FARGO, N.D.
It was an unexpected twist that led the Rev. Yuanlai Zhang a minister who lived among 13 million others in the hot and humid Chinese city of Shenzhen to start a new life on the sparse and frigid prairie of North Dakota.
But Zhang has become a man of the plains. A Mandarin-language preacher who travels the state with a Bible and a pressed suit, he lives with his wife and toddler in suburban Fargo. He’s the first full-time pastor at the Red River Valley Chinese Christian Church, which was founded five years ago and whose 50-family congregation is the largest Chinese Christian flock in North Dakota.
Berkeley Conversations panel discusses anti-Asian violence
Eliana Marcu/Staff
A virtual panel event featured three Asian American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, scholars and was moderated by Raka Ray, UC Berkeley Division of Social Sciences dean. During the panel, the scholars discussed anti-Asian violence, inclduing the increase in racism against members of the AAPI community amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three Asian American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, scholars discussed the history and current rise in anti-Asian violence during a virtual Berkeley Conversations and Matrix on Point event Thursday.
Titled “The long history and present surge of anti-Asian violence,” the event was moderated by Raka Ray, UC Berkeley’s dean of the Division of Social Sciences, in light of the recent shooting of AAPI individuals in Atlanta and the surge of racism against the AAPI community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After reviewing my interview notes for the whole year, I find one word that sticks out－racism. I have listened to the stories of many members from the Chinese community since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States early this year and Asian Americans first reported facing racial bias.