Erika Lee, The Making of Asian America: A History OR Erika Lee, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States
Iyko Day, Alien Capital: Asian Racialization and the Logic of Settler Colonial Capitalism
Iyko Day, Exclusion Acts OR Kitty Calavita, The Paradoxes of Race, Class, Identity, and "Passing": Enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Acts, 1882-1910
Sherally Munshi, Immigration, Imperialism, and the Legacies of Indian Exclusion OR Sherally Munshi, Immigration and the Imperial (in The Oxford Handbook of Law and Humanities)
Asian American Advancing Justice, Immigration and Immigration Rights
Ellen D. Wu, The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority
Li Zhou, The Inadequacy of the Term "Asian American" OR J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Asian American Studies and the ‘‘Pacific Question’’
Tram Nguyen, We Are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories From Immigrant Communities After 9/11 OR Irum Shiekh, Detained Without Cause: Muslims’ Stories of Detention and Deportation in America After 9/11
Leti Volpp, The Citizen and the Terrorist
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, A Brief History of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, & State-Sanctioned Violence OR Asian Pacific Public Health Network, Anti-Racist Coalition, and National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, A Brief History of the API Community and State-Sanctioned Violence
Hana Maruyama, Campu: Podcast
Ellen D. Wu, It's Time to Center War in U.S. Immigration History (behind a paywall, working on finding a pdf).
Erika Lee, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States
Haymarket Books, Whose Security? Communities Resisting Post-9/11 Global Security Framework (featuring Sadie Barnette, Omar Farah, Silky Shah, Tarek Z. Ismail)
Erika Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America
AAPI Data, Immigration
Migration Policy Institute, Immigrants from Asia in the United States
Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings
Freedom for Immigrants, The Immigration Detention Syllabus
As you engage with the materials, we encourage you to reflect on the materials in whatever way you process—whether through provocations, questions, or discussions.
To facilitate discussion, we invite you to join us for a panel discussion with scholars and community members on this topic to reflect together and find different ways to challenge our understanding. More information on the panel is available under Scholar Series. We also welcome your own reflections and questions through our reflection form.
If you are looking for asynchronous reflection, we offer the following questions to guide your reflection:
Who or what has informed and shaped your understanding of the history of AAPI migration? In what ways do you notice and/or perpetuate the "model minority" myth? In what ways do you notice and/or perpetuate the criminalization of AAPI people and communities?
In what ways did the readings/videos/podcasts challenge your current understanding of AAPI immigration and liberation, as well as the purpose of the carceral apparatus?
Think about the intersections between labor rights, immigrant rights, and the history of immigration. What is the role of immigration laws within a colonial-capitalist project? What should redress and reparations look like particularly for exploitation and expropriation?
What does building solidarity and mobilizing for justice mean to you? What does it require from you, and what are you willing to commit to?
Option 1: Develop a monthly plan outlining how you will commit to learning more about the history of the land you occupy, building relationships with Indigenous peoples, and paying land taxes for your occupation.
Option 2: Unpack and dismantle your personal reliance on carceral solutions. Reflect on why you or someone you care for has called the police in the past. Use dontcallthepolice.com to research community-based alternatives (in your city, state, wherever you are housed) to offer you the support you were looking for, and help in reallocating city budgets by defunding the police. Additionally, sign up to attend a (free) anti-harassment training organized by hollaback! with a group of your friends, family, and/or loved ones.
Option 3: Donate time, skills, and/or money to grassroots organizations such as La ColectiVA, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, #NoTechforICE, #AbolishICE, and #TakeBackTech; invest in mutual aid networks such as DC Mutual Aid Network or Indigenous Mutual Aid Groups; and/or support artists such as Xena Ni, kat eng, Stephanie H. Shih. A comprehensive database on local mutual aid networks across the nation is available here.
Option 4: Create a weekly or monthly donation plan based on your income and generational wealth to redistribute your wealth. Use this master list to identify organizations, networks, and funds you plan to commit to.