Category: In the News

As elections officers and communities continue to process the results of the highly contentious 2022 midterm elections, one thing is clear: Asian American voters, especially those in Los Angeles County, have the potential to decide races.

Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that was created in 2020 after a rise in anti-Asian hate, believes that people of color were put in harm’s way during the Trump administration.

The web portal Stop AAPI Hate has become an essential tool in the fight against hate crimes and bias incidents.

The news of Chinese American actress Anna May Wong becoming the first Asian American to appear on US currency has been met with excitement and hope from the Asian American community.

The 1871 massacre wiped out close to 10 percent of the small Chinese population living in Los Angeles at the time. Historians estimated that nearly 1 in 10 of the roughly 5,700 residents in the city participated in the slaughter.

Two hate crimes bills backed by LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander Californians are moving forward in the state Legislature. They come amid a yearslong rise in street harassment and attacks motivated by racial bias toward API individuals.

"I would just have to say that now is the time for our state legislative leaders to act. This is such an important opportunity for them to combat such a widespread circumstance for our API community members who continue to face hate and harassment," said Andy Wong, a gay Chinese American who is director of advocacy for Chinese for Affirmative Action.

“Even as people move on past the COVID-19 pandemic, AAPIs continue to be harassed because of their race,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance

A New York man was indicted on several felony charges, including second-degree murder as a hate crime, in connection to an incident from March, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

To reduce discrimination and bias, the report recommends policies that strengthen and improve education, robust community responses to hateful incidents, and an expansion of civil rights. Experts said that institutions of higher education have a critical role to play in this work.