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Saint Joseph’s University’s “Unlimited Learning” series — an opportunity for lifelong learners to engage with University experts and content through virtual events — is hosting the webinar “Understanding Hate and Anti-Asian Racism.”

From 2019 to 2020, according to a recent analysis, the number of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) rose in 14 of the 16 largest cities in the United States, including the city of Philadelphia. In the past month, violence against Asian Americans has made headlines in three separate incidents.

Sadly, this rise of racist comments, rhetoric and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the past year is not a new phenomenon; AAPI have confronted a long legacy of exclusion and inequity in policies and practices, especially during periods of changing demographics, economic recession or war — and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.

Nydia Han, anchor and consumer investigative journalist at 6abc, has been closely covering issues of AAPI hate in the region for over a year. Prior to the pandemic, Han’s series, “This is America” highlighted Asian Americans’ essential role in the American landscape and brought greater awareness to the prejudiced belief that Asian Americans are forever foreigners. In this Unlimited Learning event, co-sponsored by the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, Han, Divya Balasubramaniam, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and director of the Asian studies program and Asia Whittenberger ’22, sociology and communications major and member of the University Senate, will join Nicole Stokes, Ph.D., Associate Provost of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, to discuss discrimination and violence in the wake of COVID-19 and what all of us can do to #StopAsianHate.