‘Anti-Asian Hate Is as American as Apple Pie’

Activists Gather at UC Santa Barbara to Discuss Asian-American Activism

Panelists at the Asian-American Activism forum on April 26 were (from left): moderator Naomi Joseph, PhD candidate, UCSB Sociology Department; Diane Fujino, UCSB professor; Manjusha Kulkarni, cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate; Artnelson Concordia, S.B. school district Ethnic Studies Coordinator; and Melissa Borja, assistant professor, University of Michigan. | Credit: Richelle Boyd

Discrimination and acts of hate against Asians and Pacific Islanders were issues long before the start of the pandemic. Yet when COVID-19 made its way to the U.S., there were suddenly more incidents coming to light.

Manjusha Kulkarni, the cofounder and executive director of Stop AAPI Hate, remembered one of the first reported cases during a panel discussion. In February 2020, just as the mysterious new virus was becoming known, a white boy approached an Asian boy in his class at a middle school in Los Angeles. He said: “You’re a COVID carrier. Go back to China.”

Manjusha Kulkarni, the cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate, was the keynote speaker at the Asian-American activism forum. | Credit: Capps Center

The Asian boy said, “I’m not Chinese” — and was punched in the face and head 20 times. The case was never pursued because the two boys knew each other. Because of that, it was considered not an act of racial discrimination but a personal conflict between classmates, according to Kulkarni.