Stop Repeating History & the American Bar Association Webinar: COVID-19 Threats to Democracy and to Public Safety Through the Lens of the Asian American Experience

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a violent upsurge of discriminatory, racist, and xenophobic attacks, both physical and verbal, against Asian Americans. The situation has been exacerbated by the President, his administration, and other high profile individuals, who have insisted on calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” “Wuhan virus,” or “Kung Flu” to racialize the pandemic. Racial scapegoating is not a new phenomenon. Chinese Americans were blamed for the bubonic plague, Japanese Americans were incarcerated by labeling them an “enemy race”, and more recently  Mexicans have been characterized as “rapists” and Muslims as “terrorists.” This use of race as a tool to divide and divert attention from shortcomings, together with the disregard of facts and science, has threatened our democracy, and now threatens our safety. In this webinar, panelists discuss our nation’s history of racial scapegoating; the consequences when alternative facts are substituted for evidence and scientifically supported data; the role of the media; and how we, as a country, can stand together to simultaneously defeat COVID-19 and preserve democracy.

Welcome and Introduction

• Judy Perry Martinez, President, American Bar Association; Of Counsel, Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn

Panelists

• Matt Stevens, Reporter, The New York Times

• Donald Tamaki, Managing Partner, Minami Tamaki LLP

• Helen Zia, Author

Moderator

• Karen K. Narasaki, Former Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights