In Conversation with Dr. Scott Kurashige, author of "American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism" (UC Press, 2026)

 

Dr. Scott Kurashige is an award-winning scholar, writer, and community activist whose work explores race, politics, and social movements in U.S. history. He currently serves as President of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Foundation and is the author of The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles (Princeton, 2008), and coauthor, with Grace Lee Boggs, of The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century (UC Press, 2011). Kurashige has devoted 36 years to the study of anti-Asian racism and violence, and he has spoken at over 150 universities, museums, and community organizations nationwide. His work and commentary have featured in The New York Times, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, Democracy Now!, CNN, and more. Learn more about Dr. Kurashige at his website here.

 

His new 2026 book, American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism (UC Press, 2026), "shines a new light on the problem of anti-Asian violence and inspires us to build lasting solidarity."

 

From the publisher's website: "During the COVID-19 pandemic, racist demagoguery fomented a campaign of terror against Asian Americans. But these attacks were part of a much longer pattern that made anti-Asian racism integral to the outbreak of white supremacist, misogynist, and colonial violence across 175 years of U.S. history. Written in the radical spirit of Howard Zinn, American Peril represents the culmination of thirty-five years of study and activism by award-winning scholar Scott Kurashige.
 
"From the lynching of Asian immigrants during the exclusion era to the ongoing slaughter of Asian civilians by the U.S. military, the book connects domestic and global events that have been erased from the official record. Going beyond victimhood, Kurashige traces the rise of Asian American community protest and activism in response to the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin and other overlooked tragedies. While many have worked to legislate and prosecute hate crimes, Kurashige argues that hope lies in grassroots activism for multiracial solidarity."

 

Thanks to Pfau Library, Project Rebound, and the Information Technology Services team for making this event possible! Series organizers (alphabetical) are Amber Broaden (CSUSB and CSU Dominguez Hills, Psychology), Stan Futch (President, Westside Action Group), Michael German (Brennan Center for Justice), Robie Madrigal (Pfau Library), Dr. Jeremy Murray (CSUSB History), Matt Patino (Crafton Hills College Adjunct Faculty), Dr. Mary Texeira (CSUSB Sociology). Click here to view previous panels in the Conversations on Race and Policing series (link). Also find the Modern China Lecture Series here. Thanks to Project Rebound and the CSUSB Pfau Library for their support of this event! Thanks to Thinh Ly, Parker Brooks, and the Information Technology Services team!