Against the Grain

U.S. Capitalism, Empire, and Anti-Asian Violence

Recessions, trade wars, labor unrest — in moments of societal crisis in the United States, Asian-Americans have been perennially targeted, from the destruction of Chinatowns by white mobs, to the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2, to attacks against Asians during Covid. Historian Scott Kurashige reflects on more than 175 years of anti-Asian violence and its connection to U.S. empire abroad and a divided working class at home.

Scott Kurashige, American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism UC Press, 2026

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash