American peril : the violent history of anti-Asian racism
Publication Information
Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2026]
Physical Description
vii, 341 pages ; 24 cm
Summary
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, racist demagoguery fomented a campaign of terror against Asian Americans. But these attacks were part of a much longer pattern that made anti-Asian racism integral to the outbreak of white supremacist, misogynist, and colonial violence across 175 years of U.S. history. From the lynching of Asian immigrants during the exclusion era to the ongoing slaughter of Asian civilians by the U.S. military, the book connects domestic and global events that have been erased from the official record. Going beyond victimhood, Scott Kurashige traces the rise of Asian American community protest and activism in response to the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin and other overlooked tragedies. While many have worked to legislate and prosecute hate crimes, American Peril argues that hope lies in grassroots organizing for multi-racial solidarity.
Contents
- Introduction
- Part one : How America erased the violent history of anti-Asian racism (1850s-1970s). The violence of exclusion
- The violence of empire
- From mass incarceration to mass murder
- How Asian women become targets of violence
- The violence beyond Vietnam
- Part two : How the murder of Vincent Chin remade Asian American identity and politics (1980s-present). Martyr in the motor city
- White grievance and the rise of the counterrevolution
- Naming and confronting hate crimes
- When the police cause more harm
- Building community in the face of violence
- Epilogue.