Ethnicities

An Thuy Nguyen | – Orono, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – The deadly mass shooting on March 16 targeting Asian American women working at massage parlors in Atlanta, GA is neither a tragic happenstance, nor an isolated case of a (sexually) frustrated white man having “a really bad day” – as in the words […]

Asian-Americans

The US has a long history of violence against Asian women

The Conversation

By Karen Leong and Karen Kuo | – Asian American women understand that the alleged murderer of eight people in Atlanta was acting in keeping with a culture filled with racialized and sexualized views of Asian women. Of the people murdered, four women were of Korean descent and two of Chinese heritage. The shooter himself, […]

Asian-Americans

Anti-Asian violence shares the same roots as the hatred plaguing all communities of color

Waging Nonviolence

By Emma Jordan-Simpson and Cathy Kim | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – Prejudice against Asian-Americans is nothing new. Sadly it is as American as apple pie and Jim Crow. Whether it’s the “yellow peril” of the late 19th century that gave rise to the Chinese Exclusion Act, FDR’s establishment of Japanese-American internment camps or […]

Asian-Americans

Asians are good at math? Why dressing up racism as a compliment just doesn’t add up

The Conversation

By Niral Shah | – The narrative that “Asians are good at math” is pervasive in the United States. Young children are aware of it. College students’ academic performance can be affected by it. On the surface, the “Asians are good at math” narrative sounds like a compliment. After all, what’s wrong with saying that […]

Asian-Americans

Racism is behind anti-Asian American violence, even when it’s not a hate crime

The Conversation

By Pawan Dhingra | – Over the past year, attacks on Asian Americans have increased more than 150% over the previous year, including the March 16 murders of eight people, including six Asian American women, in Atlanta. Some of these attacks may be classified as hate crimes. But whether they meet that legal definition or […]

Asian-Americans

Attacks on Asian Americans are Rooted in over a Century of Racist Exclusion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The spine-chilling attacks on Asian-Americans around the country, in San Francisco, New York, and now most bloodily in Atlanta, are manifestations of a white supremacism that has deep roots in American history. The odious Trump and his minions whipped up hatred by branding the novel coronavirus the “Chinese flu” or […]

African-Americans

Is Harvard denying Tenure to Cornel West over his views on Palestine?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Maximilien Alvarez writing at The Chronicle of Higher Education interviews eminent Black philosopher Cornel West on the latter being denied tenure at Harvard University. West is convinced that his views on the Palestine issue are the real reason for which Harvard will not give him a permanent job. Universities have […]

African-Americans

Harlem Ashram: The roots of revolutionary nonviolence in the United States are in the Black community

Waging Nonviolence

By Joanne Sheehan | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – Many are wondering how to respond to the current white supremacist threat. We only have to look to history — to those who organized against the brutal culture and laws of segregation in this country — for inspiration on the importance of relationship building, creative strategies […]

Culture

How Spanish Can Help Us Survive Viral Times: A Journey into the Heart of a Language We Need Now More Than Ever

Ariel Dorfman

“Una nación bajo Diós, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos.” ( Tomdispatch.com) – When Jennifer López shouted out that last line of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish during Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, like so many Spanish-speaking Latinos in the United States I felt a sense of pride, a sense of arrival. It was […]