UC Press stands in solidarity with our Asian and Asian-American colleagues, authors, and neighbors. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Press books and authors have been referenced in conversations and articles about race and xenophobia. A selection of those perspectives appears below—we will continue to highlight relevant resources, and to elevate the voices of our authors on these important topics.
Nayan Shah offers a historical perspective on epidemics, racism, and xenophobia in the Salon piece “Coronavirus spurs prejudice. History suggests that’s no surprise.” Shah’s book Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown is referenced in several articles including “American Racism in the Time of Plagues” in the Boston Review; Time Magazine “Trump’s ‘Chinese’ Virus Is Part of a Long History of Blaming Other Countries for Disease“; Los Angeles Times column “Coronavirus, the outbreak narrative and how our fear fuels our xenophobia and racism“; the Atlantic “Conservatives Try to Rebrand the Coronavirus“; and the California Faculty Association Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus call for support.
Natalia Molina, author of Fit to be Citizens? and editor of Relational Formations of Race, was interviewed in Vox for “Why pandemics activate xenophobia.”
Simeon Man, author of Soldiering through Empire: Race and the Making of the Decolonizing Pacific, wrote the op-ed “Discharging immigrant soldiers is the American way. That’s the problem.” in the Washington Post.
Learn more about the legacy of racism, detention, and war and also the art and literature of Asian and Pacific American communities, and read an excerpt from American History Unbound.
