Unpacking Anti-Asian Hate: Intergenerational Journeys Toward Belonging

Elting Memorial Library, in conjunction with the Combating Hatred/Fostering Change Initiative, is proud to host Unpacking Anti-Asian Hate: Intergenerational Journeys Toward Belonging.

In Unpacking Anti-Asian Hate: Intergenerational Journeys Toward Belonging we will utilize video clips of Hasan Minhaj’s stand-up comedy special Homecoming King (2017) to explore Asian-immigrant and AAPI experiences in the United States. Using the true stories from Minhaj’s life as the California-born son of Indian Muslim immigrant parents we will discuss numerous aspects of identity formation, intergenerational perspectives on race relations and belonging, as well as racism, bullying and rejection in the US.

Lauren Mark is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Culture and Affiliate Faculty Member of Asian Studies at SUNY New Paltz. She specializes in Critical Intercultural Communication, focusing on culturally-embedded relationality after working in Taiwan and Israel as a cross-cultural organizational founder and translator. As a third-generation Chinese American, Lauren also researches and performs about the precarity of Asian America balancing between statuses of model minorities and yellow peril.

Melissa Yang Rock is an Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies and Affiliate Faculty Member in the Asian Studies Program and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at SUNY New Paltz. Her past research focused on urban redevelopment in China, while her current research centers on reproductive health, equity and justice within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Melissa is a bi-racial Asian American who personally and professionally examines the politics of belonging through an analysis of place, identity and power frameworks.