Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, was featured as a guest speaker for a virtual meeting on May 27, held in honor of LBCC’s Asian Pacific Islander Desi (APID) Heritage Month.
The virtual meeting was hosted by Stacey Toda, Chair of APID Heritage Month alongside Interim Superintendent President Lou Anne Bynum, and Board of Trustees member Vivian Malauulu.
Said Toda, “Desi is meant to include people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka,” and Asian Pacific Islanders Desi Heritage would include all of Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Subcontinent.
During the speech, Chu went over the brief history of the Asian Pacific Islander community, where she explained the numerous concerns from the community and concerns she has as a politician.
Chu also explained the significance of registering for the 2020 Census. She said, “Over $1 trillion in federal funding will be allocated to states and localities.”
Depending on the census outcome, the allotment of funding will be defined by having accurate numbers for the census to help reflect a community’s actual population.
Later on, she acknowledged the recent accomplishments of APAC, the Asian Pacific American Caucus, in its focus around Asian Pacific Islanders, their representation, and political standing.
APAC was born out of other organizations trying to, according to their website, “pry open the American Association to increase space for inclusive scholarships.” The group itself was founded in 1999 by professors Andrew Aoki and Pei-te Lien.
Chu said that as of 2020, “We now have a record 20 APID members in Congress, our highest in history.”
The congresswomen expressed concerns over the apparent recent rise in Asian targeted hate crime. She said, “It started in January with dirty looks, insults and misinformation that Asian American businesses are more likely to have the disease [COVID-19] and should be avoided.”
She discussed a more specific case, where a man poured acid on an Asian woman’s face, leaving her with second-degree burns; the crime was suspected to be racially motivated.
She brought up a statistic by the A2PCON, in which they received over 1000 reports of crime based on discrimination. A May 13 press statement revealed it had received another 700 reports for a total 1700 reports in the last six months.
Another point of concern for the congresswoman was the health of the community, with over “2 million APIDs working on the frontlines.” These people would be working a vast range of fields, from medical to warehouse.
She is concerned that violence will see a dramatic increase when the lockdown orders are lifted, and has formally protested the xenophobic language that current President Donald Trump has used in discussing COVID-19 where he calls it the “Chinese virus.”
Some of the solutions she has to aid in fighting are to help increase aid to the community and using what she calls the “5 Ds of bystander intervention,” which stands for distract, delegate, delay, document or directly respond, a series of de-escalation tactics that individuals can do to help people who are victims of discrimination.