Lee on the Rise of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

On March 16th, a gunman opened fire on several Atlanta-area spas, killing eight people with six being Asian women. This horrific attack was just one of many as the US has seen an upward trend in anti-Asian hate crimes. In a Minnesota Daily article titled, “Asian and Asian American community members heal and process after Atlanta-area shootings,” the article shares how at a local level, student groups across campus such as the Asian-American Student Union (ASU) have collaborated with each other to hold safe spaces. Rich Lee, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, drafted the department’s statement in response to these attacks.

Lee shared that, rather than choosing to be silent, he and his wife sat down with their two sons to talk about the Atlanta-area shootings and the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes. Drawing upon research findings on the importance of ethnic and racial socialization, Lee knows these conversations are important and it is especially important for educators to create spaces for students whose families may not have the vocabulary for these kinds of conversations.