Nobody Should Live in That Type of FearPage Title
Q&A: Fowler Management professor discusses combating Anti-Asian racism
Congcong Zheng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Management Department
Management professor Congcong Zheng of the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University alongside SDSU professors Nellie Tran, of the Department of Counseling and School Psychology, and Virginia Loh-Hagan, with theDepartment of Liberal Studies and the director of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Center, recently published an editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune decrying the recent wave of anti-Asian racism and violence and urging all Americans to take action.
Zheng talked to the Fowler News Team about what led to the editorial, how racism has affected her personally and shares steps on how Asians and Non-Asians alike can take action to combat this issue.
1. What prompted you to join Nellie Tran and Virginia Loh-Hagan in submitting the editorial piece for the San Diego Union-Tribune? How have people reacted to the article?
Virginia Loh-Hagan started the SDSU Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Center in the past year and serves as its director. In early March, she called a meeting of all faculties of Asian heritage and descent, where someone suggested writing an editorial piece to combat the increased violations against Asians.
It was a good idea, but nobody realized that in just five days, the Atlanta shootings would happen. The shootings deeply impacted me and many other Asian women and I wanted to do something for those women and men who died. That's how the op-ed piece came about.
Several of us wrote the opinion piece that was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The authors included Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan, me and Dr. Nellie Tran. Two other faculty also contributed to the effort: Dr. Yawen Li (School of Social Work), and Dr. Hongmei Shen (School of Journalism and Media Studies).
It was a team effort and we completed three drafts within a week of the shooting. We processed our confusion, grief and anger together through the writing process. It was an honor to collaborate with these accomplished and thoughtful women.
The reception has been heartwarming for me. A friend read it and shared it with my department chair Chamu Sundaramurthy. She then shared it with department colleagues and friends, many of whom have written to me to show support. A few also read it on the Union-Tribune website and wrote to me directly. I am grateful for their support.
2. As an Asian woman living in the United States, would you be willing to share how anti-Asian behavior has affected you on a personal level?
I have been fortunate to have worked in an academic environment. A big part of my job is to create knowledge and disseminate information through academic publications. During the peer review process, we employ the double-blind review process, which means that the reviewers do not know who wrote the professional articles and therefore could not bias their judgment on the merit of the article. I have not encountered discrimination in the publication process.
In my everyday life, however, I have been fully aware of anti-Asian sentiment and behavior in the United States. In the early days of the pandemic, when COVID-19 was called “Kung Flu” or “China Virus,” we reached a family decision that I would not go grocery shopping in person as someone could potentially verbally or even physically attack me. After the Atlanta shooting, I stayed within the confines of our home rather than go on my usual neighborhood walks in fear of personal safety.
A few years ago, it was hard for me to imagine being punched or shot at as a physical possibility. But that thought is always present in the back of my mind even when going around on everyday business.
I believe that nobody should live in that type of fear.
3. Do you believe the pandemic has increased the amount of anti-Asian sentiment? Or do you think there is just a brighter spotlight on an issue that has been a part of our culture?
The anti-Asian sentiment has always been there. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Page Act of 1875, and the Japanese American Internment during WWII aimed to alienate not just individuals, but also an entire population. Those excluded, although innocent, did not have power and agency in the political process. Even though American society has made significant progress since the civil rights movement, Asian Americans have been discriminated against. We were viewed as competent professionals, not political leaders. We take what is offered to us and do not negotiate the offering.
The pandemic has certainly exaggerated the exclusion and discrimination. We are not speaking to each other in person, we are not engaging in social interactions, and we are not seeing other people’s faces when we walk down the street. It is easier to hate another person when you cannot see their faces, listen to their voices, or hear their stories.
The pandemic has created anxiety, depression and other mental issues for many of us. On some occasions, those issues can lead to extreme behaviors.
4. Do you think Asian women, in particular, are being targeted?
We were debating this in our drafting process for the editorial. Asian women are stereotyped as “meek, obedient, and subservient.” They are targeted because of that stereotype.
This is a manufactured fantasy and could not be further from the truth. There are many strong, independent, powerful, and courageous Asian women. Just look at Malala Yousafzai (activist), Michelle Yeoh (actress), or Chien-Shiung Wu (nuclear physicist), or the people you know yourself. Are the Asian women you know meek, obedient or subservient? In most cases, they are not.
5. What are some specific steps that Asians and non-Asians alike can take to raise awareness of racism and discrimination here in the U.S.?
I was reading a book to my daughter the other day. It was a story about Rosa Parks. It said: "Change takes time. Change takes strength. Change takes the help of others."
So, my advice is along those lines:
- Continue the fight but do not expect overnight success.
- Draw upon our inner strength for the fight. We also need to replenish our well and take care of ourselves while trying to effect change in the world.
- Find and cultivate allies for the change. We need to find allies in other advocacy
groups such as Black Lives Matter. Like we wrote in the editorial, “we are connected.
We must dismantle systems that perpetuate racial hate, prejudice, and discrimination
against any group of people; the only way to do this is to come together to build
solidarity and coalitions.”
Come to think of it, those rules apply to many things in life, don’t they?
