“'I'm Not a Virus!': Asian American Perspectives on COVID-19”

CEO Ben Hires moderated a discussion of the impact of COVID-19 on Asian Americans entitled “I’m not a Virus” organized by the Center for Community Health Education Research and Service (CCHERS). 75 participants actively listened to the panel talk about the history of anti-Asian prejudice, the complexity of the model minority myth on how Asians process and react to racism, and how systemic change is important to prevent future discrimination.

This was the third virtual Community COVID-19 Conversation session of the Race, Racism, and Research in the Medical Mecca Series.

Special thanks to Northeastern University and CCHERS for organizing this event and for the guest speakers:

• Ben Hires – Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, CEO - ben.hires@bcnc.net

• Anh Vu Sawyer – Southeast Asian Coalition of Massachusetts, Executive Director - avsawyer@seacma.org

• Chien-Chi Huang – Asian Women for Health, Founder/CEO - cch@asianwomenforhealth.org

• Jean Wu – Senior Lecturer (Emerita), Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism and Diaspora, Tufts University - jeanwu33@gmail.com

• Rohit Chandra – Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Psychiatrist - rchandra@mgh.harvard.edu

• CCHERS: info@cchers.org (please send us an email if you’d like to receive our monthly newsletters), https://www.facebook.com/cchersboston

A collection of resources shared during the meeting and beyond

1. Please attend and help promote BIWOC Gathering Circle, a 2-day virtual summit on 3/5 & 3/6.

2. Turning Words into Actions (Google Docs)

3. “The Making of Asian America: A History” by Erika Lee

4. Resources from Professor Jason Chang at UConn

5. Racism is a Virus PSA from the Asian Women for Health

6. Bystander intervention training: 5 D’s for bystanders training: Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct

7. Stop AAPI Hate: Reports & Releases

8. The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans by Dr. Claire Jean Kim

9. (NPR) “Model Minority Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians and Blacks”

10. In the news: (NBC Asian America) Over 30 percent of Americans have witnessed COVID-19 bias against Asians, poll says

11. Newly published data on COVID19 experience of AAPI communities from 2020 California Health Interview Survey

    • Link to the dashboard

    • Link to the WH Executive Order

12. COVID Racial Tracker from The Atlantic

13. Race, Racism, and Medicine

14. Internalized racism within the Asian American community

15. Workbook and other resources on dismantling racism

16. Anti-racist resource guide from Victoria Alexander