kochiyama's activism began after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when she and her family were held in an internment camp along with more than 100,000 Japanese in the United States.

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Who We Are Stop AAPI Hate is a national coalition fighting against racism and racial injustice targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Together, we work with local communities and government stakeholders to document the rise of anti-AAPI hate and dismantle the systems that allow it to persist.

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FILIPINO LABORERS + THE POLITICS OF PARTYING

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FILIPINO LABORERS + THE POLITICS OF PARTYING

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The flyest guy in the club usually boasts the sexiest style and smoothest moves. But for Filipino migrant workers in the 1930s, suiting up and getting down meant more than looking good; swag was a form of subversion.

After a long day of toiling in the fields, mostly in California, Filipino migrant workers would retire to so-called taxi dance halls, where mostly white women worked as dancer partners for hire. Filipinos and other immigrant workers dressed to the nines and bought their tickets for 10 cents each. Like a taxi ride, each dance came at a price: one ticket, plus tip, usually a drink - or sometimes a pretend marriage proposal.

These manongs arrived in the U.S. as part of a wave of about 500,000 Filipinos - mostly men - who immigrated in the 1920s and 1930s. They labored in the fields for up to ten hours a day at only a few cents an hour. They couldn't own property or marry.With their snazzy suits and fancy footwork, Filipino migrant workers, or , resisted the stereotype of the poor, sweaty laborer and transformed into suave, successful Don Juans who could woo any woman they desired. They challenged racist laws that forbade their contact with white women by dancing with them and winning their affections - sparking resentment, even violence, among white men.

Taxi dancers admired the manongs for their "splendid dancing" and "dazzling suits."

Dance halls offered Filipinos an escape from hot fields and cramped shacks. Women - mostly white, occasionally Mexican and rarely Filipina - lined up against one wall, dressed in tight evening gowns. Manongs often preferred white (especially blond) dancers, lavishing their favorites with cash, jewelry and other gifts. The dancers tended to be 15- to 28-year-old immigrants from Poland, Sweden and other European countries. Although some were runaways, many were their families' sole breadwinners, often because their parents had separated.

But the dancers admired the manongs for not only their handsome fees, but also their " splendid dancing " and "dazzling suits," wrote Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns, an associate professor of Asian American studies at UCLA.

And the garb ... only the finest, most expensive American suit: the McIntosh. Its padded shoulders and wide lapels transformed them from "overworked, exploited laborers to symbols of sensuality, style and pleasure," as Linda Maram, professor of Asian American studies at CSU Long Beach, tells it in . Their perfectly polished shoes winked and flashed in the light as they shimmied to the lindy and jitterbug. In her memoir, Confessions of a Taxi Dancer, Jeanne de La Moreau recalled one Filipino nicknamed "God's Gift to Taxi Dancers."

He gives them silk underwear and makes them pregnant and crowds whites out of jobs in the bargain.

But white men were less than thrilled about their "little brown brothers" mingling with white women. Labor rivalries only added fuel to their already smoldering resentment; white men often refused to do the grueling work that Filipinos did for little pay. Negative press didn't help, either. In December 1929, police found two young white girls when they raided Filipino laborer Perfecto Bandalan's room in Watsonville, California. Local papers constantly reported on the incident, as well as a series of Filipino run-ins with the law, including brawls over women and sexual assault.

"The worst part ... is [the Filipinos] mixing with young white girls," Judge D.W. Rohrback told the Watsonville Evening Pajaronian. " He gives them silk underwear and makes them pregnant and crowds whites out of jobs in the bargain."

In January came a bold reply to those charges, in the form of 10,000 copies of a circular written by a Filipino editor named David P. De Tagle.The Torch justified Filipinos' seduction of white girls as "the Law of Nature," according to an article by Richard Meynell.* Events took a brutal turn. Whites formed Filipino "hunting parties" of up to a hundred men and stormed the newly opened Palm Beach taxi dance hall. They dragged Filipinos out of their homes, whipping and beating them and hurling them off the Pajaro River Bridge. Early the next morning, they fired bullets into a bunkhouse - fatally shooting manong Fermin Tobera through the heart.

They dragged Filipinos out of their homes, whipping and beating them and hurling them off the Pajaro River Bridge.

The violence spread to San Jose and San Francisco. An explosion rocked a Filipino club in Stockton, while masked men warned a farmer in Gilroy to discharge his Filipino workers. Protests also erupted in the Philippines, whose resident commissioner spoke before Congress.

Although many Filipinos fled the U.S., most stayed behind, leading a successful strike in the Salinas, California, lettuce fields seven months later. Still, Filipino immigration plummeted after the Watsonville riots, and farmers increasingly replaced manongs with Mexicans.

Taxi dance halls had their own problems; laced in sexism, they were often compared to brothels. Regardless, the manongs used them to subvert racist ideologies that saw them as powerless, asexual laborers in dingy overalls, propelling them to the global stage. For them, even a night of strutting their stuff was a form of resistance.
*Editor's note: An earlier version of this article did not adequately credit a source.

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Filipino Laborers + the Politics of Partying

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The flyest guy in the club usually boasts the sexiest style and smoothest moves. But for Filipino migrant workers in the 1930s, suiting up and getting down meant more than looking good; swag was a form of subversion.

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K-12 Lesson plans & Literature  for Challenging Anti-Asian Bias

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K-12 Lesson plans & Literature  for Challenging Anti-Asian Bias

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Amidst the increase in anti-Asian rhetoric, bullying in schools, racist incidents, scapegoating and hate crimes impacting Asian and Asian American people, this is an important opportunity to have conversations with young people about the history of violence and injustice. In addition, this time also provides an opening to engage students in learning more about the history and background of the AAPI community and how to act as an ally when you see, witness or experience bias and injustice.

The following resources for students, schools, classrooms and families can help to open those conversations.

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Challenging Anti-Asian Bias and Acting as an Ally

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Amidst the increase in anti-Asian rhetoric, bullying in schools, racist incidents, scapegoating and hate crimes impacting Asian and Asian American people, this is an important opportunity to have conversations with young people about the history of violence and injustice.

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Three important lawsuits brought by Asian Americans with important consequences for American citizenship, equal protection, and racial identity: Yick Wo, Wong Kim Ark, Thind.

For students to understand the impact the three cases had on American citizenship and racial identity in the law, and the role of Asian Americans in challenging xenophobic and racist laws in the 19th and early 20th century. For students to learn race is a social construct.

In the 1800s, Asian American immigrants faced intensifying hostility, discrimination, and even exclusion from the United States. Notably, laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 were passed to limit immigration, specifically prohibiting Chinese laborers from seeking citizenship. This was one of the first significant laws restricting immigration in the United States.

To protect their communities, Asian Americans found ways to resist and fight back, including legal challenges to fight these laws that were rooted in discrimination.

The case of Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) is a particularly important case in U.S. legal and immigration history, in how we perceive race and citizenship. Bhagat Singh Thind was from the Punjab region of India who came to the United States as a young man and joined the army, serving during World War I. After the war he sought to become a naturalized citizen. During this period the United States Caucasians were permitted to appeal for citizenship, and Bhagat Sign Thind sought citizenship, through a legal process that he where he claimed he was white. This legal fight went all the way to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the Court found that even though he was Caucasian, he was not white: Whiteness must "be interpreted in accordance with the understanding of the common man." (United States v. Thind, 261 U.S. 204 1923). At this time, the Supreme Court demonstrated that they were more concerned about safeguarding white citizenship than consistency in reasoning. This decision had serious consequences for all Indian Americans, and a result of this ruling, many were then stripped of their property and denaturalized.

Landmark legal cases throughout the years have had important consequences on citizenship, race and equality:

1. Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) which was about the treatment of Chinese laundry owners which established that all individuals are entitled to equal protection of the law under the 14th Amendment, regardless of citizenship.

2. Wong Kim Ark v. United States (1898) addressed birthright citizenship. Ark was born in the United States but was refused reentry into his birth country after he visited China. The Court found that the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to those born in America, regardless of race or their parents' national origin.

VOCABULARY

Birthright Citizenship: Citizenship for individuals as a result of being born in the country.

Naturalization: The legal process wherein an individual becomes a citizen or nationality of a country.

Equal Protection: The 14th Amendment that a state must treat an individual or class of individuals in the same way it treats other individuals or classes in similar circumstances.

1. Why did Asian Americans challenge racist laws and policies through the courts?

2. What role do the courts play in American government?

3. What is discrimination? How can laws be discriminatory? Can you think of current examples?

4. What ways can people challenge unjust laws?

5. What does the Thind case tell you about how race is constructed?

6. What is your earliest memory of experiencing or learning about race? Has your understanding of race evolved since that moment, and how? How do you know what race is?

ACTIVITY 1: Ozawa and Thind: Inconsistencies At The Court?

The question of citizenship and race was visited in the parallel cases Bhagat Singh Thind v. United States (1923) and Takao Ozawa v. United States (1922). Together, these cases illustrate how the social construct of race was used to deny naturalization rights to Asian immigrants. When the U.S. government limited citizenship only to whites and blacks, Asian Americans made claims to being white.

Ozawa was a Japanese American who had lived in America for twenty years. He argued that "whiteness" depended on skin color; because his skin was pale, he should be granted citizenship. The Supreme Court unanimously denied him, saying that whiteness only extended to "the Caucasian race."

The Supreme Court changed their reasoning three months later to deny an Indian man, Bhagat Signh Thind, naturalized citizenship. A Punjab-born man, Thind argued that he should be granted citizenship because he was Caucasian, as the Ozawa decision specified. However, the Court found that even though he was Caucasian, he was not white.

Assign students either: Takao Ozawa or Bhagat Signh Thind. Give students time to research each individual and their court case, preparing to discuss, compare and contrast these cases as a class.

How is "white" defined in Ozawa? In Thind?

What do the Justices seem to say about the term "Caucasian" in Ozawa? What about in Thind?

Why was it important for Ozawa and Thind to both argue that they were white as opposed to another race? For context, black people had the right to naturalize under the 14th Amendment.

How did the justices determine who is "white" in each of the cases?

How did the justices' position change from Ozawa to Thind?

Do the two decisions seem logical or consistent with the Constitution? Why or why not?

1870 Census

ACTIVITY 2: Defining Race with the U.S. Census

This activity will have students explore race and how it was defined through an activity around the census.

Split students into small groups of no more than five people each.

Ask students to take up the role of a team of 1870 Census takers in their small groups. As census takers, students must categorize everyone so they are correctly counted for the census. The three profiles are three Americans who must be counted for the Census, and students must decide in their small groups the racial category to which each profile belongs, and why.

Afterwards, ask each group to explain how they categorized the three people and why. Lead a discussion reflecting on the activity.

You are part of a group of 1870 Census Takers. It is your job to interview the people in your community and record them for the U.S. Census in the year 1870. You have been assigned the below three people to interview. Record their race according to your best guess and provide a short explanation describing your reasoning.

Please remember that the 1870 Census allowed only five different racial groups. You must assign each individual to one of the five racial categories used in the 1870 Census: 1) White, 2) Black, 3) Mulatto, 4) Chinese, 5) Indian.

My name is Liam Sullivan. I came to the United States from Ireland five years ago with my brother, but my brother died on the ship voyage to this country. In the United States, I work as a physical laborer. Work is unstable and I am often cheated out of my wages. I work alongside many African Americans and Chinese immigrants, and I sometimes need to accept less money than I want so that I can stay competitive, which makes me resentful. I experience a lot of discrimination; sometimes white people refuse to serve me, and strangers on the street will call me things like "a Negro turned inside out."

My name is Aditya Singh. I came to the United States from India twenty years ago in hopes of a better life. I was able to use my savings to purchase a small tract of land, which I farm with my family. Over the years, we have developed a community of other immigrants from South Asia in my town, and I feel like America is my true home now. However, I still face racism and ignorance. My skin is darker than virtually all Mulattos of my acquaintance, and sometimes I am even mistaken for a Negro.

My name is Charity Barnett. I was born in the United States sixteen years ago. My mother and I used to be slaves, and she always swore that our former owner was my father, but he never acknowledged me. It can be awkward for me to walk in public with my mother. My skin is a lot lighter than hers, and shopkeepers end up treating her like she works for me even though I am much younger. Sometimes, when I'm out alone somewhere no one knows me, I act like I'm white and I get a kick out of everyone treating me differently.

What categories does the 2020 census offer on its form?

How were the racial categories different from how we categorize race today?

What does the evolution of racial categories throughout history tell us about how society's ideas about race might have changed over the years? Are our current racial categories "better" or more "correct" than before?

If racial categories shift depending on how society views race, then can race be a reliable way of classifying or judging people? Why or why not?

1. "Hindus Too Brunette to Vote Here." South Asian American Digital Archive

2. Shih, David."White Happened to You" Arcade

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Episode 1, Lesson 7: Racial Identity and American Citizenship in the Court

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Three important lawsuits brought by Asian Americans with important consequences for American citizenship, equal protection, and racial identity: Yick Wo, Wong Kim Ark, Thind. For students to understand the impact the three cases had on American citizenship and racial identity in the law, and the role of Asian Americans in challenging xenophobic and racist laws in the 19th and early 20th century.

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How to intervene if someone is being harassed

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How to intervene if someone is being harassed

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DO make your presence as a witness known. If possible, make eye contact with the person being harassed and ask them if they want support. Move yourself near the person being harassed. If you feel you can risk doing so, create distance or a barrier between the person being harassed and the attacker. If it's safe to do so-and the person being harassed consents-film or record the incident.

DO take cues from the individual being harassed. Is the person engaging with the harasser or not? You can make suggestions, "Would you like to walk with me over here? Move to another train car? For him to leave you alone?," and then follow their lead. Notice if the person being harassed is resisting in their own way, and honor that. (Especially white folks, don't police the tone of the person being harassed). Follow up with the individual being harassed after the incident is over, see if they need anything else.

DO keep both of you safe. Assess your surroundings-are there others nearby you can pull in to support? Working in a team is a good idea, if it is possible. Can you and the person being harassed move to a safer space/place?

DON'T call the police. For many communities experiencing harassment right now (including Arab and Muslim communities, Black people, queer and trans folks, and immigrants) the police can cause a greater danger for the person being harassed.

DON'T escalate the situation. The goal is to get the person being harassed to safety, not to incite further violence from the attacker.

DON'T do nothing. Silence is dangerous-it communicates approval and leaves the victim high and dry. If you find yourself too nervous or afraid to speak out, move closer to the person being harassed to communicate your support with your body.

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How to intervene if someone is being harassed

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DO make your presence as a witness known. If possible, make eye contact with the person being harassed and ask them if they want support. Move yourself near the person being harassed. If you feel you can risk doing so, create distance or a barrier between the person being harassed and the attacker.

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Self-Care Tips For Asian Americans Dealing With Racism Amid Coronavirus

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Self-Care Tips For Asian Americans Dealing With Racism Amid Coronavirus

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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

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6 Self-Care Tips For Asian Americans Dealing With Racism Right Now

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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.

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Anti-stigma social media toolkit for public health

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Anti-stigma social media toolkit for public health

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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.

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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.

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Tell your story to help track hate & read the stories of others

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Tell your story to help track hate & read the stories of others

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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

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We have looked on in horror as acts of hate continue happening across the nation. Asian Americans are being targeted, but so are members of the Latino, Immigrant, Black, LGBT+, and Religious communities. Most recently, a major Buddhist temple in Little Tokyo, downtown LA, was partially burned and objects destroyed in what could be another anti-Asian hate crime. Supporting these victims and their communities is a top priority of LAvsHate and our partners.

On Monday, March 8th, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis (First District), Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (Second District), LA District Attorney George Gascón, spoke alongside hate victims and leaders in LA vs Hate initiative about uniting our communities, and what we can do to protect those who are being targeted for hate violence.

Renowned civil and human rights leaders from diverse racial, religious and cultural communities - along with new leaders from different generations - will stand on the south steps of the County Hall of Administration on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. to unify in the face of rising hate violence. Rev. James Lawson, Jr., a giant of the civil rights movement and the influential proponent of nonviolence, will speak, alongside LA County Board Chair Hilda Solis, famed civil rights leaders Connie Rice, Stewart Kwoh and Michael Lawson, and many others such as Jeffrey Abrams of the ADL and Salam Al Marayati of MPAC, to urge the unity of our communities against hate and division, and for love, equity, compassion, unity and action. Tools and resources for action will be shared.

What you can do?

Upcoming Events

March Against anti-Asian Violence and Hate event, Saturday, April 3 at 5 pm in El Monte

For more events, rallies, and vigils please check out the United Against Hate Facebook Page

Why report hate?

When you call 211 or report online, any time of the day, any day of the week, in any language, our LA vs Hate program will do three things:

1. You'll be sure we know about what happened to you, so we can do something about it and prevent it from happening to others;

2. You'll get access to immediate free help from 211, whether it's support and counseling, or talking through whether to report to the police;

3. You can get free help from the LA vs Hate Rapid Response partners, who can advocate for action and policy changes that can create communities free of prejudice and inequity.

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council | A3PCON

A coalition of community-based organizations that advocates for the rights and needs of the Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) Community in the greater Los Angeles area, with a particular focus on low income, immigrant, refugee and other disadvantaged sectors of the population. To accomplish this mission, A3PCON strives to serve as a vehicle for promoting the needs, interests and concerns of the APIA Community to policy makers and the general public; Promote collaboration, planning and collective action amongst its members to support common advocacy/policy, organizational development and capacity-building goals; Activate the APIA electorate and promote public accountability to the APIA Community through non-partisan political and electoral participation.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC

Fighting for civil rights and empowering Asian Americans to create a more just America for all.

Asian Americans have been part of the American story since its earliest days, and are now the U.S.'s fastest-growing racial group with the potential and power to shape our nation and the policies that affect us. Our mission is to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.

Chinatown Service Center | CSC

To provide outstanding services and advocacy that promote better quality of life and equal opportunity for immigrants and other communities.

For decades, the Chinatown area near downtown Los Angeles served as the primary enclave for recently arrived Chinese immigrants and refugees - the vast majority of whom did not speak English. The goal of the CSC is to provide services and resources to help all immigrants and refugees of the community to adjust to and participate in life in the United States.

The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center | APADRC

The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides mediation and conflict resolution services to the diverse communities in the Los Angeles area, with a focus on the Asian Pacific Islander Population.

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We have looked on in horror as acts of hate continue happening across the nation. Asian Americans are being targeted, but so are members of the Latino, Immigrant, Black, LGBT+, and Religious communities. Most recently, a major Buddhist temple in Little Tokyo, downtown LA, was partially burned and objects destroyed in what could be another anti-Asian hate crime.

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American slavery began 400 years ago this month. This is referred to as the country's original sin, but it is more than that: It is the country's true origin.

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Op-Ed: On the Need for Cross-Racial Solidarity in the Latino CommunityBY ECLEEN LUZMILA CARABALLO

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Op-Ed: On the Need for Cross-Racial Solidarity in the Latino CommunityBY ECLEEN LUZMILA CARABALLO

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There are pivotal moments in movements, and now that we are living in one, it's odd how evident and out-of-body its unfolding can feel in the present. Many of us woke up with heavy minds and hearts every day of this week following the death of George Floyd-a Black man deemed a "gentle giant" who was always cheerful. He was killed at the hands of a White cop who was also his former co-worker at a Latin club.

That familiar grief was followed by an acute, warranted fear thanks to the leader of the "Free" World's white nationalist, violence-inciting rhetoric on Friday. For others, this week was more of a realization that they are a part of the problem.

This moment is both a seedling of a potential mass-scale reckoning and revolution-both of which pose a question to us all: What will be your position in this moment in history?

There is beauty not only in our similarities but our differences (be it in background, education, location, etc.), as well.

"It's terribly important to know that there is no revolution without evolution," Afro-Peruvian artist and activist Victoria Santa Cruz once said.

Brown and Black solidarity within and outside of the Latino umbrella has solidified slowly yet naturally throughout the last century. There are beautiful, and also many unfortunate, similarities in the way our stories have unraveled and also the way in which they are told.

On the one hand, when senseless murders occur at the hands of systems and people who were taught to hate us for the differences between our melanin-heavy and their milky skin, images-think Óscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Angie Valeria or George Floyd with Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck-are circulated, further dehumanizing the avoidable occurrence.

On the other, there's the history of coming together for common causes. We most suffer from the consequences of racist-at-their-core systemic issues like mass imprisonment and inequality. At the same time, there are issues and perspectives that are not one and the same-think ways in which our ancestors ended up on this and/or Latin American land. But, that's where the opportunity to learn from each other and share healthy rage which coalesces into further organized uprising stems from. There is beauty not only in our similarities but our differences (be it in background, education, location, etc.), as well.

The War on Poverty in Los Angeles or the strong union between the Black Panther Party and United Farm Workers in the 1960s and '70s are a couple of examples that come to mind. Every time, each fights for the other's plight as if it were their own (because it so often is) and there has always been a melding of minds and spirits there.

That often conjoined passion lies in the fact that there is a shared history of repression and often unfair conditions of livelihood that are a circumstance of " coloniality of power."

"When we worked with farmworkers, it wasn't just a year... it was an everyday thing because the struggle is every day," said Bill Jennings, a former member of the Black Panther Party from 1968 to 1974. "We learned from each other."

Further expansion of that circle of unity calls for the end of a no longer permissible silence from the White counterparts of our decided whole as Latinos.

Furthermore, it requires Latinos (of all races) to confront themselves and their families' foundational truths as well. Has assimilation to Anglo-American ideas on everything from beauty to religion skewed your perspective? Do you understand the difference between race and ethnicity? Are you racist/do you stay quiet as others exhibit racist tendencies?

As we evolve in some ways, we must also devolve in others and wrestle with unraveling tightly-woven-in, harmful thought patterns. Are you willing to unlearn and learn (not at the mental and/or emotional expense of others, but through your own blood, sweat and tears)?

"Hispanics" are the largest minority in the United States. About 65% of those who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino also identify as White. Though White Latinos are loudly heard in elite spaces, newsrooms and more, that is not so much the case when it comes to the necessary fight for equality and against racism.

Although non-Black POC can and do go through similar battles (depending on familial ties and background), the struggles of the Black, Brown and White Latino communities have never been the same nor are we one-dimensional. This moment, no matter where on the spectrum of race you find yourself or identify with requires more of us all.

"I tell him to be careful... if a cop stops him, they won't know if he's Latino or Black," I recently heard someone utter regarding several nuggets of well-intentioned pieces of advice they told an adult son some time ago. The reality of Kiko's* identity and experience, though, is that he is both Black and Latino-a fact that has been the case since birth, yet somehow still not evident to his mom, and perhaps even himself.

For Black Latinos who haven't dug deep, this moment is an opportunity for acknowledgment and acceptance of duality. For Brown Latinos, it's an opportunity to continue a rich history of solidarity, not only in words but in action, acknowledging that the forced taking of land and breath both on U.S. land and the rest of "America"-north, central and south-does not discriminate. For White and other Latinos, it is a moment to grow in knowledge and speak/act boldly in favor of Black people.

If there ever was a moment to apply the same level of vehement patriotism and Latino-pride that we as a community so often do, to a cause and plight-it is now.

"Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root,'" author and activist Angela Davis once said. Such uprooting cannot take place without collective action: "we need to encourage a lot more cross-racial organizing."

The last 24 hours have penned a new chapter in the history books that will inevitably result from the (& I'll put this delicately) shitshow that is the now. There is a before and after this moment, hopefully-not only in who we'll be individually and collectively after the pandemic ends (remember that?), or what we'll make of/how we'll experience art-but, more generally, what kind of "normal" we wish to walk into if we do, and what we'll deem acceptable.

This week, thousands of people across the United States have shown up to protest despite the coronavirus pandemic. Artists have donated and shared images. Meanwhile, familiar and consistent voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cardi B have chimed in.

Read a book or 50 to get a glimpse of the centuries that have led to this uprising as well as the many that came before.

As we move forward, the voice of ally and creative polymath Rihanna comes to mind:

"We can't let the de-sensitivity seep in... When we're marching and protesting and posting about the Michael Brown Juniors and the Atatiana Jeffersons of the world, tell your friends to pull up."

Pull up.

Text FLOYD to 55156, donate to his family's GoFundMe, the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and on-the-ground media collective of the people, Unicorn Riot-and after you've done that, be sure to also reckon with your demons and acknowledge or further grapple with the perhaps deeply-seeded racism, ethnocentrism or colorism at your core and consciously, respectfully engage with apathetic or misinformed family members rather than ignore their comments. Read a book or 50 (a few suggested texts here and here) to get a glimpse of the centuries that have led to this uprising as well as the many that came before. In other words, take responsibility for yourself and do the work-not only when it is performative or visible to your followers and peers but, especially and most importantly, when it is not.

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Op-Ed: On the Need for Cross-Racial Solidarity in the Latino Community

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There are pivotal moments in movements, and now that we are living in one, it's odd how evident and out-of-body its unfolding can feel in the present. Many of us woke up with heavy minds and hearts every day of this week following the death of George Floyd-a Black man deemed a "gentle giant" who was always cheerful.

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Lesson Plan: Asian Immigration - Immigration History

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Asians for Black Lives: Exploring and Practicing Solidarity

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Asians for Black Lives: Exploring and Practicing Solidarity

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Asians for Black Lives: Exploring and Practicing Solidarity

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Asian-American success and the pitfalls of generalization (brookings.edu)

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"There is but one race-humanity." So says Millicent, paramour of the Irish protagonist in George Moore's 1900 play, " The Bending of the Bough.

But Millicent does not run the U.S. Census Bureau. Data on a myriad of economic and social factors can be analyzed by self-defined racial or ethnic category. The huge inequalities between people in different racial categories are one of the most pressing challenges for public policy in the 21 st century.

Simple racial categories bring both benefits and risks

The distinctions drawn by statistical categories inevitably simplify a complex kaleidoscope of history, culture, and lived experience. For one thing, there is a growing mixed-race population, as our colleague Bill Frey shows in his book, Diversity Explosion. In 2010, for example, 15 percent of black children under five were actually defined as both black and white. Analysts can also be insensitive to the great diversity that exists within a particular racial category, as well as between them.

Simplistic racial categories can also provide fuel for racial stereotypes. One of the strongest is the idealization of Asian-Americans as a "model minority"-hard working, studious, committed to family, and so on. There are a number of problems with this characterization. First, it misses the huge heterogeneity between different Asian-American groups. People of Bangladeshi and Korean origin, for instance, cannot be easily lumped together. Second, even the "positive stereotype" applied to Asians can carry a cost for young people by artificially inflating expectations or narrowing life choices, as Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou show in their excellent book, The Asian American Paradox.

Third, holding up one racial or ethnic minority as a "model" can too easily become an implicit criticism of other minorities. "If Asians can do it, why can't you?" is the thought process lying not far below the surface of some commentaries on race and racism in the U.S. This is perhaps the most dangerous byproduct of the model minority stereotype, and a form of racism in and of itself.

Asian-American successes in perspective

It is certainly true that treated as a whole group, Asian-Americans appear to be doing well. Relative to other racial and ethnic minorities, they live in wealthier neighborhoods, have high marriage rates, high levels of educational achievement, and are successful in the labor market.

The most striking success of Asian-Americans, and the one most commonly highlighted in the media, is in educational attainment. While 36 percent of whites, 23 percent of blacks, and 16 percent of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree or more, 54 percent of Asians do. Furthermore, while 14 percent of whites have advanced degrees, 21 percent of Asian-Americans do.

Why? For many, the answer is simple: culture. The New York Times columnist David Brooks points to a "Chinese attitude toward education"that aims to "perfect the learning virtues in order to become, ultimately, a sage, which is equally a moral and intellectual state. These virtues include: sincerity (an authentic commitment to the task) as well as diligence, perseverance, concentration and respect for teachers." Kay Hymowitz points to "a cultural trait that has become a cliché in the model-minority discussion: a zealous focus on education. For Chinese immigrants, education for the next generation is close to a religion." Amy Chua, of "Tiger Mom" fame, suggests that "strikingly successful groups...share three traits that, together, propel success. The first is a superiority complex-a deep-seated belief in their exceptionality. The second appears to be the opposite-insecurity, a feeling that you or what you've done is not good enough. The third is impulse control." Psychologists have tested Chua's "triple package" empirically, however, and found little support for her thesis.

In these discussions, there is a danger that scholars and commentators miss the diversity that exists within the Asian-American population, and over-emphasize the importance of a quasi-mystical "Asian-American cultural attitude," as opposed to more prosaic explanations for success-like school quality.

Belief in hard work, rather than just in education

A common refrain is that Asian-Americans value education more, on average, than other groups. But the evidence for this is not wholly convincing. In a College Board/National Journal survey of 1,272 adults ages 18 and older, the majority of members of all ethnic and racial minorities agreed with the statement, " young people today need a four-year college degree in order to be successful." (It was white students that were more skeptical.) However, Asian-Americans are more likely to believe that academic achievement results from greater effort, rather than greater skill. This belief can in fact explain a large part of the superior academic outcomes for Asian-Americans, according to some studies. Believing that hard work pays off, Asian-American students work harder-and, for them, it pays off.

Why do young Asian-Americans have a stronger belief in the connection between effort and education? One obvious point-though often overlooked-is that Asian-Americans are largely first- or second-generation immigrants, and immigrants are by definition a self-selected group. They are the ones who have been willing and able-or whose parents have been willing and able-to take the often risky journey to start a new life in a foreign land. Immigrants are often well-educated. Asian-Americans have in fact been a uniquely hyper-selective migrant group. The share of well-educated Asian immigrants is in fact higher than the American population average. This alone is likely to influence outcomes, since there is a clear connection between parental education and the education achievement of their children.

Asian-Americans attend better schools

There may be an even more straightforward explanation for why Asians do better in terms of education: they are more likely to go to better schools.

Drawing on microdata from the 2014 American Community Survey, we calculate school-level math proficiency rates to probe this question. First, we take school averages for pass-rates on state-administered math tests from 3 rd through 6 th grade (weighting by grade size). To avoid any endogeneity problem, the possibility that the passing rates of Asian students themselves might push the schools' numbers upward, we strip out Asian-American test-takers from our tabulation of school-level passing rates. Next we calculate the average passing rate for all the schools within each Public-Use Microdata Area (PUMA)-geographical areas containing roughly 100,000 people each-weighting our data by school size. PUMAs are rough proxies for public school attendance zones. Last, we rank all the PUMAs within each state, according to their average math passing rate. (So a PUMA between the 80 th and 100 th percentile contains schools with an average math-passing rate in the top fifth for that state.)

These rankings can be used to estimate whether Asian-Americans enjoy differential rates of access to good schools.

Note that here we are measuring the quality of schools to which different racial groups have likely access to, rather than those which they actually attend, which allows us to dig deeper into differences by racial category. But our results for Asian-Americans are broadly consistent with a recent paperby Jonathan Rothwell that did track attendance.[1]

We find that Asian-Americans do in fact live in areas with state-level school performance rates far more similar to whites than Hispanics or blacks:

Of course Asians and whites have higher average household incomes than blacks and Hispanics, which, other things equal, would suggest that they will be able to afford to live in areas with better schools. Work by Douglas S. Massey and Jonathan Tannen shows that Asians tend to live in neighborhoods that have higher median property values (a factor that strongly influences school funding levels through local property taxes) than their black or Hispanic counterparts.

But in fact the gap in access to good schools is almost as pronounced for those living in low-income households (i.e. those below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Line) as for the general population:

It is also possible that there are some peer effects at work here. Maybe those Asian-American kids are boosting their classmates' performance. But it seems highly unlikely that any such effect would be substantial, or sufficient to explain the gaps above. Asian-Americans make up roughly 5 percent of public school enrollment nationally. In our sample, Asian-American 5 th graders make up less than 10 percent of their grade populations in 95 percent of the schools, and less than 55 percent of the students in 99 percent of schools.

So, the conclusion seems clear: Asian-Americans live near better schools. This explanation for higher achievement is of course a rather boring one, compared to appeals to culture. But it suggests that policymakers would do better to promote higher-performing schools than worry too much about promoting "Asian values."

Asian-Americans are far from the same

So far we have followed research convention in treating Asian-Americans as a single group. But there are wide differences between different Asian-American groups. Many are struggling economically; the "Asian" advantages popularized in the media are far from universal.

Many groups from East Asia and India are doing very well economically. But Cambodians and Hmong are on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder, with very high poverty rates, of 38 percent and 29 percent respectively. Why is this? And is there an explanation of why some Asian groups do so well, while others struggle? According to the "model minority" theory of the case, economic hardship ought not to matter so much. Culture and values are supposed to overwhelm economic conditions.

In our data, we find some suggestive evidence to the contrary. The Asian groups faring poorly are those living in areas with poorer quality schools-similar, in fact, to those in which African Americans live. At the other end of the scale, the Asian groups doing well look to have access to higher performing schools. This finding seems to hold even when we take Asian scores out of our rankings, and for those below the 150 percent of the poverty level:

But, do schools really impact achievement?

On the face of it, asking whether school quality influences student outcomes is naïve. There is a vast evidence base suggesting that it does. But given the strength of the "model minority" thesis, it is worth looking to see if the educational attainment of different Asian-American groups lines up with our assessment of their access to good schools.

Here we have to turn to state-level data. California is home to just over 30 percent of the national Asian population (according to the 2010 Census). In terms of access to good schools among different Asian ethnic groups, the state is broadly similar to the national picture. Many East Asian groups and Indian Americans have above-par access, while those from Southeast Asia tend to have below-par access (defining "par" as the white rate):

The academic performance of children from these different groups on the California Standards Tests (CST) suggests that inequalities in educational access among Asian-Americans tend to be mirrored in educational achievement. The data from the CST End of Course Algebra 1 exam taken by eighth graders in the state shows a striking picture:

Groups like Cambodians and Laotians are faring much worse than their Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian counterparts in the state-in line with their access to better schools. (Note that the Chinese population here includes Taiwanese, who enjoy noticeably above-par access to good schools in the state of California.) These academic performance gaps within the Asian-American population are in fact just as wide as the gaps between white and black Americans.

To be clear: we do observe a broad shift upward in academic performance for Asian-Americans as compared to their initial rates of access to good schools. There may be a host of further reasons for this relatively uniform shift upward. Asian-Americans tend to have higher rates of family stability, for instance, which is likely to help their children do better at school. There is also some variation within the broader picture: note for instance the strong outcomes for Vietnamese Americans, even though their access to good schools is less than for whites.

But overall, given the similar-and striking-differences in access to quality schools, and apparent relationship to outcomes, it seems reasonable to conclude that material factors like access to good schools plays a critical role for all Americans, whatever their race.

Unfortunately Texas and New York-with the next largest Asian populations-do not release proficiency rates for Asians. (Shocking, really, but that's for another day.) However, some additional data from Minnesota seems to further reinforce a similar pattern of broad heterogeneity in Asian subgroup exam scores, largely mirroring our pattern in national access to good schools by ethnicity.

Time to ditch the "model minority" mindset

We have presented evidence that access to good schools may explain some of the good educational outcomes for Asian-Americans, and for different groups within the Asian-American population. There are exceptions, however. Those of Vietnamese origin do well; better than might be expected given their material circumstances and parental educational backgrounds. As highlighted in The Asian American Paradox, these exceptions may stem from access to shared resources and institutional structures built by other Asian minority groups. As relatively recent immigrants, or children of immigrants, Asian-Americans are also a self-selected group, hard to compare to people in other racial categories.

Having well-educated parents and a belief in hard work and will serve any child well, regardless of their race or ethnicity. To the extent that some Asian-Americans benefit disproportionately from both, they are likely to do better than others. But the danger is that too much emphasis is placed on these factors, rather than on more straightforward ones more amenable to public policy intervention, like access to good schools. As our former colleague Jonathan Rothwell and others have shown, black children in particular are likely to attend worse K-12 schools.

We have also shown that there are minorities within the Asian minority, and stark differences between them. This should act to further caution us against the adoption of "model minority" simplicities, and in particular, using them to implicitly cast blame on other racial or ethnic minorities for their own economic and social disadvantages.
[1] The one exception was that whites are more likely to attend a good school even in a PUMA with weaker schools. This may be a result of segregation within PUMAs, or a greater likelihood of attending a school outside the PUMA.

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Nathan Joo, Richard V. Reeves, and Edward Rodrigue

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Asian-American success and the pitfalls of generalization

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"There is but one race-humanity." So says Millicent, paramour of the Irish protagonist in George Moore's 1900 play, " The Bending of the Bough. But Millicent does not run the U.S. Census Bureau. Data on a myriad of economic and social factors can be analyzed by self-defined racial or ethnic category.