(Invited) Yellow Peril, Model Minority, and Anti-Asian Racism during COVID-19

Abstract

This presentation will focus on both the current wave of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and the longer history of anti-Asian racism in the US starting in the 19th C. In particular, I will focus on the concepts of Yellow Peril, Xenophobia, and the Model Minority Myth, linking them to the perceptions of Asian Americans as forever foreign and invisible minorities who are not understood as being subject to systemic racism. I will also link all of the anti-Asian rhetoric to the anti-Chinese sentiments expressed during COVID-19 and the ways that has made Asian American lives precarious. I will also touch on concepts like systemic racism and white supremacy, demonstrating how these ideologies are impacting both Asian Americans and other racial minorities by looking at how both anti-Black and anti-Asian racism have roots in white supremacy. The presentation ends by sharing how all people, regardless of their identity, religion, or belief system, can be anti-racism advocates.