By Ariel Neidermeier
In February 2020, during the early days of Coronavirus pandemic, stories began emerging of bullying and physical attacks on Asian Americans, blaming them for the pandemic and yelling things like ‘go back to China!’ Growing concern about this fast-spiraling situation inspired the formation of Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of three prominent Asian American & Pacific Islander advocacy organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University and the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON). Launched on March 19, 2021, the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
To date, Stop AAPI Hate has reported over 6,000 incidents of anti-Asian violence and revealed disturbing trends, including the dominance of hate incidents reported by Asian American women (64.8%) versus men.
Vincent Pan and Dr. Arlene Daus-Magbual are prominent activists of the Stop AAPI Hate movement of the striving to address anti-Asian racism.
Vincent Pan is the Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a community-based social justice organization that advocates for systemic change that protects and promotes immigrant rights, language diversity and racial justice. His work takes a network-based approach to movement building that leads Asian Americans to civil rights and equality. Prior to CAA, Vincent worked with the Clinton Foundation developing treatment programs for children living with HIV/AIDS in China.
Vincent Pan, Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA). Photo by Center for Asian American Media.
What was the driving force behind the creation of the #StopAAPIHate coalition? How have the goals of the coalition grown or evolved since its creation?
Stop AAPI Hate started in early 2020 as three key individuals and organizations came together to address what they identified as a fast emerging problem: a surge in anti-Asian racism fueled by the racialization of the COVID-19 pandemic and the political rhetoric surrounding it.
Leading activists Manju Kulkarni, Cynthia Choi and Russell Jeung each saw the need for a safe way for the community to report and compile what was happening. The data and the stories would be critical in order to raise the broader awareness needed for effective interventions.
Stop AAPI Hate is a leading tool for the community to report anti-Asian hate incidents which continue to be very visible. Meanwhile, other areas of their work are gaining traction, too. This includes offering resources to those impacted, providing technical assistance on prevention and intervention, supporting community safety and restorative justice programs, and advocating for effective civil rights and anti-discrimination policies.
What are the wins of the #StopAAPIHate movement that you're most proud of at this point?
People and communities across the country and the globe are now paying more attention to the reality that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have historically faced and continue to face harsh forms of structural racism, which can manifest itself in so many harmful and dangerous ways.
This is fueling a greater recognition that we all have a stake in dismantling structural racism and tackling all forms of systemic discrimination; because building support for this type of transformational solidarity is what will ultimately make us all safe and free from bigotry and violence.
Right now so many people are hurting and traumatized, so we cannot be complacent simply with increased awareness and visibility of the problem. Our energy is also directed towards winning long-term, sustained, and equitable investments in our communities, which have been long overdue.
What are the most pressing needs of the #StopAAPIHate coalition today and how can individuals best support those needs?
We continue to ask community members to speak out and report incidents of hate to www.stopaapihate.org because there is a long history of under-reporting, as well as racism against AAPIs being minimized. We also want people to be safe and to be an ally and to learn about and share public safety tips also available on our website.
We are so grateful to those who have donated or organized fundraisers for us because community support allows us to prioritize what is most important. We also invite everyone to learn about and support the local AAPI community groups where they live that need resources, too.
How does your Chinese American identity and background inform your advocacy work for the AAPI community?
The people and the groups involved with Stop AAPI Hate have been at the forefront of the AAPI civil rights and social justice movement for decades. We hold multiple and often intersecting identities that help us understand cultural and community strength, the history and role of social movements, and the ethical promise of solidarity across diversity.
What message do you want to share with Asian Americans today?
Now is the time for each and everyone of us to get involved.
We know that hurt people often hurt people, and abused people often abuse people. So as a community we need to be there for one another, and for others, in order to stop repeating cycles of harm. This includes demanding effective solutions that prevent hate incidents from occurring in the first place, and reimagining those systems that no longer work for anyone.
AAPIs have a long history of leadership and activism and all of us are part of that tradition. This is a time to be leaders, and to be healers, for ourselves and for others.
Arlene Daus-Magbual, Director of AAPI Student Service at San Francisco State University.
Dr. Arlene Daus-Magbual is the Director of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Student Services at San Francisco State University. She coordinates a broad range of services, programs and activities designed to support the access, academic achievement, social integration, persistence and graduation of AAPI and high-need target populations. She leads the efforts on campus in building AAPI Student Services at SFSU including ASPIRE, a project to serve and support the academic outcomes of Asian American and Native American Pacific Islanders (AANAPI).
What do you do at San Francisco State University and how does it feed into your advocacy work for the AAPI community?
I am the Inaugural Director for Asian American and Pacific Islander Student Services in the Division of Equity and Community Inclusion and a Faculty Lecturer in Asian American Studies Department. My services to AANAPI students on campus are grounded in the legacy and foundations of Ethnic Studies.
Ethnic Studies was born at SF State in 1968 and one of the goals is self-determination or the ability for dispossessed people to center their experiences in shaping their material reality. By responding to the needs of AANAPI students, we can address the history of systemic oppression our communities have faced. It is important to understand how history plays a role in the challenges our AANAPI students face as they navigate an institution that has historically marginalized them and overlooked their needs. Our goal is to improve and expand the capacity to serve our students and engage them with equitable learning environments as a practice toward freedom.
How did you get involved with the #StopAAPIHate movement?
I’ve been actively fighting racism since I was a child. I faced so much racism going to school and I have been constantly trying to find ways to learn and advocate for myself when the people who I was supposed to report to would sweep it under the rug. After I graduated college in 2000, I worked for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, now known as Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, as the Hate Crimes Education Coordinator in the Anti-Discrimination Unit. I worked with community organizations, schools, and universities to deliver curriculum and programming on racism, discrimination, know your rights, hate crimes and incidents. I was trained in victim assistance and worked directly with victims and their families. When 9/11 happened, I was on the front lines in responding to the rise of incidents happening in southern California. That experience led me to go to graduate school at SF State to pursue my master's in Asian American Studies to research and write about Hate Crimes on College Campuses. 17 years later, my thesis on that very topic is still relevant today.
Arlene and members of ASPIRE. Photo courtesy of Arlene Daus-Magbual.
My research and experience as a hate crimes education coordinator play a role in my current position at SF State. We have worked with Dr. Russell Jeung from #StopAAPIHate who is a faculty member here and he has done workshops with our students as well as invited youth interns from his project to teach our college students. My department has responded to the rise of hate against AANAPI students, faculty, and staff by holding space for racial grief through forums, town halls, and one-on-ones.
How has your work to combat anti-Asian discrimination at San Fransciso State University translated into legislative action?
After many forums and town halls we held with students, staff, faculty, and administrators, and after the shootings in Georgia, where 6 out of the 8 people were Asian American women, I collaborated with six Asian American women professors to co-author an Academic Senate resolution to condemn anti-Asian racism and violence. The resolution was unanimously passed by the Academic Senate and serves as a guide to respond to the needs of our SF State Asian American community.
What message do you want to share with young Asian Americans today?
The message I want to share is that I see you. I feel you. You are not alone. Hold space for the racial grief and trauma you are experiencing, speak your truth, advocate for yourself and each other and be in the process of learning and becoming. Build solidarity and learn from past and current solidarity movements.
For more information about Stop AAPI Hate, visit https://stopaapihate.org/, or follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.