Scripps College received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Project, Music Division, to support the creation of a three-part performance by Hao Huang, Bessie and Cecil Frankel Chair in Music and professor of music at Scripps, who will serve as the project director in collaboration with artistic director Yan-jie Micah Huang.听The听project, titled听The LA Chinatown Massacre and Beyond, will use the 1871 LA Chinatown Massacre as an entry point into the rich and sometimes tragic Asian American experience in California. It听will be performed in October 2022 at听Scripps College and听the University of Southern California Asia Pacific Museum听in Pasadena, and a听webinar addressing the histories of anti-Asian violence in California will introduce the performances.听
鈥淪ince the start of the听COVID-19听pandemic, Asian Americans have faced a tsunami of anti-Asian racism and hate incidents, fueled by rhetoric from听prominent national politicians,鈥� Huang says, adding that the organization鈥�Stop AAPI Hate has documented more than 10,300 anti-Asian hate incidents since the start of the pandemic. 鈥淣early one in five Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have experienced a hate incident in the past year. When a federal bill鈥痠ntended to counter a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes was passed in May 2021,鈥�164 GOP members of Congress听voted against it.听This project proposes to expose the realities of anti-Asian American racism that have been neglected and ignored for over a century and a half.鈥�听
Beginning in 2019, Huang and his collaborators have given annual performances reflecting on听the LA Chinatown Massacre听and engaging with its contemporary reverberations, culminating with a听听in October 2021 that commemorated the massacre鈥檚 150th anniversary. Huang is also the co-creator,听again听with听Yan-jie听Micah Huang,听of the popular podcast听.