On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing the ongoing rise of attacks and violence against the Asian American community. The Bay Area is receiving national attention after several Asian elders were violently attacked in San Francisco and Oakland. Activists and citizens in both cities have held rallies to condemn the violence. They say these attacks are not new, but they escalated after Donald Trump used racist slurs and epithets to refer to COVID-19. What will it take to stop these attacks?
Guests:
Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a community civil rights organization based in San Francisco, and co-creator of the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center
Melissa Borja, assistant professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan and affiliated researcher with the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center
Web Resources:
The New York Times, Jill Cowan: A Tense Lunar New Year for the Bay Area After Attacks on Asian-Americans
The San Francisco Chronicle, Justin Phillips: Our Asian neighbors are suffering. We need to listen to them
The Oaklandside, Momo Chang and Darwin BondGraham: Crime, race, safety: what’s really happening in Oakland Chinatown?
Time: Violence Against Asian Americans Is on the Rise—But It’s Part of a Long History