New York, NY 10013
USA
Yellow Peril! and A Is For Arab: Understanding Xenophobia
Thursday, February 20, 2014
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Admission: Free
Advanced reservation required: [email protected]
Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), 215 Centre St, New York, NY 10013
John Kuo Wei Tchen, Dylan Yeats (authors, Yellow Peril! An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear), Jack Shaheen (author, A is for Arab: Archiving Stereotypes in U.S. Popular Culture) and moderator Sewell Chan (Deputy Editor, Op-Ed/Sunday Review, The New York Times) will discuss xenophobia in America and the impact of stereotypical portrayals of Asians and Arabs in public perception and national policy. A book-signing session will take place afterwards. This panel discussion is presented as part of MOCACITIZEN, a signature public program series by MOCA, highlighting community, social justice, organizations, and the people dedicated to amplifying the voices that often go unheard.
The “yellow peril” is one of the oldest and most pervasive racist ideas in Western culture—dating back to the birth of European colonialism during the Enlightenment. Yellow Peril! An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear is the first comprehensive repository of anti-Asian images and writing, and it surveys the extent of this iniquitous form of paranoia. A is for Arab: Archiving Stereotypes in U.S. Popular Culture features photographs of objects and materials from the Jack G. Shaheen Archive at Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, and documents U.S. popular culture representations of Arabs and Muslims from the early-20th century to the present.