In the News: Board Director Chris Kwok Interviewed by ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

AABANY’s report on anti-Asian violence was recently mentioned in a May 6, 2021 ABC News article titled “Asian Americans take a stand as the US faces a new racial reckoning.” The article highlighted the report’s finding of the eight-fold increase in the number of anti-Asian hate incidents that were reported to the NYPD in 2020 compared to the previous year. Co-Executive Editor of the report and AABANY Board Director Chris Kwok was interviewed on the underreporting of anti-Asian hate incidents and the increase of anti-Asian hate and violence during the pandemic. Chris discussed the long-standing anti-Asian sentiments in America which date back to laws in the 19th and early 20th centuries controlling the rights of Chinese workers. He stated: “The pandemic unleashed, I think, a growing fear of China going back to [Barack] Obama’s second term…Then if you take the thread back longer in the West, in America, there’s always been a fear of Chinese in America.” Chris also mentioned how former President Donald Trump’s reference to COVID-19 as the “China virus” and “Kung Flu” fueled anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic, providing perpetrators “the ultimate authorisation to behave to the worst impulses that you had.” 

To read the full article, click here.

Please also take a look at previous blog posts from February 19March 1March 8March 15March 29, and May 10 highlighting news stories about our report. If you have come across a news report or article about our report that is not listed above, please let us know at [email protected].

More public awareness about our report and the rise in anti-Asian violence is needed. Please share our report widely. If you have ideas or thoughts about how we can combat anti-Asian violence, please share them with us at [email protected].

Are You Good at Trivia?

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), New York Chapter, will be hosting a Trivia Bowl on Friday, May 18, at ABC News studios in New York City.  The MC will be JuJu Chang.  The proceeds from the event “go toward supporting students who pursue the journalism profession; providing increased training to AAPI journalists (through stipends/scholarships) so they can be effective leaders for positive change in the industry with a commitment to diversity in the newsroom, and forging stronger ties within the AAPI communities.”

AABANY is taking a table and we are looking for some fellow team members whose minds are filled with useless knowledge that comes in handy during Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy and events like this Trivia Bowl.  Maybe you have knowledge in certain categories, like sports, music, history, film or science.  That’s fine; we can pool our trivial knowledge together to form a winning team. 

I don’t think we get anything other than bragging rights if we win, but I’ve been told that when this event was held by AAJA in other parts of the country, the lawyers’ teams tended to do well, so I feel like our New York lawyers should do no less.  Come on, New York attorneys – let’s represent!

Also, AABANY is helping to get APA judges to participate as judges for the event, scoring the answers submitted by the teams entered.

More information can be gleaned from the event website: http://chapters.aaja.org/NewYork/?page_id=2194. If you are interested in joining, contact [email protected].