#StopAsianHate Project
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a national organization founded in 1974 to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans. Over the last 49 years, we have focused on economic justice, immigrant rights, voting rights, housing and environmental justice, educational equity, and voting rights and democracy. Across all these program areas, however, one issue has come up repeatedly throughout our history: hate violence.
Highlights:
- In 1975, we represented Chinese Americans arrested in protests against police brutality in Manhattan’s Chinatown and organized a rally to support bystander, Peter Yew, who was beaten by police after complaining about their mishandling of a minor traffic stop.
- In 1982, we were part of the national campaign to secure justice for Vincent Chin, the Chinese American who was beaten to death in Detroit by two recently laid off white auto workerswho said it was “because of you little motherfuckers that we're out of work.”
- In 1987, we represented Dr. Kaushal Sharan, one of several South Asians attacked in Jersey City by a hate group called the “Dotbusters,” and then advocated for passage of New Jersey’s hate crimes law;
- In 2001, we represented South Asians, Sikhs, and Muslims who were targets of post-9/11 hate violence, racial harassment,and religious profiling.
Since 2020, AALDEFprovided assistance to Asian Americans of all ethnic and immigrant backgrounds, who have been blamed for Covid-19 and targeted for hate violence, harassment, and discrimination. We have also spoken at events and conferences about the rise in anti-Asian violence and its historical roots.
Program Priorities:
- Providing legal advice and direct assistance to victims of anti-Asian violence and harassment.
- Mobilizing a network of pro bono attorneys and interpreters to assist victims.
- Collaborating with community groups to respond to future incidents of hate violence, call for police accountability, and push for changes that will create a safe environment for all.
As always, our approach involves support for individuals facing hate violence and advocacy to address the root causes of anti-Asian racism. AALDEF provides community education and training, helps individual victims secure justice, urges people to report hate crimes, and works for structural changes so that all of us can someday live in a world without hate, violence or discrimination. Join us in this ongoing fight for justice for all.
View AALDEF’s Anti-Asian Violence Toolkit here.
For more info email: StopAsianHate@aaldef.org.

Related
- AALDEF sends letter to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the federal response to anti-Asian racism
- AALDEF condemns racist and red-baiting rhetoric and imagery perpetuated in Florida judicial race
- AALDEF Horrified by Racially Motivated Attack Targeting Black People in Buffalo, New York
- AALDEF and Rutgers Law School to Host Nation’s First Anti-Asian Violence Continuing Legal Education Program (CLE) on April 21 and 22, 2022
- Joint Statement on the One-Year Anniversary of Atlanta Spa Shootings: We Call for Reflection and Action
- AALDEF Testifies in Support of Maryland House Bill 922 to Require Asian American History in K-12 Schools
- AALDEF Testimony in Support of Maryland Senate Bill 462 to Require the Teaching of Asian American and Pacific Islander History
- AALDEF Honored As Bronze Winner For Best Community Outreach, Human & Civil Rights In the Inaugural Anthem Awards
- AALDEF Urges Maryland to Be Next State to Mandate Asian American History in School Curriculum
- AALDEF Horrified by Latest Violent Attack on Asian Americans in NYC Subway
- AALDEF Provides Critical Information and Support to Mitigate Anti-Asian Violence in NYC Chinatown
Press Release
- The Washington Post: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests covid was designed to spare Jews, Chinese people
- Insider: We need to stop talking about the race of the Monterey Park shooting suspect
- AP: Detroit honors Vincent Chin, Asian American killed in 1982
- NBC News: Only 3% of reported attacks on Asian Americans led to hate crime convictions, new report says
- Memphis Commercial Appeal | Airport's Elvis artwork controversy begs the question: Who decides what art can be?
- Vox: The Stop Asian Hate movement is at a crossroads
- New York Times: Asian Americans Grapple With Tide of Attacks: ‘We Need Our Safety Back’
- NBC News: New York to give $10 million to Asian American communities hit by pandemic
- ABC News Live: Recent Attacks Renew Conversation on Violence Against Asian Americans
- USA Today: Terrifying attacks on Asian women continue. Here's what advocates say needs to change.
- Insider: AAPI communities shaken by stabbing of woman in NYC's Chinatown and ongoing trauma of hate crimes
- CNN: She was attacked in the street for being Asian. Her community still lives in fear.
- NY1: Vigil held to honor Yao Pan Ma in East Harlem
- City Limits: NYC Needs a Mayor’s Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs (Opinion)
- SF Chronicle: Michelle Go, woman pushed to her death on N.Y. subway tracks, grew up in Bay Area
- Independent: Michelle Go: Tributes pour in for businesswoman pushed in front of train in chilling NYC subway attack
- Al Dia: Woman dies after being pushed onto subway tracks in New York City
- NBC New York: Homeless Man Charged With Murder in Death of NYC Woman Pushed in Front of Train
- Metro.co.uk: Woman, 40, pushed to her death in front of subway train in New York
- AP: Woman killed in subway shove at Times Square
- PBS: ‘You don’t teach prejudice by discussing its existence.’ How to talk to children about race and discrimination.
- NBC News: This small, local Laotian-owned bakery is funding Asian American studies scholarships
- Newsy: Addressing An Increase Of Hate Crimes
- New York Times: A Playwright Has a Message — Anti-Asian Hate Isn’t New
- The Uptowner: Hate Crimes Set Record Pace Uptown as Bias Attacks Rebound Across City
- NBC News: Why Atlanta spa shooter's Asian 'acquaintances' can't tell us much about his racial biases
News
- Stop Asian Hate Now: Remembering Atlanta
- Anti-Asian American Violence Panel Discussion on 4/21 and 4/22
Event
- Anti-Asian Violence Toolkit