Standing Together Against Xenophobia | Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

UPDATED JUNE 5, 2020: Throughout the month of May, we were horrified by the perpetual violence against Black people throughout the United States, including the murders of Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery. The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is committed to including Black artists, thinkers, and leaders in our holistic understanding of a racially divided America. We renew our recognition that Black lives and Black communities matter, that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a complex history of conflict and coalition with Black communities, and AAPI communities must confront anti-Blackness and stand against systemic racism and unjust treatment of Black people throughout the United States and the world. To learn more about our community-centered commitments, please read our Culture Lab Manifesto.

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The world is undergoing tremendous change as COVID-19 reshapes daily life across the globe. At the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center, we embrace the role cultural organizations can play in our collective memory. We stand with communities, locally and globally, to build awareness of our interconnected experiences—especially in times of social turmoil.

At a time when society is desperate for answers, othering is a dangerous pitfall with lasting repercussions. It is not the first time in American history we have seen this kind of large-scale dehumanization of Asian Americans: think of the 19th century purges of Chinese Americans across California and the Pacific Northwest, 19th and early 20th-century Yellow Peril rhetoric, mid-20th century Japanese American incarceration, and, more recently, post-Sept. 11, 2001 surge of anti-Muslim racism and Islamophobia.

Even as we stand witness to these moments, the Center also seeks to build bridges across difference, by bringing awareness to issues which undermine our shared humanity, and by fostering a sense of belonging and solidarity across communities. In observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are focusing our efforts on combating xenophobia. This includes addressing not only the hatred and violence that has recently targeted people of Asian descent, but also the xenophobia that plagues our society during times of national crisis.

Online resources will be released during the month of May to offer sustained engagements with xenophobia in U.S. history across a range of different formats and media on our website smithsonianapa.org/stand. We are also sharing materials by leading artists, scholars, educators, curators, archivists, and community organizers to support self-education and self-care. The cumulative references are meant to generate understanding and self-reflexivity so that we might overcome fear and find empowerment, motivation, and solace even in these difficult times.

Anna May Wong Postcard Activity featuring poet Sally Wen Mao
Discussions with change agents, including Megan Red-Shirt Shaw
Smithsonian American Art Museum Blog Post highlighting the work of artist Chiura Obata
Virtual workshops with anti-bias educators on Asian American and Pacific Islander histories in the classroom
Viral Histories, an online series with curator, Theodore Gonzalves
National Air and Space Museum Blog Post about veteran Ben Kuroki
Contributions from artists, educators, and writers

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our Smithsonian Institution collaborators at the following units for their support in developing and sharing resources related to this effort.

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
National Museum of the American Indian
National Air and Space Museum
National Museum of American History
National Portrait Gallery
National Postal Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian Center for Learning & Digital Access
Smithsonian Latino Center
The Smithsonian Associates

Standing Together Against Xenophobia received Federal funding from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool. We would like to extend our thanks for the support of these projects and for making these learning opportunities available for audiences across the country.