For the United States to address anti-Asian hate, we must acknowledge the centuries of harm done to Asian communities and uplift the wide breadth of Asian experiences.
On March 16, 2021, a gunman entered three Asian-owned spa businesses in the Atlanta metro area and shot and killed eight people. Six of the eight victims were Asian American women. Although authorities have stated that the motive was not race-related, this tragedy follows a 150 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes between the months of March and December 2020.
In cities across the United States, elderly folks have been shoved on the streets resulting in their hospitalization and death, racist slurs have been yelled in public spaces, and Asian-owned businesses have been targeted, including in neighboring Howard County where four Asian-owned businesses were burglarized during the Lunar New Year in February. These violent acts have sparked the Stop Asian Hate movement, a series of protests and demonstrations across the country that are demanding the end to anti-Asian racism.
Many activists and educators from the Stop Asian Hate movement have argued that anti-Asian racism in the United States is not a new phenomenon but rather has a long and violent history that began when the first wave of Asian immigrants arrived in the 19th century. As we take the time to recognize and honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI) during May, we should commemorate the history of Asians in this country, including the arrival of the United States’ first Japanese immigrants on May 7, 1843, and the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, which was accomplished through the labor of about 15,000 Chinese immigrants.
However, we should also acknowledge the ways in which the United States sought to exclude and criminalize Asians, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the internment of about 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
Asian Americans are also often pigeonholed into the “model minority myth,” a stereotype that homogenizes Asian Americans as prosperous, obedient, law-abiding people who successfully assimilated into American society and white norms due to their values of hard work and traditional family structures. This narrative fails to capture the reality of Asian Americans, which includes having the widest income gap of any racial or ethnic group and some of the highest rates of poverty in the country.
The model minority myth, when coupled with anti-Blackness, has also served as a tool to pit Asian American “success” against Black American “failure” and to blame Black people for social problems.
These socially constructed concepts damage the personal development, growth, and relationships of all People of Color and white people by creating false narratives, stereotype threats and promises on the diverse lived experiences of individuals and racial and ethnic groups.
Therefore, to truly work toward racial justice and to honor AAPI month, we must reject the model minority myth, learn and repair the historical harms caused by anti-Asian racism, and recognize the wide diversity that exists under this umbrella term, including a plethora of experiences, histories, cultures, languages, and traditions that exist in East, South, and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
To learn more, we invite you to check out "The Table at UMB," a podcast that focuses on questions regarding race, ethnicity, culture, and current events. We recently released a two-part series, "Anti-Asian Racism is Not New." We invited Crystal Han, MD, and Angeline Pham, MD, psychiatry residents at the University of Maryland and the facilitators of the Crazy Stressed Asians group, to discuss anti-Asian racism and its impact on the mental health and well-being of Asians and Asian Americans. Part 1 focuses on the history of anti-Asian racism in the United States and how to build solidarity movements across racial and ethnic groups. Part 2 focuses on racial trauma and mental health for Asians and Asian Americans, and People of Color more broadly.
"The Table at UMB" is hosted by Courtney Jones Carney, MBA, and Rosemary Ferreira, MEd, and is executive produced and edited by Angela Jackson, senior marketing specialist in UMB Student Affairs.
We invite you to share any questions or comments about "The Table at UMB" podcast to ile@umaryland.edu.
Disclaimer: Elm Voices & Opinions articles reflect the thoughts or opinions of their individual authors, and may not represent the thoughts or values of UMB as an institution.