UCLA economist Paul Ong had heard about Asian American businesses dealing with discrimination and harrassment from customers since the early days of the pandemic. He’d watched President Donald Trump call COVID-19 the “China virus” and “kung flu.” “That affected people’s perspective. So what we started seeing is people harassing Asians….blaming them for the pandemic,” Ong […]
On March 10, Loretta Mendoza Dionisio became the first person in Los Angeles County known to have died of COVID-19. Dionisio was 68, had diabetes and had just returned from a trip to her native Philippines. That made her a precursor of the coming pandemic in more ways than one. For a variety of reasons, Filipino Americans […]
California reached another bleak coronavirus milestone this week, recording more than 150 daily deaths in the worst fatality numbers since the pandemic began. But just as troubling, health officials and experts say, is how COVID-19 is stalking certain groups, such as essential workers, and those in institutions including nursing homes and prisons, at much greater rates than […]
As Joe Biden weighs potential running mates, he has been asked repeatedly about the women he is considering. The Democrat has responded repeatedly that multiple women of color are on his list. The former vice president’s statement has all the makings of a coy dodge, keeping all possibilities open. But it is also a milestone. […]
“Many of us wouldn’t even be in this country, if not for Black struggles for justice,” one Asian American activist said. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing, teenager Mandy Zhang grew frustrated with the media. Its portrayal of the protests sweeping the country negatively shaped her friends’ and family’s perception of the Black Lives […]
(NEW YORK) — The New York City Commission on Human Rights is launching a massive effort to combat anti-Asian bias as reports of COVID-19-related discrimination skyrocket. “This type of discrimination and harassment is not something that happens out of nowhere in a pandemic, this is based in deep-seated miseducation and racism,” said Carmelyn Malalis, the […]
Hate crimes and incidents directed at Asian Americans have surged during the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, whose director said Wednesday that civic groups and police departments had fielded more than 100 reports of hate incidents tied to the pandemic from February through April. Many of these incidents […]
The number of eligible Asian American voters has surged by 139 percent in the last 20 years, according to a Pew Research report released Thursday. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing segment of eligible voters out of the major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., with more than 11 million people able to vote this year, according […]
Ten days before New York issued a stay-at-home order, Truman Lam, 35, was already contemplating whether to close his restaurant Jing Fong, an icon in Manhattan’s Chinatown. It was Tuesday, March 10. During the peak lunch hour, he went upstairs to count how many customers he still had. Jing Fong’s dining room is massive; a […]
Asian Americans are among the doctors and nurses saving our lives. Yet they also endure the worst abuse. Texas is the No. 3 state for hate incidents against Asian Americans, according to recent numbers from a California-based advocacy council. A recent attack on a Burmese family in Midland is being investigated as a hate crime. And the president […]