Asian American Studies Commons^™

Contributors And Acknowledgments For Roots Of Justice: A History Of Race And Racism In Nebraska

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

Paul A. Olson, M. Dewayne Mays, Gabriel Bruguier, Kevin Abourezk, Preston Love, Jr., with Adam Fletcher Sasse, Heather Fryer, Sharon Ishii-Jordan, Emira Ibrahimpašić, and Julia Reilly

Acknowledgements

Frontmatter And Foreword To Roots Of Justice: A History Of Race And Racism In Nebraska, Bill Arfmann

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

Covers, Table of Contents, and Foreword:

There is much to understand about the history of Nebraska and how the past shapes the present. This book attempts to bring into clearer focus the triumphs and trials of five broad groups whose lives have often been overlooked when the state’s history is told. The authors know some of this history of racism firsthand: Most of them have lived as people of color in Nebraska. They’ve experienced “the good, the bad and the ugly” that makes up our state story. We encourage educators, scholars and family historians to continue to dig, to document …

Introduction To Roots Of Justice: A History Of Race And Racism In Nebraska, M. Dewayne Mays, Paul Olson

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

Nebraska has made racism a way of life through most of its history. It is still the way of life for many. In 2020, a Nebraska columnist wrote the following about Nebraska: “[T]he issues stemming from racism can seem like foreign concepts, confined to the larger cities (or the American South) and relics of a distant past.”2 The column goes on to show that these issues were not confined to large cities or to the South; they rested on our back door in Nebraska. Yet, one often heard back as far as one could remember that Nebraska is not and …

Recent Arrivals: Refugee Resettlement In Nebraska, Emira Ibrahimpašić, Julia Reilly

Truth and Reconciliation History Project

One of the stories Nebraskans tell themselves is that the story of Nebraska is a story of immigration. One of the most recent versions of this story is that Nebraska is one of the best and most welcoming places in the country to be a resettled refugee. In many respects, this narrative is true, but as with all narratives, reality is more complicated. This chapter attempts to paint a fuller picture by providing a detailed history of the foundation of Nebraska’s refugee resettlement program, and an overview of five of the most populous refugee communities in Nebraska. First, we survey …

A Queer Feminist Response To The Racist Reception Of Halle Bailey’S The Little Mermaid: Misogynoir And Anti-Fan Facebook Users In Vietnam, Trung M. Nguyen

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay examines the ways anti-Blackness is manifested in Vietnam through Facebook anti-fans’ reactions to Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023) starring Halle Bailey, a Black American actress, in the role of Ariel. Analyzing the racist and colorist remarks within Facebook users’ comments and posts about the movie and utilizing misogynoir as the main concept of critique, the author demonstrates the phenomenon of anti-Black misogyny in Vietnam and focuses on the “I’m not racist, but…” trope. Uncovering the queer history of Hans Christian Andersen’s work, this essay adopts a queer feminist lens to defend the filmmakers’ choice to depict Ariel as …

The Perpetual Foreigner: Modeling Cycles Of Asian American Discrimination, Philip Min

Honors Projects

Through an Asian American perspective catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this research investigates the concept of the state of the perpetual foreigner for Asian Americans and the subsequent cycling of race-related tensions. To define the state of foreignness for Asian Americans, this is understood first through Kim’s model of Racial Triangulation, which intends to model the relationships of racial groups in the United States – namely between Black, White, and Asians – through concepts of civic ostracization and relative valorization that relate directly to foreignness and hierarchy. This is then further expanded upon through the creation of a separate model, …

Chrysalis, Nafisa Choudhury

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

This poem explores the experience of being an Asian American care provider and civilian, growing up and trying to mesh together culture with “fitting in” and suffering racism from other individuals and patients. It was inspired by the March 16, 2022, shootings in Atlanta and discusses the origin of hatred and racism/xenophobia. What I hope this conveys is a glimpse into the shared perspectives of many Asian American and Pacific Islanders and describes the optimism moving forward as we begin to tackle these issues.

Asian Americans And The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Lingual Survey In Greater Boston, Carolyn Wong, Ziting Kuang

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This report on Asian Americans and the Covid-19 Pandemic describes lessons from a multilingual survey administered in Greater Boston during the Fall, Winter, and early Spring of 2020-21. The Institute for Asian American Studies (IAAS) at UMass Boston designed and administered the IAAS Covid-19 Survey on the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic for Asian Americans. The IAAS Covid-19 Survey was designed to fill significant gaps in data available from a previous Spring 2020 survey, Living in Boston During Covid-19, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and administered by UMass Boston’s Center for Survey Research …

Stop Asian Hate Zine, Alexandria Glover

Student Zines

This zine is a way to advocate for the Asian community. The graphic nature is purposeful as the hate crimes committed against Asians are atrocious themselves and should not be censored. This zine is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable because it needs to be seen and remembered. A bit of discomfort is nothing compared to the anxiety and fear Asians have in the U.S., especially since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2. If enough people are horrified enough to advocate for change, then this zine has fulfilled its purpose.

The Nature Of Anti-Asian American Xenophobia During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Preliminary Exploration Into Envy As A Key Motivator Of Hate, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Background. The current Coronavirus pandemic has been linked to a dramatic increase in anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate incidents in the United States. At the time of writing, there does not appear to be any published empirical research examining the mechanisms underlying Asiaphobia during the current pandemic. Based on the stereotype content model, we investigated the idea that ambivalent attitudes toward AAPIs, marked primarily with envy, may be contributing to anti-AAPI xenophobia. Methods. Study 1 (N = 140) explored, through a survey, the link between envious stereotypes toward AAPIs and Asiaphobia. Study 2 (N = 167), …

Sovereignty, Statehood, And Subjugation: Native Hawaiian And Japanese American Discourse Over Hawaiian Statehood, Nicole Saito

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Although discourse over Hawaiian statehood has increasingly been described by scholars as a racial conflict between Japanese Americans and Native Hawaiians, there existed a broad spectrum of interactions between the two groups. Both communities were forced to confront the prejudices they had against each other while recognizing their shared experiences with discrimination, creating a paradoxical political culture of competition and solidarity up until the conclusion of World War Two. From 1946 to 1950, however, the country’s collective understanding of Japanese American citizenship began to shift with recognition of the community’s military service record and an increased proportion of veterans elected …

Asian American History And Politics, Rahaf Abdalkareem

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Asian American Studies offers a scholarly avenue to discuss questions of racial inequality, domestic capitalism, and global imperialism. The debate also includes research on how Asian Americans of the first and second generations cope with adaptation and assimilation, in particular on their Americanization and active pursuit of higher education and prestigious professions in a community that still discriminates against them. In the United States, Asian American Studies focuses on the identities, historical and current perspectives of people and communities. Nationalism, migrants, Asian American masculinity, Asian American femininity, cultural politics, and media coverage are topics and concerns that are central in …

Introduction To Asian American Studies: Final Zine Project (1), Matthew Bohamed, Jakob Osland, Deshaun Harvey, Mikey Hawkins

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

This zine is an accumulation of all of the zines that our group has made throughout the semester based upon reading assignments covering a wide variety issues that affect Asian Americans in the United States. The following are some of the zine topics within this final accumulation of our zines throughout the semester, to give you an idea of what follows this introduction page. The first zine is based off a text from Erika Lee, titled “The Chinese Must Go!” which touches upon the anti-Chinese movement in the United States and the issues associated with movements against Chinese immigrant labor …

Introduction To Asian American Studies: Final Zine Project (2), Jason Redlew, William Jonathan Brown, Joey Provost, Maiki Kawakami

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Over the course of this class, we have examined different perspectives on historical events and learned about how these events have impacted minority lives. This careful examination allows us to be self-critical of both our actions and the actions of our country. Each week, we were tasked with reading a piece of literature that critiques a historical event or provides a different interpretation. Our goal was to take the message of each reading and represent it through a creative magazine article, known as a zine. As we began this project, we had some trouble comprehending the deeper meaning behind the …

Introduction To Asian American Studies: Final Zine Project (3), Regina Gaffney, Jonny Mather, Conner Prendergast

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Over the past few months, we have studied the importance of Asian American history. Specifically, the ideas of connecting: class, gender, sexuality, nationalism, war, colonialism and race to contemporary issues going on in the world today. The following is a collection of Zine format projects aimed at displaying key ideas in the research of American History. Each week contains new information and a different display format. Moreover, we have made connections to modern day issues in an attempt to demonstrate how learning from past events can influence decisions made in the future.

From The Yellow Peril To The Model Minority: A History Of Asian American Immigration, Annabelle Jefferies, Ben Police, Jack Evenson, Sam Stiker

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Throughout the past semester, our group has read books, interpreted art and propaganda, and grappled with ideas from scholars on the topic of Asian American immigration and assimilation into the society of the United States. The zines that were created in response to these different forms of media discuss this process of immigration and inclusion as a slow, ongoing process that began with Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century. They also investigate this historical process through a lens of prejudice and racism in our country as a result of global geopolitical events, such as the Vietnam War or the …

A Look At Asian American Studies, Emery Mckee, Ryan Caragher, Emma Rohrer, Gabe Velazquez

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Our Zine hopes to cover the multitude of topics discussed in our Intro to Asian American Studies class. Each section is based on a reading relevant to a specific subject covered in the class, whether that be the history of Japanese internment camps or the globalization of the Filipino workforce. After a deeper analysis of the history and tradition in each reading, our zine also focuses on the social, political, and intellectual significance of Asian American articles and stories. There are many significant facts and key ideas that truly speak for themselves on the issues and events being discussed along …

History, Culture, And Humanity: Contextualizing Modern Oppressions, Rosalyn Arvizu, Payton Asch, Thalia Petronelli

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

In our Fall 2020 Introduction to Asian American Studies class, small student cohorts were tasked with creating a zine page for the various concepts analyzed in class. We read many articles in relation to Asian American oppression, both globally and locally. This included topics such as the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the anti-Chinese movement, and the various racializations different Asian ethnicities faced. We read about the model minority myth and its prevalence after the Vietnam War, Korean War, and Cold War. Additionally, we discussed the militarization and radicalization of the United States' colonial projects in Hawai'i, Guam, …

A Brief Journey Through Asian American History, Jordan Rahe, Julian-Ross Fernandez, Jefferson Kiyasu, Dylan Latham

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

In order to understand the complexities of the Asian American experience, readers must be able to comprehend how the past has built a foundation for the treatment of individuals both inside and outside of the Asian community. Based on various academic editorials and books, we have analyzed what we believe to be the most valuable historical facts, stories, and ideas and presented them in a way that provides the most important information along with our perceptions of each topic. This compilation of articles looks to bring largely unknown issues to the forefront of reader’s minds, in a pursuit to create …

History Of Asian Americans, Brittany Le, Christine Sivilay, Mollie Frager

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

For our History of Asian Americans project, we aimed to creatively showcase some of the important topics discussed in the readings throughout this course. Additionally, our group related these historical topics to modern day issues or personal experiences. This was particularly interesting due to the current events taking place this semester like COVID-19, BLM Movement, and the election. In our project, we strayed away from summaries and explanations as much as possible while still providing context. We aimed to use our creative and critical thinking to highlight certain underlying aspects of the readings we thought were important, but may not …

(Re) Model Minority: A Discussion Of The Past And Present, Eden Concepcion, Jason Luu, Jannah Orbita, John Tran

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

PURPOSE. The purpose of this zine is to look at historical events that have influenced the way Asian American communities cope with injustices in the United States, and how Asian Americans have been treated throughout history and until now. Throughout this zine, we draw connections between the past and the present– some things may have changed, but others still remain the same. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR... Analysis of Discriminatory Law Before & After Historical Analysis Satire PANDEMIC. With racial tensions towards Asian American high throughout the world because of COVID-19, it has become relevant to learn about the origins …

An Artistic Exploration Of Asian American Studies, Eileen Rhatigan, Alanah Winston, Myah Pace, Tristan Brown

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

No abstract provided.

Asian American Studies, Annie Ho, Vicky Liu, Benjamin Stephen

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Asian Americans have faced a long heritage of exclusion and injustice in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism, immigration, labor, and a myriad of other problems throughout their history, particularly during times of shifting demographics, economic crisis, or war. In today's society, these inequities go largely unnoticed and are not addressed as often as they should be. This zine is meant to bring those inequities to light and discuss the history of Asians in America. We cover a wide range of topics, from the Vietnam war, to Japanese concentration camps, to the “model minority” myth. Understanding the history of …

The Asian American Experience, Isabel Poljakovic, Oriana Sampath, Ryan Cu

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

The following zine pages aim to provide insight into the global experiences of Asian Americans. There are many ethnicities encapsulated in the term Asian Americans. In addition, each ethnic group has unique experiences. Studying Asian American race and gender relations is essential in unpacking global power dynamics. This zine attempts to show the way Asian American experiences have evolved over time. It attempts to connect history to the present by showing how Asian Americans are still affected by events that happened centuries ago Through exploring specific historic events, this zine reveals how the U.S. constructed the “Asian American” racial category. …

Introduction To Asian American Studies: Final Zine Project (4), Lauren Hendrickson, Kelli Kufta, Madi Earnshaw, Hayley Lee

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

ABOUT US… We are a group of USD students studying Asian American history & politics. Over the course of the semester, we have studied histories of labor, migration, war, incarceration, and displacement. This course has allowed us to better understand the ways in which Asian American identity has emerged. This course has given us the tools necessary to explore Asian American history and to contextualize what we have learned so we can apply it to contemporary issues both within and outside of the United States. ABOUT OUR ZINE… In each of our weekly zines, we really focused on the significance …

Asian Americans: Life And History In The United States, Annalyn Boothe, Shuyi Jiao, Hailey Freitag

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

In this zine, we educate ourselves on the history of Asian Americans and reflect on how the past has shaped our present and continues to construct the future. With the exception of Ocean Vuong’s novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, all the texts we studied are academic. Generally, the academic texts discuss how one anti-Asian policy leads to further exclusion and/or oppression. These chronological examinations of Asian immigrants in the United States helped us recognize and critically investigate current social and economic tensions experienced by Asian Americans. In order to clearly illustrate the ongoing cause and effects of past polices …

Reflections On A Movement, Mark Bautista, James Estillore, Paolo Garcia, Nadia Mohebati

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

In this zine, we aimed to explore several texts and discuss their significance in understanding both Asian American history and politics, as well as the oral histories and experiences that are often forgotten. In addition to this, each topic covered in our zine investigates how these events throughout time have shaped and continually affected the Asian American experience today. Throughout our time dissecting these select texts on the topic of Asian American Ethnic Studies, the editorial team came to understand the significance of employing a framework of the Asian American plight in regard to how we process modern events. From …

Introduction To Asian American Studies: Final Zine Project (5), Delaney Tax, Maria Zesbaugh, Ashley Montrezza

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

This zine allowed us to confront the ways in which colonization and its historical implications play into modern race relations. This is especially evident in the ways bodies are valued and devalued based on social location, birthplace, and racial appearance. Our weekly zines confronted the direct interactions between colonial violence and individuals, as well as their communities. We also worked to intentionally contrast this to the western construction of whiteness, and pulled from historical and modern examples of how whiteness has been weaponized against Asian communities in order to further marginalize them. Adjacency to whiteness, however, has also been used …

A Study Of Asian American Issues In The United States, Nicoline Pedersen, Krista Celo, Eden Stilman, Seren Ventullo

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Throughout this zine you will explore a variety of obstacles that Asian Americans have faced in regards to their immigration and acclimation into American society and culture. Over the last century, individuals from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa have either migrated to America in hopes of a better life, or have been forced out of their homes due to war conflicts or as a necessity for cheap labor. Despite the means of their arrival, Americans have historically maintained an imperialistic outlook that America is the superior country. While the white American believes he is saving these transpacific countries from …

Peril, Pandemic, And Crisis: Asian American Studies, Alexis Desany, Carter Lawton, David Wiley

Ethnic Studies Student Zines

Hello and Welcome to our Zine!! We are so happy you stopped by! :) We were presented the opportunity to create a zine on Asian American studies through Josen Diaz’s ETHN course. Although this started out as a project, it became so much more to our group. We had the opportunity to explore different Asian American cultures, their history, and their influence on American culture and politics. This project allowed us to relate all of the historical readings from the Chinese Exclusion Act and the world wars to events that occur today. Over the semester, we developed our overall knowledge …