Asian Americans Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

On Asian America: Past And Present Stories Of Living In The Rural Northwest

By Sueann Ramella June 11, 2021

On Asian America examines the rise in anti-Asian sentiment and it's history in the Northwest. This episode lookes at historically violent acts against Chinese workers in the rural Northwest from the Hell's Canyon Massacre to mobs pushing out the Chinese in small towns. You'll also hear from those of Asian descent who share their experiences living in rural areas and how Read More

Two Asian American Friends In The Tri-Cities Reflect On Navigating How They’re Treated

By Anna King May 21, 2021

Mysti Meiers, left, and Danielle Kleist are best friends living in Washington's Tri-Cities. The women say they are having to recalibrate their relationships after instances of anti-Asian hate crimes across the U.S.

Mysti Meiers and Danielle Kleist say they don't define themselves as Asian Americans first, but as human beings. And that’s how they wish the rest of us would see them. Read More

Here’s What The New Hate Crimes Law Aims To Do As Attacks On Asian Americans Rise

By NPR News May 20, 2021

President Biden signs into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on Thursday in the East Room of the White House. CREDIT: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Following overwhelming support from both chambers of Congress, President Biden signed legislation Thursday that addresses hate crimes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular emphasis on the increase in violence against Asian Americans.Read More

80% Of Asian Americans Say They Are Discriminated Against

By NPR News May 17, 2021

A recent study indicates that approximately 80% of Asian Americans feel a lack of respect and a sense of discrimination from fellow Americans. CREDIT: LAAUNCH

A recent survey found that nearly 80% of Asian Americans don't feel respected and say they are discriminated against by their fellow Americans. Additionally, a significant portion of respondents of multiple races said they were unaware of an increase in hate crimes and racism against Asian Americans over the past year.Read More

Engaging With Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A Reading List

By NPR News May 15, 2021

In the past year, and throughout history, narratives surrounding Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been rife with violence, hardship and grief. Yet they are so much more than their experiences of suffering — beyond tales of war and isolation, there is joy, confusion, anger and relief.Read More

Asian Man In Critical Condition After Another Attack In New York; Police Seek Suspect In Video

By NPR News April 25, 2021

People participate in a protest to demand an end to anti-Asian violence on April 4 in New York City. In a new incident, an Asian man was attacked in New York City on Friday, April 23. CREDIT: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

In surveillance video released by the New York City Police Department's Hate Crime Task Force, the victim can be seen being pushed to the ground by an unidentified man, who then kicks him in the head multiple times.Read More

Asian-Owned Businesses Say They’re Reeling From Hate And Violence, Operating In Fear

By PBS Newshour April 22, 2021

An Asian American-owned ramen restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, pictured vandalized in March. Courtesy Tyler Price/214 Digital

While the issue has pervaded communities for decades, the pandemic has brought renewed attention to the issue, as groups like Stop AAPI Hate have documented upwards of 3,800 incidents — more than a third of which occurred at businesses.Read More

‘Today, I Am A Witness To Change’: A Crowdsourced Poem Against Anti-Asian Hate

By NPR News April 13, 2021

A boy holding a sign takes part in a Stop Asian Hate rally in Oakland, Calif.

LISTEN BY RACHEL MARTIN April is National Poetry Month, a celebration of poets and poetry that’s been in place for 25 years. Last month, as the U.S. grieved over attacks […]Read More

‘A Sigh Of Relief’: Crowdfunded Cab Rides Aim To Get Asian Americans Home Safe

By NPR News April 10, 2021

New crowdfunding efforts are helping to pay for trips from taxis and ride-hailing apps for Asian American Pacific Islander community members who don't feel safe walking in cities such as New York and San Francisco. CREDIT: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

In response to recent attacks against Asian Americans, community-based efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Boston are pooling funds for taxi or app-based rides for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who feel unsafe walking or taking public transit.Read More

Arrest Made In Attack On Asian Woman In Manhattan, As Bystanders Watched

By NPR News March 30, 2021

Cameron Hunt and his father, Calvin Hunt, hold signs of support on Tuesday outside the West 43rd Street apartment building in Manhattan where a man physically and verbally attacked a 65-year-old Asian American woman on Monday in an incident that police are investigating as a hate crime. CREDIT: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A 65-year-old Asian American woman was physically and verbally attacked by an unidentified man in Midtown Manhattan on Monday in an incident police say they are investigating as a hate crime.Read More

Jay Inslee Decries ‘Horrendous Surge’ Of Violence Against Asian Americans

By NWPB News March 22, 2021

Noriko Nasu, a high school teacher who was attacked earlier in the year while walking through Seattle's Chinatown-International District, speaks about the possible hate crime Monday, March 22, 2021, at a news conference at Renton City Hall in Renton, Wash., south of Seattle. Nasu joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and other leaders Monday to denounce recent acts of violence and harassment targeted at Asians and Asian communities. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was joined Monday by community leaders to decry what he called a “horrendous surge” of violence against Asian-Americans.Read More

For Asian American Women, Misogyny And Racism Are Inseparable, Sociologist Says

By NPR News March 20, 2021

Activists demonstrate outside Gold Spa in Atlanta where a mass shooter killed three women on Tuesday night in a rampage that left eight people dead, including six Asian women. CREDIT: Megan Varner/Getty Images

Although authorities have said it's too early to declare the attack a hate crime, they said the gunman's actions — relying on the suspect's own words — were not racially motivated, but driven by a sex addiction. He confessed to officers that in committing the acts he wanted to "eliminate" a "temptation."Read More

‘Enough Is Enough’: Georgia Shootings Spur Debate Over Hate Crime Label

By NPR News March 19, 2021

Mallory Rahman and her daughter Zara Rahman, 4, bring flowers to the Gold Spa in Atlanta on Wednesday, the day after eight people were killed at three massage spas in the Atlanta area. Authorities have arrested Robert Aaron Long, 21, in the shootings in Atlanta and Cherokee County, Ga. CREDIT: Ben Gray/AP

Asian Americans and their allies are calling for solidarity and a push against discrimination and racist violence after a gunman killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas Tuesday. Most of the victims were women of Asian descent.Read More

What We Know So Far About The Victims Of The Atlanta-Area Shootings

By NPR News March 18, 2021

Shelby Swan places a sign outside Youngs Asian Massage, where four people were shot and killed this week in Acworth, Ga. Another four people were fatally shot at two massage businesses in Atlanta, but authorities have not released their names. CREDIT: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Four people were killed in the shooting at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday. They have been identified as Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng. The sole survivor, Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, remains hospitalized with injuries.Read More

Asian American Community Responds To Georgia Shootings As Victims Are Identified

By NPR News March 17, 2021

Mourners visit and leave flowers on Wednesday at the site of two shootings at spas across the street from one another in Atlanta. CREDIT: Megan Varner/Getty Images

Six women of Asian descent are among the dead, raising suspicions of a hate crime. Long claims race did not play a role in his decision to target the businesses, police said, relaying details from questioning the gunman.Read More

8 People, Most Asian Women, Shot Dead At Atlanta-Area Massage Parlors; Man Arrested

By NPR News March 17, 2021

At least eight people were killed and several others injured in a series of shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro region Tuesday. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with all three shootings, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Read More

Anger And Fear As Asian American Seniors Targeted In Bay Area Attacks

By NPR News February 13, 2021

In this Jan. 31, 2020, file photo, a masked worker cleans a street in the Chinatown district in San Francisco. Police and volunteers have increased their street presence after a series of violent attacks against older Asian residents in Bay Area cities stoked fear and subdued the celebratory mood leading up to the Lunar New Year. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File) Ben Margot/AP

Business and civil rights groups in California are demanding action after a recent surge of xenophobic violence against Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area left one person dead and others badly injured. The brazen, mostly daylight assaults have rattled nerves in communities ahead of Friday's Lunar New Year holiday.Read More

For One Immigrant Community, George Floyd’s Death Isn’t Just About Black And White

By NPR News June 4, 2020

Gaosong Heu talks about reactions in the Hmong community to the killing of George Floyd. Former police officer Tou Thao, a Hmong American, is seen on video of the killing running interference with the crowd and standing watch. His involvement has stirred a racial debate among Asian Americans.

The video shows a white police killings seen nationwide — but there's a third identifiable person: an Asian American officer seen running interference with the crowd and standing watch. He's now-former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, a Hmong American — which is how you know this isn't "any" city. It's Minneapolis.Read More

BOOK REVIEW: Love, Disappointment Course Through 4 Classic Asian American Novels

By NPR News May 30, 2019

Penguin Classics has released paperback editions of four mid-20th century novels by Asian American authors: America Is in the Heart; The Hanging on Union Square; East Goes West and No-No Boy.Read More