Prof. Hahm Presents on AAPI Health Post-COVID-19
On October 29th, Rutgers University held their 2021 Culture Conference featuring research on the ways that race, culture, and ethnicity impact people’s health and happiness. BUSSW Prof. Hyeouk Chris Hahm joined top academics in the field with her presentation, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Anti-Asian Discrimination: Asian Americans and Non-Asian American Young Adults.”
Hahm’s talk summarized the findings from two recently published papers, one that studied all populations’ affected by anti-Asian hate, and one that predicted PTSD in young Asians and Asian-Americans. Since COVID-19, “the bombardment of racial micro- and macro-aggressions has been described as a chronic state of racial battle fatigue,” Prof. Hahm explained. “Asians of all ethnicities have been subjected to slurs and jokes related to their race or ethnicity, and they have escalated from microagressions to physical assaults, vandalism, and even murder. If there is one word to describe all of these, it is ‘dehumanization.’”
When noting these trauma’s effect on health and happiness, Hahm stressed the need for proactive assistance to prevent additional public health crises. “Discrimination is a serious threat to public health and a societal illness,” she stated. “Intervening actively to reduce and prevent anti-Asian discrimiantion is imperative.” Hahm outlined three actions for the United States to take at the macro level:
- Federal investment for AAPI mental health, such as funding research
- Policy change in education, such as teaching Asian American history at the university and pre-college level
- Making Asian Americans central to the country’s discussion of race in the on-going conversation on structural racism
She concluded with, “Every individual has the potential to support and decrease the harm caused to Asians and Asian Americans. We all need to stand in loving solidarity with the AAPI community through our actions, activism, and allyship.”