API Allyship Resource Kit

• Be proactive. Check in on API neighbors and friends to let them know they have your support and that you acknowledge anti-Asian racism. This can be as simple as a sending a quick note or spending time with someone. If you are not sure, err on the side of saying something. Many API people feel unseen or that their pain and concerns are not valid. It’s much worse to feel invisible than to get asked if you are okay a few too many times
• Hold emotional space and compassion for your colleagues at work. Understand that people who are impacted cannot turn off trauma simply because they are in the workplace
• Learn how to manage and support teams in times of social and civil unrest and during the pandemic. For example, challenge biased, racist and xenophobic behaviors in the moment, especially in workplace settings
• Read the following articles for more details:
• Managing Teams in Times of Political Trauma by Michelle Kim – Medium
• How US Companies Can Support Employees of Color Through the Pandemic by Laura Morgan Roberts, Courtney L. McCluney, Erin L. Thomas and Michelle Kim – Harvard Business Review

• Victims can be anxious about reporting incidents or naming race as a factor in incidents because they feel their experiences aren’t as bad as those experienced by other marginalized groups, such as Black people
• There is a tendency to view API individuals as a monolith, as a “model minority,” when in fact many API groups experience issues like poverty, food insecurity, immigration concerns and hiring discrimination at proportionate rates alongside other marginalized groups
• A general lack of awareness about historical racism against API groups and lack of media coverage has fed into the cycle of unawareness, resulting in minimization and invisibility
• The above are only a few factors contributing to long-running and pervasive skepticism about the existence of anti-API racism and the feelings of many API individuals who believe in the need to prove they are experiencing racism

• Learn how to safely protect others by attending a virtual bystander intervention training session hosted by Hollaback
• Be vigilant and aware of what harassment and hate violence looks like, so you can recognize it if it occurs in your vicinity
• Always remember to prioritize your own safety while intervening. Review these safety tips
• Review and memorize the “Five Ds”, which are different methods you can use to support someone who is being harassed: distract, delegate, document, delay and direct
• Report incidents at StopAAPIHate or NAPABA.org
• Victims may choose not to report incidents for a variety of reasons, including because doing so may be re-traumatizing. One of the things you can do to help as a bystander is report incidents once you are safely able to do so

• The media tends to underreport incidents of anti-API violence, so many people do not know the extent to which it is occurring. This fuels the continued misconceptions about API struggles. Sharing racist incidents on social media helps dispel the myth that API individuals don’t experience violent crime or racism
• Be willing, committed and able to rebut problematic remarks and engage people in informative conversations about race. The most important thing an ally can do is “fight our battles when when there are no people of color around.” – Justice Horn

• Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
• How to Start Conversations About Anti-Asian Racism with Your Family by Anna Sirianni and Audie Cornish – NPR
• Young, Proud and Sung-Jee by Joyce Y. Lee and Emily Ku
• Classroom Resources and Tip to Address Anti-Asian Discrimination by Kimmie Fink – We Are Teachers
• Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

Articles

• Tip of the Iceberg: How Effects of Anti-Asian Attacks Run Deep by Mina Kim and Michelle Wiley – KQED
• From Colonialism to COVID: Viet Thanh Nguyen on the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence by Viet Thanh Nguyen – The Guardian
• Sikhs in America: A History of Hate by A.C. Thompson – ProPublica

Podcasts

• Self Evident: Asian America’s Stories hosted by Cathy Erway
• How Asian Americans Became The Model Minority hosted by Stina Chang – WBEZ

Documentaries + shows + movies

• Asian Americans – Five-part documentary series by PBS
• Never Have I Ever – Fictional coming of age series about a Gen Z South Asian American teenager
• Kim’s Convenience – Globally popular sitcom about a Korean Canadian family
• Tigertail and Golden Globe and Oscar winner Minari – Films about multi-generational tales of immigrating
• Raya and the Last Dragon – Kid-friendly movie with Asian American leads
• A Little Late With Lilly Singh – First queer Asian woman hosting a late-night show

Books

• Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong – Collection of essays published in 2020 about the nuances of the Asian American experience
• Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu – Examines stereotypes, such as the perpetual foreigner and the model minority myth, and tackles issues including affirmative action, immigration and interracial marriage
• Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians by Jane Hyun and Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder by Margaret Chin – Focused on discrimination against Asian individuals in the workplace. The Partner Track by Helen Wan is a fictional novel addressing similar issues in law firms
• Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu – Humorous novel written in the form of a screenplay that lampoons Hollywood typecasting and its penchant for promoting clichés about Asians Americans

Videos

• Stop the Hate: The Rise in Violence Against Asian Americans – ABC News
• #NeedToKnow by Yoonj Kim – MTV News
• ‘We Are Crying Out for Help’: Actors, Activists Sounding Alarm on Surging Attacks Against Asian Americans – eMSNBC
• #AsianAmCovidStories – YouTube – Series exploring Asian Americans’ experiences and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The Atlanta Shooting – The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
• Congressional Testimony by Daniel Dae Kim

• Join and support Asian and Pacific Islanders within your company and professional organizations, many of whom have been hosting programming related to the recent surge in anti-API violence
• Join and support community-based responses, like volunteer patrols that have been escorting API individuals and visiting businesses to ensure safety and mutual aid efforts
• Attend a peaceful protest in your community
• Sign and share petitions that raise awareness about anti-API racism
• Read this article by Manjusha Kulkarni, Cynthia Choi and Russell M. Jeung, the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, for more ideas

Additional organizations to check out

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice
• Stop AAPI Hate
• Hate Is A Virus
• Act To Change
• National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
• AAPI Civic Engagement Fund
• Asians for Mental Health
• Asian Americans Fund

These businesses have been some of the hardest hit in the pandemic:

• Asian-owned Small Businesses Saw an Outsized Pandemic Impact Last Year by Kate Rogers – CNBC
• Racism Targets Asian Food, Business During COVID-19 Pandemic by Associated Press – U.S. News
• ‘Asian-American Businesses are Dealing With Two Viruses’: Reeling From Racist Incidents, Many are Hurting Financially During COVID-19 by Meera Jagannathan – MarketWatch

Next time you order takeout, you can search for Asian-owned businesses on Yelp

• Some individuals are responding to the rise in anti-API violence with anti-Blackness. Any act or statement of racial violence or bigotry against any group or individual is unacceptable
• Educate yourself on the history of Black and Asian solidarity by reading this article from the AAJC or listening to this NPR podcast
• Read these Time and Medium perspectives on the importance of Black and Asian allyship in dismantling the real enemy: racism and white supremacy

Special thanks to the people, entities and organizations behind the below, which we referenced for this allyship kit. Visit one or more of them for additional information and resources.

AAPI history

• America’s Long History of Scapegoating its Asian Citizens by Nina Strochlic – National Geographic
• The Long History of Racism Against Asian Americans in the US by Adrian De Leon – PBS

Articles on the harms of model minority myth

• Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All by Viet Thanh Nguyen – Time
• The ‘Model Minority’ Myth Hurts Asian Americans – and Even Leads to Violence by Margaret M. Chin and Yung-Yi Diana Pan – The Washington Post
• 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks by Kat Chow – NPR

History of solidarity

• Passing it On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama

AAPI hate crime studies and reports

• Stop AAPI Hate National Report (as referenced in the background section)
• Pew Research Center Study
• Many Black and Asian Americans Say They Have Experienced Discrimination Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak by Neil G. Ruiz, Juliana Menasce Horowitz and Christine Tamir
• About 3 in 10 Asian Americans (31%) have experienced verbal attacks (i.e., racial slurs or jokes since the beginning of the pandemic)
• One-third of Asian Americans Fear Threats, Physical Attacks and Most Say Violence Against Them Is Rising by Neil G. Ruiz, Khadijah Edwards and Mark Hugo Lopez
• 32% of Asian adults fear threats and physical attacks
• Op-ed: How to Stop the Dangerous Rise in Hatred Targeted at Asian Americans by Manjusha Kulkarni, Cynthia Choi and Dr. Russell M. Jeung – USA Today
• Fact Sheet: Anti‐Asian Prejudice March 2020 – Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism – CSUSB
• Hate crimes against Asians rose by 150% in 2020

Resources kits

• Resources for Allyship and Fighting Anti-Asian Discrimination – Airbnb
• Hate Crimes Resources – NAPABA
• The Racism is a Virus Toolkit

How to be an ally

• How to be an Ally to AAPI Community and Combat Anti-Asian Racism by Scott Stump – Today
• Be an Ally: Ways to Support Your Asian and Pacific Islander Colleagues by Melanie Lei – SurveyMonkey
• Dear White Women – Podcast hosted by Sara and Misasha
• Why Stop AAPI Hate's Cynthia Choi Believes Anti-Asian Violence Should Concern Everyone by Rose Minutaglio – Elle