How can we create real change?
Initiating a dialogue about racism can be challenging. These topics are uncomfortable, but if we want to become better allies, we must acknowledge those who are personally impacted by listening and engaging in unfiltered conversations with an open mind and an open heart. And we must continue this dialog both in the near term and over the long haul. That's how we bring about real and sustainable change. We want to help you get started and offer a pulse on what's happening within Verizon to champion the change we want and need to see. We created this virtual toolkit to provide a foundation for your education, and we will continue to update it with new resources to help us all listen, learn, act and improve.
Our
Response
Through our actions, we are committed to being a force for change and living up to the highest ideals of equality and justice.
Our
Voices
Staying silent is not an option. Hear from V Teamers from across the company on how we can listen and learn together.
Become
an Ally
Listen
& Learn
Podcasts To
Listen To
Books
To Read
Resources in Support of the Asian Community
Book Recommendations
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
A ruthlessly honest and emotionally charged set of essays by the poet Cathy Park Hong that explores Asian American identity, consciousness and the struggle to be human.
No-No Boy by John Okada
First published in 1956 and called by some the first Japanese-American novel, No-No Boy was rediscovered in the 1970s when the novel was recognized as one of literature’s most powerful testaments to the Asian American experience.
The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee
A fascinating history that shows how generations of Asian immigrants have made and remade Asian American life, from sailors who arrived in 1500 to America’s “model minorities” of the past fifty years, it reveals the complicated role race still plays in the United States.
The Other One Percent: Indians in America by Devesh Kapur, Nirvikar Singh, and Sanjoy Chakravorty
A look at how people of Indian origin, who now make up only a little over one percent of the American population, have become the country’s most-educated and highest-income group.
Articles
Stories - Stand Against Hatred
A collection of real world incidents involving hate told by the victims and collected by a nonprofit advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities.
Anti-Asian racism and Covid-19
A presentation on the rapid increase of anti-Asian racism that has emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by Jennifer Ho, a professor and director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Unmasking Yellow Peril
A look at the current levels of unchecked hate against Asian Americans as the latest iteration of Yellow Peril - a form of white supremacist settler nationalism that the U.S. pioneered in the 1880s to justify the exploitation of Asian immigrants.
Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All
A TIME magazine article by novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen in which he compares his own experience as an Asian in America to that of his parents who came from war-torn Vietnam during the 1970s.
Online Video Series
Webinar series: We are not a stereotype: Breaking Down Asian Pacific American Bias
A video series by The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center for teachers and caregivers that looks at what it means to be an Asian Pacific American and the effects of related stereotypes.
Video: Asian Americans – PBS Documentary
The five hour PBS series looks at the Asian experience in the United States and the consistent thread of anti-Asian racism that includes the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Japanese American internment camps during World War II and ethnic scapegoating during the Vietnam War.
Video: We are Teachers
A list of tips and resources to help teachers navigate challenging conversations with students on anti-Asian discrimination.
Resources for Families
Talking About Race toolkit
Talking About Race, from The National Museum of African American History and Culture, offers tools and guidance to foster this important conversation at an early age.
Toolkit for Parents
For parents looking to talk with their kids about race and racism, this school toolkit offers helpful tips and advice
Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to foster civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants. Their program emphasizes social justice and anti-bias.
Beyond the Golden Rule
Beyond the Golden Rule from Teaching Tolerance helps parents teach their children to honor the differences in themselves and in others — and to reject prejudice and intolerance.
A Kids’ Book About Racism
A Kids’ Book About Racism offers clear descriptions of what racism is and how it makes victims feel, so parents can start the conversation early with their kids.
