AAPI Book Author Talk

with Scott Kurashige

in Conversation with Mia White

Scott Kurashige is the director of the Boggs Foundation and author of American Peril; the Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism. 
This probing account shines a new light on the problem of anti-Asian violence and inspires us to build lasting solidarity. 
He will be in conversation with Mia White.

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. Written in the radical spirit of Howard Zinn, American Peril represents the culmination of thirty-five years of study and activism by award-winning scholar Scott Kurashige.

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, 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, Kurashige argues that hope lies in grassroots activism for multiracial solidarity.

Mia Charlene White, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies at The New School where she teaches courses on race and space to students pursuing degrees in wide-ranging fields including urban and environmental studies; design and urban ecologies; race, philosophy and historical studies; and sustainability management. Mia lives with disability, is a mom of two, and identifies as a Black woman of African American and Korean descent.  

James and Grace Boggs worked to build the movements for Civil Rights and Black Power, as well as cross-racial and international solidarity. The Boggs Foundation carries on their work.

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