By Doug Chin

We know that Asian Americans, like other non-white racial groups, have been victims of violence directed towards them. Not too long ago, we witnessed and experienced a period of widespread Asian hate, which was induced by President Donald Trump when he continually called the Covid 19 virus the “Chinese virus.” It seemed like the violence against Asians in America comes and goes depending on economic conditions, international relations, and social conditions.

Now, with the publication of American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism authored by Scott Kurashige we know much more about anti-Asian violence. Kurashige, a scholar and community activist, has written a comprehensive and systematic study of anti-Asian violence and what can be done about it. Thanks to Kurashige, we know the frequency, causes, measures taken to address violence against Asians, and how the Asian community has and can mobilize to deal with such violence.

Part One of the book covers the period from the 1850s to 1970s, centered on “How America Erased the Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism.” Here, Kurashige, traces anti-Asian violence back to the anti-Chinese movement which entailed widespread riots and killings and exploitation of Chinese immigrants. This violence, he noted, went hand in hand with Chinese exclusion. Moreover, the violence was partly a result of Manifest Destiny: the belief that white Americans were best suited and chosen by God to develop the American West. Relating this violence to the events in China, Kurashige notes that the Chinese exclusion stems from the British imperialism in China, which began with the Opium War, and solidified by unjust treaties that allowed western countries, including the U.S, obtain extra-territorial occupancy at a number of China’s main ports.

To read the entire article: https://iexaminer.org/uw-scholar-scott-kurashige-traces-anti-asian-violence-as-a-recurring-pattern-at-the-heart-of-american-history/