AAPI Caucuses provide voice for Asians in UNC system

The University of North Carolina System's Asian-American Pacific Islander Caucus has grown from a handful of members to more than 500 in just a little over three years. Earlier in May they celebrated AAPI Heritage Month, coming together for food and friendship. But many also share another experience: Two-thirds of members surveyed said they’ve been victims of harassment, intimidation or discrimination because of their race or ethnicity.

Ting Wang, a criminologist at UNC Greensboro, chairs both the local and systemwide AAPI Caucuses. WFDD's Paul Garber spoke to her about what the organization does and how it's addressing anti-Asian hate.

She began by explaining how a tragic shooting in Georgia that left eight people dead — including six Asian women — brought the group together.

"About three years ago, right after the Atlanta shooting, we felt we cannot hide anymore. We should stand up and support each other, unite together to show our solidarity and our voice," said Wang.

Interview Highlights

On whether she feels safe from anti-Asian crime:

"I will say that was not a concern before the pandemic. But during the pandemic, I felt I worried a lot for my safety and my children's safety. So personally, I had an incident. It was quite intimidating and violent. That was late April in 2020, just right after the pandemic started here in America. And many schools closed, my kid's day care was closed as well. So that afternoon, I was walking with my child, who was five years old, in a grocery store parking lot. And there was a woman in the car behind us shouting at us saying if we don't go back to our country, she would have run over us. So I just really felt ... I was shaking so badly. I didn't remember how I got home ... I feel so unsafe. But after we have this group, we want to share our experiences. And we found a way out. That's quite common. It's not just me, in our community ... in the UNCG chapter. We have members who — actually when you look back, it's quite hilarious — every morning when he opened his front door, there's a pile of panties smeared in mustard, sitting on his front porch. So he cleaned that up then right at the next day, it was set up again. Because like panties smeared in mustard is kind of a symbol, saying 'You are yellow and dirty.'"

On gender disparities in anti-Asian hate:

"We have the very established data on that part. Women are the majority for the victims. So it's over about two-thirds to three-fourths of victims are women. So women and elderly, they are the most targeted victims, it's more like when they pick someone, they'll pick weaker ones."

On whether things are getting better:

I want to say 'yes' or 'no,' 'Yes,' as the direct threat has kind of faded. But 'no' is: I do hate crime research. Hate has a lasting effect on people's minds. So for example, September 11, has been going on for over 20 years. Even to this day, Islamic people still feel unsafe, sometimes even in the public street. So from their surveys, same thing. As you mentioned, the pandemic has gone, the virus has gone, but the hate is still lingering. 

On what AAPI allies can do to help:

"Actually, our caucus, many of our members are not AAPI descendants. They're just there to support us. So we welcome everyone. Many times the stereotypes or discrimination is rooted in our familiarity. Like, we don't know this person, we don't know this group. So we have the stereotypes, we have labels all over them. Once we are friends, you will say 'Oh, you're just like a regular person I've known,' like race doesn't matter. We're all human beings. So we welcome everyone who wants to support us or just maybe curious about us and join us and to learn from us and we will also learn from you."

*Editor's note: This transcript was lightly edited for clarity.