In February of 2020, Covid-19 had not yet hit American shores.
But even before the pandemic emerged in the U.S., Manju Kulkarni, executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, noticed a menacing trend: the rise in hate-motivated violence and speech targeting Asian Americans, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s xenophobic remarks on the origins of the virus and its carriers. “The China virus,” proclaimed Trump. “Kung Flu,” he stated, to his cheering fans on the campaign trail.
The first incident Kulkarni became aware of was a young boy who was physically and verbally attacked at his school in a bias-motivated incident. The AAPI Equity Alliance worked with the Los Angeles Unified School District to address the crime.
