American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism by Scott Kurashige

Name: American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism by Scott Kurashige
Start: 2026-03-14T14:00:00-04:00
Location: 184 S. Candler St. , Decatur, GA, United States, Georgia 30030

Schedule

Sat, 14 Mar, 2026 at 02:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

184 S. Candler St. , Decatur, GA, United States, Georgia 30030 | Decatur, GA

This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Register to attend virtually at the link above. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.
Charis welcomes Scott Kurashige in conversation with Aparna Bhattacharyya & Stephanie Cho for a discussion of American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism, a probing account that shines a new light on the problem of anti-Asian violence and inspires us to build lasting solidarity.
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 U.S. military's slaughter of Asian civilians, the book connects domestic and global events that have been erased from the official record. Going beyond victimhood, it 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.
About the Author
Scott Kurashige is a scholar/activist focused on history and ethnic studies and President of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Foundation. His five books include The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century with Grace Lee Boggs, and his new release, American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism.
About the Conversation Partners
Aparna Bhattacharyya is a passionate advocate for immigrant survivors of family and sexual violence and ensuring they have access to safety, justice and healing. As the Executive Director of Raksha, Inc., Aparna has worked to ensure that attorneys, law enforcement, and service providers are culturally competent to serve immigrant survivors. She is currently a Board Member for the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, VIDA Legal Assistance and the National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project.
Stephanie Cho (she/her) is the Director of Demo Lab South. She has over 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing, strategic planning, and fundraising at both local and national levels. Stephanie is passionate about fostering new leadership, developing sustainable ways of working toward justice, and drawing inspiration from transnational solidarity and movement- building efforts.
About Our Partners
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast. Learn more at: https://www.advancingjustice-atlanta.org/
Demo Lab South is grounded in the belief that local groups possess invaluable expertise and are essential drivers of change. Our role is to amplify their impact by helping scale up their efforts, building effective strategies, and supporting them to win. We embrace the idea that “Rising Tides Raise All Boats”—a win in Augusta is a win for everyone. We believe that the South holds the key to shaping the nation’s future, as the South’s progress often mirrors the nation’s trajectory. Learn more at: https://demolabsouth.com/our-work
Raksha, Inc. is a Georgia-based nonprofit organization for the South Asian American Community. Founded in 1995, Raksha addresses social issues within the South Asian American community such as family and sexual violence and divorce, as well as issues concerning children, and senior citizens. Though they primarily serve the South Asian American community, they provide services to all those who face similar barriers to justice. Learn more at: https://www.raksha.org/who-we-are/
The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.
Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.
In-person event guidelines:
- All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
- We will begin seating people at 1:30 PM ET.
- This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register to attend virtually at the link above.
- As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected] or call the store at 404-524-0304.
Please contact us at [email protected] or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions at https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10538231?hl=en. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected].
By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email [email protected].