Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World Standing at the juncture of white supremacy and anti-Blackness, Asian Americans have been imagined as not-white but above all not-Black –as undesirable but the lesser of two evils–for almost two centuries. In her explosive new book, Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World, Claire Jean Kim, Ph.D., argues that Asian Americans have benefited from anti-Blackness at the same time that they have been burdened by white supremacy. Throughout history, they have been weaponized against (and have sometimes weaponized themselves against) the Black freedom struggle and used as an alibi for a racial capitalist U.S. state whose legitimacy is often in question. For whites, the principle is: Whiteness is best, but the most important thing is not-Blackness. Or, better Asians than Blacks. This is key to understanding how Asian Americans have been positioned and how they have negotiated their social and economic mobility in an anti-Black society. This event, hosted on June 13, 2023, featured Dr. Claire Jean Kim in conversation with Dr. Charlene Sinclair, Colorlines’ Editor, to discuss how these theories might guide Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities into solidarity with one another. This event was co-organized by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund and Colorlines, and co-sponsored by the National AAPI Power Fund, California Black Freedom Fund, Four Freedoms Fund, Groundswell Fund, Groundswell Action Fund, and the RISE Together Fund.
Behind Closed Doors | Part 4 This four-part webinar series took place from December 2022 to March 2023. It was hosted by the USC Price School and its Center for Inclusive Democracy, the California Black Freedom Fund, the Latino Community Foundation, and the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund. The fourth and last part of these moderated sessions explored the entrenchment of racism in U.S. politics, and its impact on political power and representation in communities. Titled “Behind Closed Doors,” these sessions served as a public space for open and challenging conversations examining the nation’s entrenched relationship between racism and politics, a situation recently brought further into the spotlight by the secret recording of a meeting of Los Angeles City Council members making racist remarks. Watch the full video below, or click here to watch the webinar highlights. Moderator: Mindy Romero, Founder and Director, Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC Price School Panelists: Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, Los Angeles City Councilmember – District 1 Lian Cheun, Executive Director, Khmer Girls in Action Peggy Moore, Principal & Co-Owner at Hope Action Change Consulting
Behind Closed Doors | Part 3 This four-part webinar series took place from December 2022 to March 2023. It was hosted by the USC Price School and its Center for Inclusive Democracy, the California Black Freedom Fund, the Latino Community Foundation, and the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund. Part three of these moderated sessions explored the entrenchment of racism in U.S. politics, and its impact on political power and representation in communities. Titled “Behind Closed Doors,” these sessions served as a public space for open and challenging conversations examining the nation’s entrenched relationship between racism and politics, a situation recently brought further into the spotlight by the secret recording of a meeting of Los Angeles City Council members making racist remarks. Watch the full video below, or click here to watch the webinar highlights. Moderator: Amy Dominguez-Arms Philanthropic/Nonprofit Consultant Panelists: Pablo Rodriguez Executive Director, Communities for a New California Hector Sanchez Deputy Political Director, Community Coalition Cha Vang Deputy Director, AAPIs for Civic Empowerment James Woodson Executive Director, California Black Power Network
NCAAT | Mental Health Resources As a part of North Carolina Asian American Together‘s intern program, their summer intern Ollie created this resource guide because they had previously been unable to find mental health, AANHPI, and other resources geared specifically towards queer and trans BIPOC. Resources, ranging from organizations focusing on mental health to therapist directories to mental health websites and tools, are separated into the following categories: QTBIPOC (Queer POC and/or LGBTQIA+ resources) AANHPI Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Southeast Asian South Asian Visit the Resource Guide at this link.
CAA | Immigrant Voting and the Movement for Inclusion in San Francisco “Immigrant Voting and the Movement for Inclusion in San Francisco” was released by Chinese for Affirmative Action in partnership with the Immigrant Parent Voting Collaborative. This report provides an overview of the fight to win immigrant voting legislation in San Francisco, a law also known as “noncitizen voting,” and the effects noncitizen voting has had on immigrant empowerment. The report shares how the program affected immigrants in San Francisco, the barriers they face in exercising their voting rights, and best practices community organizers have used to try to overcome those barriers. Read the report below, and access the executive summary as well as report appendices in multiple languages including Amharic, Arabic, Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese on their website. 23-CAA-ImmigrationVotingReport-F2
Claire Jean Kim | Essay on Asian Americans and Affirmative Action In her essay “Better Asians than Blacks,” published in the American Scholar on July 20, 2023, author Claire Jean Kim examines the lead up to the SCOTUS decision on conscious admissions with the lens of historic and present racial dynamics in the United States. This essay provides a useful entry point in discussing the weaponization of Asian Americans against the Black struggle and in previous legal cases/rulings.
Affirmative Action Statements On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court set America back in the progress towards building an inclusive and equitable society by striking down race-conscious admissions policies. Below you will find statements from the grantees of the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund regarding this decision and their commitment to ensuring that all communities have the opportunity to thrive. Asian Americans Advancing Justice Denounces Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action (Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago) Massachusetts Asian American Communities Stand for Affirmative Action & In Solidarity with Other Communities of Color (Asian American Resource Workshop) Chinese For Affirmative Action’s Statement on the Supreme Court’s Decision in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (Chinese for Affirmative Action) Weaponizing Asians Doesn’t Advance Racial Justice: NAKASEC & Affiliates Decry SCOTUS’ Decision on Race-Conscious Admissions (HANA Center) Affirmative Action Case Reaffirms LTSC’s Commitment to Equity (Little Tokyo Service Center) NCAAT Denounces the U.S. Supreme Court’s Ruling Against Affirmative Action (North Carolina Asian Americans Together) Rising Voices Condemns Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action Ending Race-Conscious Admissions (Rising Voices)
Catalist | Analysis of AAPI Voters in the 2022 Midterms On May 18, 2023, Catalist published a comprehensive voter file analysis of the 2022 midterm with demographic breakdowns and a comparison of heavily contested and less contested elections. This was the first in a series of reports on What Happened in the 2022 general election from the perspective of the Catalist voter database, the longest-running outside the two major political parties. Building on its national What Happened analysis, Catalist produced 2022 Constituency Reports on October 19, 2023, to offer deep dives on specific constituency groups, including Black, Latino, AAPI, youth and women voters. As with Catalist’s 2022 What Happened report, these reports focus on the national House vote, different voting patterns in states with highly contested versus less contested statewide elections, and state-level performance. The reports also explore registration, primary voting, and ongoing shifts in which methods people use to vote. On AAPI voters, Catalist found: “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are a rapidly growing and diversifying group in the United States and their voter engagement and participation have kept pace with this extraordinary growth. AAPI communities comprise a rapidly expanding share of registrants and voters and continue to support Democratic candidates at high rates. In a warning sign, however, Democratic support among AAPI voters declined between the 2020 Presidential election and the 2022 midterms nationally and in states with highly contested Senate and Gubernatorial races. Although our estimates suggest the decline was considerably smaller in highly contested states than nationally, there is greater uncertainty around shifts in highly contested 2022 states because of the relatively small share of the electorate in these states comprised of AAPI voters. AAPI registered voters have grown sharply as a share of all registered voters from 2014 to 2022, mirroring their population growth. These changes also reflect relatively high registration and turnout rates in recent elections, with AAPI turnout in 2022 notably remaining stable even when compared to the high-salience midterm of 2018. Their vote share nationally was 4 percent in both of the last two midterms. In states with highly contested 2022 Senate and Gubernatorial contests, where there is a relatively lower concentration of AAPI residents, their vote share also remained stable over this period, at 2 percent. AAPI voters continued to support Democrats at high rates. Both nationally and in highly contested states, about 6 in 10 AAPI voters are estimated to have voted Democratic. Despite being a relatively smaller share of Democrats’ multi-racial coalition than Black, Latino or white voters, in multiple close battleground races, the number of AAPI Democratic voters exceeded the win margins, underscoring the pivotal nature of this constituency. Nationally, however, Democratic support among AAPI voters declined by 7 percentage points between the 2020 Presidential election and 2022 House contests. Support declines in highly contested states were considerably smaller at an estimated 2 points. Our estimates also suggest that decreases in Democratic support were smaller among young AAPI voters and among AAPI voters in states with highly contested Senate and Gubernatorial elections. Finally, the composition of the AAPI electorate shifted along some demographic dimensions and remained stable along others across the last three midterm elections. Relative to 2014 and 2018, the 2022 AAPI electorate included slightly higher shares of Gen Z and Millennial voters, non-married voters, and suburban voters. Over this same period the composition of the AAPI electorate remained stable by gender and educational attainment. This report examines in close detail levels and trends across recent election cycles in registration, vote share, support, and vote method among AAPI voters, breaking out these topics by state and sub-constituency as relevant to illuminate key findings.” Click this link read the details and access graphics and charts from Catalist’s 2022 Constituency Report on AAPI Voters.
Act to Change | Data and Resources on Bullying Published by Act to Change, ADMERASIA, and NextShark, this report measures teh impact of bullying, awareness, and prevention measures in the Asian American Community. It was released on the third annual National AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate, bringing together more than 40 cities and states, 300 community organizations, and dozens of elected officials to stand against bullying and hate in the AAPI community. Included are recommendations and resource for families on what to do when their child is bullied. Data was collected from over 300 Asian Americans on their experiences with bullying and reporting it to an adult. Click on this link to learn more at their website, and to access an anti-bullying fridge page as well as downloadable graphics, qualitative and quantitative snapshots, and recommendations. 20210506-Asian-American-Bullying-Report-v5_A.pptx
NC State | Historical Timeline of Asian Americans North Carolina State University Library has a publicly available historical timeline of Asian & Asian American Community in the state from as early as the 1890s, when the first international student was enrolled at the school. The timeline, along with photographs and other digitized materials, can be viewed on the website at this link.