In the News

March 4, 2021

Curbing Anti-Asian and Pacific Islander Hate with Cynthia Choi (Our America with Julian Castro)

Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in the US, over 3,000 attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have been reported – with many targeting the Bay Area’s elderly population. Misinformation, fear, and politicians’ racist rhetoric tied to COVID’s origins in China have only fueled the sometimes fatal violence against AAPI communities across the country. Cynthia Choi of Stop AAPI Hate and Chinese For Affirmative Action joins us to talk about scapegoating, the data collected on these verbal and physical attacks, and the pressing need for community-led, intersectional public safety initiatives.

March 2, 2021

A demonstrator wearing a face mask and holding a sign takes part in a rally to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence, near Chinatown in Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2021.

Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans Spiked by 150% in Major US Cities (Voice of America)

In a troubling report released last month, Stop AAPI Hate said 126 of the incidents involved Asian Americans over the age of 60. “These violent assaults have a devastating impact on our community as they are part of an alarming rise in anti-Asian American hate during the COVID-19 pandemic,” co-founders of STOP AAPI Hate said in a February 9 statement.

February 27, 2021

Jeremy Lin, seen here with the Raptors in 2019, became the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship when Toronto defeated Golden State in that season's Finals.

As Attacks Against Asian Americans Spike, Jeremy Lin Pushes for Action (Washington Post)

“Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans," said Lin. "We are tired of being told that we don’t experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble,” Lin, who plays for the NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors, wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. “We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren’t as real.”

February 25, 2021

California State Governor Gavin Newsom stands at a podium during a February 2021 press event.

Californians Speak More Than 200 Languages. Not Everybody Gets the COVID Facts They Need. (Sacramento Bee)

California is one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the world nearly a year into the pandemic, that distinction continues to complicate attempts by state officials to disseminate critical information to all Californians. So far, the state provides materials in 18 languages and 10 indigenous dialects spoken in Latin America.

February 25, 2021

Demonstrators wearing face masks and holding signs take part in a rally to raise awareness of anti-Asian violence, near Chinatown in Los Angeles, California, on February 20

Anti-Asian Hate Is Met Mostly With Silence in Silicon Valley (Bloomberg News)

Leaders in the Asian community want the tech industry in particular to be more vocal and take sustained action, owing to the outsized power and influence it wields, its large Asian employee and customer base and its dominance of the San Francisco Bay Area, home to a large Asian population.

February 25, 2021

Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84, was assaulted on Jan. 28 while out on a morning walk and later died from head injuries. His son-in-law, Eric Lawson (right), holds a photo of Ratanapakdee as he stands with his wife, Monthanus, while attending a rally on Feb. 14 at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza in condemnation of the recent increase in violence towards the Asian American community around the Bay Area.

There’s Been a Surge of Attacks Against Asian Americans. Asians in the Bay Area Say the Hostility Isn’t New. (San Francisco Chronicle)

“Whenever there has been a public health crisis or an economic downturn, Asians and other communities have been the scapegoat,” explained CAA'sCynthia Choi, “and it really speaks to the status that we have as being forever foreigners, perpetual foreigners and perpetual potential threats.”

February 24, 2021

Two children holding signs demanding justice for asylum seekers

CAA Immigration Roundtable: the Future of Biden’s Immigration Bill Is Uncertain

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021,, if passed, would offer a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. “The good thing about this bill is that it is inclusive and it addresses the concerns of all immigrants,” said panelist Amy Lee, “whether they’re DACA recipients trying to apply for jobs, or immigrants trying to petition their siblings or parents in other countries to come to the United States.”

February 24, 2021

Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce president Carl Chan speaks with police and a shopkeeper in the wake of anti-Asian American attack

What Can Hollywood Do About the Violence Against Asians in America? (Hollywood Reporter)

Amid a spike in racist attacks during the pandemic, storytellers have a responsibility to spotlight claims and support local leaders who can make a difference at the community level, the 'Daily Show' correspondent writes.

February 21, 2021

Opinion: What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America (New York Times)

The recent incidents of anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area, in particular, highlight this: Some Asian-Americans were outraged by the violence and demanded justice, but since the perpetrators in these cases were Black, many others felt deeply uncomfortable with contributing to the criminalization of African-Americans.

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